Do I have...

[EagleFan]

...sucker written across my forehead?


I have been involved in the mother of all projects at work (mismanaged from the start and now upper management has put me in a lead role and actually taken notice of the project, a little too late).

It has consumed a lot of my time, has led to 2 different month long trips to India and a trip to Atlanta and actually should have me in India now (too late to arrange that though). The need is that I actually should be working with the people from our offices there for this portion of the project (moreso than my second trip there).

I volunteered to work overnight to be available for them and it has helped but has led to worse problems for me. Last week I worked 15 hour days almost all week, plus time over the weekend (only cut short by a migraine one night). I work all night long (normally with a minimal break as it's easy toi just get into what I am doing and th etime goes fairly quickly with no distractions). The problem ends up being when the people from this office (and the Atlanta office) come in and seem to expect me to keep going for extended time.

Today I had to put a stop to that as it almsot seemed like the 15 hours was now seen as the norm. As a meeting was going on I kept getting assigned more and more things to be done TODAY. This is after my 10 hours over night. Finally I said enough and that I was going to be leaving after the meeting and would address these issues when I came in this evening. I cannot believe the response I got from most (the other lead that works with me in my office was more than understanding and my direct boss was as well) but his boss and others in and around that level almost seemed shocked and treated it like I was leaving early.

Everyone knew that I had worked all night but there was little concern for my own well being.

The part that is making me nuts is that I now feel bad that I am not getting right on the issues assigned to me. I actually had trouble getting to sleep and almost signed on to work but I knew once it was seen that I was online I would be swamped. Am I completely insane for even worrying about the added assignments?


Sorry, this was mostly another of my venting sessions. You may return to your normal posting pleasure... ;)

[Qwikshot]

Corporate work is all diplomacy; they don't care about how much time you put in as long as you get results. Your boss was understanding and he may deflect some of the pressure from his boss, but ultimately, the goal is to get the project done.

My last boss began assigning multiple tasks (she wanted to challenge me, I told her that I was aware of the pressures being placed upon her from on high, but her challenge was like climbing Everest in shorts and a tank top, it wasn't a challenge but a suicide mission - though I didn't state this so blatantly.) I kept her abreast of all manuveurings, but I concentrated on the critical parts (the most critical of critical - I had no backups to rely on so I did what I could - but I made sure that I didn't go overboard in the hours, I get paid for 8, I will work more but when you start working 10, they assign your workload for 10, work 15 and they'll do the same, but if you set a ceiling on your hours, chances are they'll see the light as long as you are performing, and once in a while throw a bone and work a few more, but always be firm - just not in a board meeting).

Good luck to you, I've been there, I'll be there again. But don't feel bad, focus, and do what you can.

[Dr. Sak]

There isn't anything wrong with the way you are feeling. You want to do a good job and you bust your ass doing it. You seem to have a lot of pride in your work and that's great.

My issue with working, and I'm not sure if you agree, is when you bust your ass and go way above and beyond your normal working pace, your boss thinks you will do it all the time. They see that you can work that hard and not complain so they don't worry about making you do it time and time again. It's almost like they want to keep piling it on till you finally snap, and that's when they back off.

[Draft Dodger]

you know we can't see your forehead, right?

[Mustang]

Life is too short.

Obviously there are phases in everyone's job that requires longer hours but, if this is the norm I'd be asking myself why in the world I was subjecting myself to 15 hours of work.

Unless of course you are one of those people that loves working 15 hour days... freak.... :D

[Toddzilla]

After working 12+ hours, one's effectiveness essentially goes down the toilet, so it may be to your company's advantage to work shorter hours - good luck convincing them of that :)

Hang in there, amigo. It won't last forever, and no matter how bad you may screw up, they can't shoot you.

[PilotMan]

In this case you need to rely on your immediate supervisors to go to bat for you. Certainly if they know what you have been doing they need to back you up in those situations where you have essentially been busting your butt for them. If they don't then your bosses must know that you might not bust your butt for them the next time that they need it. It has to be a two way street of sorts.