One question that others have asked me, and I have asked myself during my career, is whether or not I feel guilty about how little work I actually do in the office. Mostly I would have to say that they answer is no. In the early stages of my slippery slope down to complete slackerdom, I would feel guilty sometimes. I would be home at 4:15 knowing that other members of my team were still at work toiling away.
However, isn’t it reasonable to assume that if my behavior was a problem, the appropriate people would tell me it was a problem? If nobody has ever told me that I need to stay until 5 o’ clock, I interpret that as its okay to sneak out a half hour or so early. Does it make it better if I sit in my cube the extra hour when I know that I won’t be doing anything anyways? If anything, I’ll be wasting electricity by surfing the net and IMing my friends.
The guilt fell away over the years, many times in large chunks. When I was lied to about the status of my job, not invited to important meetings in my early days as a hard worker, and generally underappreciated, I figured, what’s the point of putting all these extra hours and hard work if its not going to get me anything in return?
You might feel guilty when you hear how one of your coworkers had to stay until 8 ‘o clock last night to finish a project or come in during the night over the weekend for an issue, but that’s why you shouldn’t make friends with your coworkers.
Remember, rationalization is your friend.
March 30th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Should I feel guilty about reading your blog? Does that make me a slacker?
March 30th, 2007 at 9:35 am
I think that whether or not you ought to feel guilty depends upon what you agreed to when you accepted the position. You agreed to give the company *something* in exchange for a paycheck. Are you giving them what you agreed to give them?
If you agreed to accomplish only what you are asked to do, and you are actually giving them your best work with time left over for slacking, then the slack time is probably the responsibility of the company for not using you effectively.
On the other hand, if you agreed to be an active contributor on a team that is trying to achieve some goals for the company, then, as a slacker, you are probably not giving the company what you agreed to give them. In that case, as long as you are cashing your paychecks, there is probably reason to feel guilty.
Those are my thoughts!
March 30th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Everybody is playing some type of game, and there are other characters in the office who are far more odious than any slacker possibly could be. I’m talking about the “Fast Walker”.
Every office has those people who frantically pace around, always complaining about how much work they have, always speeding around looking at their watch. If you get a cup of coffee, they’re the ones that say, “Oh, I wish I had time to get coffee…whew, must be nice.”
The problem with these pricks is that they are doing no more work than anyone else! They generally seem to do the same low level of work that everyone else is doing — despite the fact you will often hear them responding to people with the, “well, I’m just hanging in there,” like they’re literally inches away from being so overwhelmed that they melt down, or die or something.
Fast Walkers endure problem none of us else will ever have to face — cause we’re not retarded. Like, I had to return a call regarding the reports, but the batteries on the phone were dead, and I didn’t even know there were batteries in the phone…FYI, everyone, if your batteries go out, the Admin does not have anymore. I found out the hard way that it’s not a stocked supply, but rather a technical requisition…I had to fill out the chit, give them my old battery, schedule maintenance, and of course I still never got around to that call until it was way too late! I missed my lunch and had to stay late, ugh, - -
Fast Walkers suck.