The good news and the bad news

The bad news first to get it out of the way, Sasha is having an extremely bad hair day today :0)


And the good news is that I got a pay rise, woo hoo!


Sometimes at work I get a bit worried because I have created myself a work life balance that is weighted in favour of my life.

I had a bad time a few years ago and decided then that I had to put myself first. I like my job most days, sometimes love it (occasionally hate it) but it isn't my whole life. It is easy to get caught up in the culture of working extra hours for no extra pay. Taking work home and logging on to e-mails at weekends are all common practice for a lot of people. Then of course we are all the proud owners of blackberry's so that we can work 24/7. There are people I work with who start early, finish late and do some extra from home. Crazy!

I made the decision nearly 2 years ago to stop the overtime. I work my hours, I try to get everything done in that time but if I can't I go home and forget about it until the next day. I will stay for an emergency or a one off meeting but not to just get through my workload. I also don't check my e-mails or my blackberry from home, holidays and weekends are my time. Again I will make an exception, if there is something urgent that will arrive out of hours I will check but not routinely.

When I made the decision to work like this I did suspect that I was limiting my chances for promotion. I thought that the people who practically sleep at their desks would have the edge over me. I know that no company would say it publicly but I just assumed that my attitude would be against me. I am good at my job and I work hard most of the time but I thought going home and not doing the extra would be viewed as not putting in the required effort.

It looks like I was wrong!

Last year I got promoted, one of only two people to go up. I did deserve it and was very pleased. I wasn't the longest serving person in my position so it wasn't a case of next in line to go up, I leaped 3 people who had been their longer.

Then this pay rise, totally unexpected. We were told there was no standard rate of inflation pay rises this year due to the economic situation. The director told me that he only had a small amount and decided to give it to those who deserved it based on their achievements. Only 4 out of 16 got anything. Guess I'm doing something right!

I think that my attitude towards work is right, you need the balance. If you don't have your own time then stress at work takes over your life. Plus if you are working all the extra hours what happens if there is an emergency? Do you give up sleep? I know I'm right, my work is better now than it was when I stayed late, I'm more focused and I'm better at deciding on priorities.

I'm just surprised that the company has recognised Quality over Quantity!