It started with a conversation over dinner last week. My other half and I were sat on one side, his best friend and his girlfriend on the other. The usual chat turned to work talk, which in turn moved onto work hours. Within this particular group of people however, this is not a good topic to discuss.
The boys, you see, both work in the advertising/post production world, and are regularly kept behind by clients. Not only that, but I have sat and listened to this pair bemoan on a number of occasions, the men in their offices who deign to leave on time. Heading home at midnight or later is not unusual. In fact, it seems ingrained – to them, a symbol of the fact that they are working hard enough, and everyone can see that. It’s a pack mentality.
On the other side of the fence, sit Cate and I. Employed in the publishing and editorial world’s respectively, the fact that we don’t sit in the office burning the midnight oil seems to mean that we take our roles less seriously in the eyes of these two. That because we leave on time every day, we can’t possible be working hard enough.
“Well I think it’s ridiculous you stay late,” says Cate. “Why can’t you just get everything done on time?”
And herein lies the debate. I would like to at first point out that I am not someone who has always left on time. In fact, when I first began interning, I thought it a given that I would stay late (despite the fact I was being unpaid). In and out of the various offices, I was warned against different overtime-related behaviour. One managing editor told me that anyone who didn’t leave on time simply wasn’t managing their work properly, and it could be a cause for concern. Another assistant advised me that one particular editor watched the clock, and even leaving a minute after 6pm would look better than leaving on the dot. Other teams would let you make your own decision, before making it clear that certain jobs needed to be finished, meaning that there was no question whether or not I would stay.
I think as well, that your attitude to the affair is altered by the office that you are in. Some teams I have worked with have taken long lunches, arrived a little late as the queue for Starbucks was longer than expected, and left bang on time – but when they were at their desks, efficiency was key. No one ever seemed stressed, and no deadlines were missed. Alternatively, some offices have a real staying power policy, where arriving at 9am is late and lunch breaks are a myth. It is difficult in each environment not to be swept up in the habits of others, especially when in the former, overtime doesn’t earn any extra points, whereas in the latter, not doing so seems to single you out as lazy.
On another level, this concern over office etiquette can be distressing in itself. Having paddled in the graduate pool recently, I am well aware of the pressure to find a job in this market, especially in an industry as competitive as journalism. The need to fit in, be valued and to impress is huge, and has provoked many a sleepless night among my friends. If there is added pressure from colleagues to stay late, then that can easily become the norm – but having seen the increase in stress and anxiety within our social circle, I can see that is is a dangerous cycle to adopt.
This is of course just the opinion of one girl who, by and large, perhaps hasn’t spent enough time in the working world to discuss it. I needed a more experienced voice in the field – so of course, I turned to my father. My parents had me pretty young, and my dad spent most of my formative years in the office. He worked in finance in the city, and so was usually up before us and home after bedtime. But he did always come home – which he admits was quite a rare thing at the time.
“There seemed to be a competition over who could be the most present”, he told me. “It didn’t matter about who was actually getting their work done or to what quality – just who was there the most.”
Now in a senior position, he still maintains that staying late isn’t a necessity, so long as you are ticking every box effort wise – which I would say is a good rule to live by.
Of course, perhaps I am in a position of privilege. I work with a great team who give me a workload I can handle, and trust me to get it done. I am happy to stay late and power through on the occasion we need to hit a deadline, but no one expects me to – that’s just a natural choice I make as part of the company. What I think is key to keep in mind, is a work-life balance. If you can manage your work and still get out on time to do other things, then (alongside wonders for your social life) it’ll do more for your self-esteem, energy levels and overall happiness. I would say that’s more important than what anyone else thinks.