It takes me a little over 20 minutes to get to work, which isn’t too bad considering it’s literally across town. KC desperately needs mass transportation but the good thing is that for 90% of the day over 90% of the highways, there’s not enough traffic to slow down your commute considerably. I also don’t pay for parking and have very little trouble finding a space.
I’m technically salaried but I get paid on an hourly basis, which makes no difference since I work the exact same # of hours per week: 40. 8:30-5:00 M-F.
I gave up a job paying $9000 more a year for this one. I wouldn’t say either job was/is the “pluperfect” employment situation, but I really enjoy what I’m doing now over what I was doing before, so I consider it a win for now. BTW, I’m a county prosecutor.
Oh yeah, and I’d tell you all the things I do on my drive to work but they’re all so horribly unsafe I’d scare myself in the telling.
PS, if this comes through as a duplicate I apologize. It keeps saying I’ve posted it but I don’t see it showing up anywhere.
High tech – programmer/low-level manager for a Start-up on the verge of economic viability (as in, we’ve started selling, but still spend more money than we have coming in from these sales.)
Monthly salary.
Work week is Sunday–Thursday, but it might as well be a regular M–F, since the whole country works on a Friday+Saturday weekend.
Nominally 45 hours/week; in reality – get the job done. Extremely flexible. Flexibility in both number and placement of hours is on a “don’t overdo it and we won’t care” basis, which gets back to the “get the job done” attitude. Of course this means that, in reality, I rarely clock fewer than 200+ hours/month…
Telecommuting is possible when necessary (e.g., a child is home sick), same “don’t overdo it” rule applies as above.
Sometimes (in emergency) I’ll work from home over the weekend, late at night, whatever… and some days I can doodle at my desk, surf the Dope, and be outta here after 7 hours on the clock.
We’re all highly motivated professionals here (those who miss on either qualification are no longer here…) so the Trust System simply works.
Job 1 - 10.5 hours/night, 4 nights/week (graveyard) - 4 miles from home.
Job 2 - 2 hours/day, Monday Wednesday and Friday, plus additional hours as needed. 8 miles from home
No real ‘naughty commute secrets’ - may drink the occasional soda, or take the even rarer cell call (usually on headset). Just not in the car that long.
Sorry - forgot about the commute part…
“Reverse” commute; about 15-20 minutes in either direction, driving. Not enough time that I really need to do anything - I usually just listen to the radio
Let me see. Saudi uses a Thursday/Friday weekend, so Saturday is my Monday and Monday is my Wednesday and Wednesday is my Friday. Some people get used to it after a couple of years.
Work is about fifteen minutes away. It is not really that far, but the security checkpoints slow you down. My first class is at seven and I can leave about noon.
I can only work M-F now that they cut out unapproved OT and stopped letting me add extra hours on Saturdays.
My place is absolutely flexible on hours, as long as they don’t go above 40. They’re open 6:30 AM until 7:00 PM, and individuals are free to show up for any 8 hours they frickin well please in between those endpoints. This is sweet. All workplaces should function like this.
Last year this time I endured several months of horrible sickness, and nearly took short-term disability, but decided I could keep working, more or less. That’s how I got into the habit of sleeping late, showing up at 11, and staying until 7. Now my health is good again–but it has proved an impossible habit to break!
I’m also currenly lucky to have only a 10- or 12-minute commute. I listen to CDs, except for when my two favorite radio shows, Democracy Now and the Thistle and Shamrock, are on. The back seat of my car is covered in CDs. I love music.
Nominally, my hours are 8:45 - 17:15 5 days a week, with one week in 4 being on call 24/7. In practice, I work rather longer; I’m known for working late.
My commute used to take the thick end of 90 minutes. Now it’s 15 minutes.
One of my sites moved to near me from within the M25. A lot of people lived local to the old site and now commute out to the new one. It’s very convenient for them as they’re now commuting against the normal flow of traffic.
It’s very congenial.
When I had a significant commute, I did no more than have the radio on (to Classic FM - light and brainless - rather than Radio 4’s Today which had news of import which would have required attention). The traffic was such that it demanded constant attention.
I have a 40-hour, 5-day work week, except that it’s 6:30-to-3:00 rather than 9-to-5. It’s fairly flexible in that I choose the hours and can change it if I need to, but don’t normally need to.
Commute is 15 minutes driving in, and a bit longer coming home–traffic is heavier by the mid-afternoon, although not as bad as it will be by 5:00-ish, and I may stop off at one or two places on the way home on errands. I don’t do anything during my drive except listen to a CD, usually Beethoven.
I like it. I haven’t been as happy at my job lately, but one of the chief reasons I’m reluctant to give it up is I doubt I’ll find anything else as close to home that will let me come in and leave as early.
What is your work day? It varies. The consulting engagement I am on generally has long days Monday - Wednesday (8-8), a “normal” day on Thursdays (8-4), and a “short” day on Fridays (no set hours, but usually a couple hours to do administrivia).
**How many hours a week? **Generally about 48-55 plus travel time (about another 14). I am salaried.
Do you work Monday-Friday all the time? No - it varies by project & need.
**How do you manage your work week? **Travel on Sunday nights & Thursday nights. Work hard Monday thru Wednesday, wrap up Thursday, and handle administrative stuff on Friday. I try very hard no to even look at my email on Saturday or Sunday (until just before I board the plane).
Have you had the perfect work situation and left it? I thought I had the perfect situation when I ran my own firm - commute was from my bed to my office downstairs. What I found was that by working at home, I never really left work. It was bad for my health.
If you DO drive to and from work, what do you do, nor not do, in the car when driving? My daily drive is usually quite short as I stay at a hotel near my clients’ offices. The lengthy commute is twice weekly on planes. I generally work so I can bill the hours. If I get stuck in a seat where I can’t work, I read so I feel a bit like I am getting some personal time.
I’m my parents’ Carer, according to the ‘paperwork’ I’m “on duty” 24/7, in reality, I wake up more or less when I want, and spend much of the day ‘doing nothing’, in between cooking, shopping and housework - but I don’t do much of that as D’Mother is a former OCDer for whom nothing is ever cleaned properly and I’m worn out from trying to keep up with it…
I work part-time, Sunday from four till ten, Monday from two till ten, and Thursdays from five to eleven. Every couple of weeks I work extra shifts, but that’s my set schedule. It takes me ten minutes to walk to work.
I set my own schedule completely, aside from project deadlines. This can result in me working 10-12 hour days, seven day weeks, for several weeks; but I can also take a week off whenever the schedule allows. At times in the past I have spent up to 5 weeks in the field, working every day from before dawn to sunset (with a few hours off around midday).
I mostly work from home, since most of my work is writing and analysis. I generally work from perhaps 9:30-10:00 AM to about 7 PM or so. I often do some work on weekends, but it depends.
All workplaces should function like this.