Have you ever been SO busy that you’ve said to yourself “There aren’t enough hours in the day.”? Or that you are working hours upon hours of overtime? Or that, in addition to an eight-or-so hour workday, you then have to do something with the child(ren)? Or some volunteer work? Or whatever? Perhaps there is SO must work that needs to get done that you wish you could work for many hours to try to get it all done?

At my job, this happens, but only (for me) sometimes. But it still happens – and usually at the beginning of the month. I am sure my manager has this happen even more frequently. Or some coworkers. And I KNOW this happens sometimes because I occasionally get e-mails at eleven PM. Not because I’m on line that late, but because the Sent timestamp shows that’s when it was sent.

We had a HUGE, really, REALLY, important project – think PPP loans related – that a good number of employees worked on. THAT sort of work was important, but it was a rarity. I’m talking about the every day, run of the mill situation where people just feel the need to “I have to get this done.” See my other post about Goals and you may understand why, in the long run, it DOESN’T MATTER!

Management makes us feel like we HAVE to do this work (again, I’m talking about the everyday work, not the special project sort of thing). Someone once said “I don’t ever remember hearing anyone on their deathbed say ‘I really wish I spent more time at the office.'” No. Quite the contrary. People DON’T want to spend more time at the office.

And this is another thing I will not miss – the feeling that there is too much to do. That it HAS to be done today. That it would be “bad for my career if I don’t finish this”. I won’t miss it, not at all. I look forward to the time where if I don’t get something done, I’ll have to deal with the wrath of my wife. And that’s about it.