incasesheisonheretoo t1_j5cj1ng wrote on January 22, 2023 at 12:27 AM

If you have that kind of control over your work schedule, a better tip is to go in well before everyone else. I go in at 6 and leave at 3. Most people, my boss included, don’t get in until 8 or 9- which gives me a couple of hours in peace before the emails and meeting requests start rolling in. Even better, by the time they arrive and are just getting situated, I’m already in gear looking like I’m a much higher performer than I really am lol. They don’t know that I was taking it easy for those first couple of hours that no one else was there.

csbbacsob t1_j5evfyk wrote on January 22, 2023 at 2:41 PM

Heck yeah. I do this too and it is a game changer. I get there an hour before everyone else , tidy up the office, brew some nice herbal tea, read something positive. Get my head in the right space and make a list of the day’s actionable items.

And I leave an hour earlier too, which is awesome cuz I wake up at like 0500. So by mid afternoon I’m used up and right about that time is when I generally split.

incasesheisonheretoo t1_j5ewbqh wrote on January 22, 2023 at 2:48 PM

Yep! And I typically get to avoid rush hour by leaving earlier, saving me another 30+ minutes of sitting in traffic. I also get to utilize OP’s tip because my lunch break is an hour before everyone else’s. So when I come back from mine, most of them are leaving for theirs and I get some more time to myself.

PsychoEngineer t1_j5f2ciy wrote on January 22, 2023 at 3:33 PM

Be careful with this though… leaving earlier than everyone else can carry negative impressions as well. It’s a high wire balance to achieve of coming in and leaving times such that the perception (which is all that matters) isn’t negatively effected.

incasesheisonheretoo t1_j5fxv5x wrote on January 22, 2023 at 7:01 PM

Good point! My boss’s perception is the only one that matters (in my situation), and he can see what time I got there and should expect me to leave before everyone else. But I’ve also worked at places where your advice applies because coworkers started getting resentful watching me leave 2 hours before them every day- even though I got there 2 hours before them.