Earlier quoted context omitted.
Use your bus/train time to study things that will help your career Or leave 45 minutes early and work those 45 minutes on the train.
That one is less socially acceptable, if at all.
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Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
81–90 of 179 posts
Re: Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
#82Please don't read/send email while driving. Use your bus/train time to study things that will help your career, at this job and the next. Don't just give that time away to your current employer for free - unless your employer is a charity. Edit: Even if you work for a charity, giving away your time for free may not be a good idea. ;)
Use your bus/train time to study things that will help your career Or leave 45 minutes early and work those 45 minutes on the train.
That's what I do.
Re: Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
#83Well, obviously. Doing things which are part of work counts as work is hardly an innovative statement. The question is, how did companies persuade people that they should work for free on the way into the office?
I don't think it's this black and white. First, I'm sure plenty of companies are basically stealing from their employees, but this is also situational. I answer emails and slack whenever I can. On the flip side, I get work from home privileges, I show up when I want, I leave when I want, and I get put on exciting projects instead of boring ones. People who don't check their phones after-hours cannot be trusted to lea…
If people call you after work a lot then it's probably not because it's necessary, but because they know you don't mind.
If you manage your project in any half-decent way then phine calls after work should be a rare exception.
Re: Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
#84Please don't read/send email while driving. Use your bus/train time to study things that will help your career, at this job and the next. Don't just give that time away to your current employer for free - unless your employer is a charity. Edit: Even if you work for a charity, giving away your time for free may not be a good idea. ;)
I would say using bus/train time to do work work is fine, so long as you count that in your 8 hours. Like, that time isn't used in addition to a full day in the office.
Re: Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
> People who don't check their phones after-hours cannot be trusted to lead projects with demanding clients. Why not? Requiring off-hour access is admitting project management failure. That’s what on-call is for, and on-call engineers and management should rotate and be paid for on-call duty. For them, it’s working hours. When I’m on call for a client, I bill _for being available_, so basically for keeping the phone…
"Demanding client" doesnt mean unlimited funding. i find that the most demanding ones also look most closely at their bills.
Good for them. If they demand that you're available 24/7, then they can pay for it.
Re: Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
What if that single person, the hero that bears the world of this project on his sole shoulders stumbles and falls, falls ill, or simply wants to go on holidays and sit in the desert without cell reception? Stop the world? I know folks that sit on packed bags, ready to fly to Alaska and hike another 50 miles to fix failing cell infrastructure, but even they have a notion of “i’m on duty now and I’m off duty.” And on…
At least in a startup environment, the bus factor risk isn't even on the same order of magnitude as much more tangible stuff like the client walking away. Doubling your labor costs to mitigate a risk that doesn't make the top 3 is just bad business. Sometimes it's not even an option. You make a deal with your #1s that they will get the fun projects, the paid vacations when the current crisis is over, the completely f…
"the paid vacations when the current crisis is over"
You don't have to pay for the vacation, if the crisis never ends.
Re: Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
#87Does this open the door for me billing my evening shower when the design finally clicks in my head?
I have a consultant friend that bills shower time. Of course, it's not a separate line item due to the questions that would arise, but he does include it in the total billable time.
Re: Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
#88Really these sort of metrics are missing the point in my opinion along with "employee engagement" and "focus" tracking. What they should care about is the deliverables and not some puritan pennywise pound foolish get as much toil out per dollar.
IT is one classic example with the lazy sysadmin is a good sysadmin. If everything is secure and operational and all desired expansions are either met or properly analysed as not worth it then their slacking off doesn't matter.
Re: Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
Women joining the workforce lead to a long term decrease in the labor supply. The only reason wages haven’t gone up is a massive influx of foreign born workers that keeps supply high.
... because they were not home having babies?
...that does sound like a long-term decrease in the labor supply?
Re: Emails while commuting 'should count as work'
#90If your employer tracks you by the hour, then of course email while commuting is work. Also thinking about a design while taking a shower in the evening is work. Also waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall asleep because work issues are bothering you is work.
Why employers (in the knowledge business at least) track people by the hour is beyond my understanding.