Like a sick building syndrome of the office mind, a long hours culture will affect your whole section or organisation. It's when no-one wants to be the first to go home or the last to arrive. Managers judge people on how long they stay, not how quickly they get things done. People are not working efficiently, and will drag things out to look busy. They have plenty of time to chat, surf the web or spend on the phone (not that's there's anything wrong, of course, with the odd break or moment of relaxation, of course, particularly if you're busy, stressed and putting in extra time).
> What can you do about a long hours culture?
This is when you simply have more work to do than you can fit into the time you are meant to spend at work. The less say you have over how you do your job and how you organise your work, the more likely it is that this is the reason for your extra hours. It is quite likely that you won't be the only person affected, and it will mean your colleagues are putting in extra time too. But it may be because you are the only specialist who can do your job – and there's too much work for just one of you.
> What can you do about your unrealistic workloads?
Some workplaces are just badly organised. You can end up with too much work, while your colleagues have not got enough to do. Or everyone can sit twiddling their thumbs (though does anyone actually thumb twiddle?) and then get told they have to stay late to meet an urgent deadline for work you could have started last week. Sometimes bosses are simply disorganised and have been promoted because they are good at their job, not because they can manage. Sometimes they think divide and rule, and having favourites keeps people on their toes (not a good posture at work outside ballet dancers). And sometimes they may have just too much to do themselves to get things sorted.
> What can you do about a time bandit boss?
Some people are always the last to leave, and it may not be because they have too much work, but because they are bad at organising their workload and getting on with the important things. Some people can be helped by the right kind of time management advice, but the crucial thing is to understand your own behaviour and try to change it.
> Find out more about sorting out your time.
And of course there are the workaholics – those who can't get enough of their jobs and are always happy to put in the extra work. If that what makes you really happy, then that's fine, but don't expect everyone else you work with to want to do the same hours. And ask yourself some hard questions. Is all this extra work good for your health? Do you really need to work these hours, or are you working inefficiently? Are you substituting quantity for quality? And are you working so hard because there's something else in your life that's not working out?
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