I’ve been reading some things here and there lately about flexibility in work hours and how we should probably rethink that whole idea of an eight-hour work day. I’d certainly say that, at least in some professions/positions that should be a thing to consider.
I’m certainly not saying that I think flexible hours will work in every situation, but I do think that expecting someone to sit at their desk from 8am until 5pm and be completely focused on work during that time and then leave at 5pm and ignore work until the next morning at 8 is ridiculous in this day and age.
When we’re connecting with students, working on projects and using our gorgeous Web 2.0 tools to weave our community magic, and eight-hour work day is a thing of the past. If I’m adding students on Facebook at 10PM and writing on their wall and joining groups they’ve asked me to join, I’m still at work.
The problem for me is that I *love* my job. I have no desire to turn off the lights at 5pm and ignore all of it until 8am the next day. It’s not how I function. I’m constantly connected, constantly interacting (unless I’m sleeping, but that doesn’t count – and actually my iPhone is about 1.5 feet from my bed during that time as well and if I wake up in the middle of the night, the first thing I do is check email and twitter), and I love that. I love social networking and community building.
Now, if I’m not at my desk at 4PM because I have to run my very active and athletic 14-year old to practice, is that still frowned upon? Is it still a bad thing to “leave work early” when in fact, I never leave work at all.
What’s an eight hour work day look like? I have no idea. I can’t remember.. it’s been so long since I’ve seen it.
3 responses so far ↓
Cole // August 20, 2008 at 2:43 pm |
This is a great question. I work way too much — I think. But I actually really enjoy what I do. I find my time is occupied by a lot of meetings outside my unit which leaves me far too little time to impact my local area. I find myself breezing in and out of the office far too often. This puts a strange distance between myself and our group. I’d love to figure that out, but I don’t see it changing.
What it means to me is I then have to spend a lot of time in the early mornings and late evenings catching up on work. 8 hours is a pipe dream. What does flexibility look like in the new environment? Great question for further exploration.
Anne // August 20, 2008 at 10:26 pm |
Agreed, agreed, agreed.
And that article sparked my interest too. Things are percolating, and you might see more on this end out of your old office.
micala // August 21, 2008 at 12:01 am |
Excellent! Wow. I think there are such exciting things on the horizon. I’m so thankful to be part of all this.