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Original poster

Able to get your job done in work hours?

37 replies

Folicky · 06/03/2022 10:22

Is anyone in a busy job and able to get it done within working hours? Especially more thoughtful work leading to a report, letter, notes that are more involved? If so, how do you do it?
I seem to have too many things to do, defer starting on the more complex work until the more immediate ones are done and then end up having to do the complex stuff at home. It’s exhausting me and the complex stuff gets delayed as I want to have a life outside work…. And many things take much longer than you think.

I’ve kept a work diary for a week but it was a bit of an atypical week. This was useful but I’ll have to do the same thing on a more normal week.

Feeling like an ineffective moron with little time to do the things I like about the job. It’s maddening.

WTF is the solution?

OP posts:
Lazypuppy · 06/03/2022 10:26

I work my hours, if something ian't done by end of the day, i do it the next day. My company do flexi time so i can take back any extra hours worked, i would never work hours i'm not being paid for.

Either you are not managing your time correctly or you are being given too much work

floatsomeandjetsum · 06/03/2022 10:29

No I can't, I just keep the show on the road and do the best I can. I'm not a robot, I find intense work for more than probably 6 hours very difficult (impossible?)
I wonder how many people do the same though?

What helps me, amongst the 5 years of business coaching I had!!, are;

-Pomodoro App for hard focus for short bursts. It's amazing what you can actually do in 20 mins
-Prioritise at the start of the day
-Shut the door from distractions
-Do, delegate, delete for emails
-Invest so time in getting some good templates for letters you write frequently

You're not a machine- just do your best, that's all.

Northernsoullover · 06/03/2022 10:33

We are overworked. We are short staffed through sickness and have a massive caseload. My manager is incredibly supportive and doesn't expect us to do more than we can do in one day. We are going flat out as it is. We are missing targets and have been told not to worry about it.

purplemunkey · 06/03/2022 10:41

Yes, but only because I've learnt to put some boundaries in and accept that some things will have to wait. I definitely went through phases (especially when new in a role) of allowing work to seep into my personal time.

Someone once said to me 'If there's too much work to be done within your working hours, then it's not working hours that need to change'. I know that's easier said than done, and will depend on what you do for a living, but this has helped me. If I'm feeling like there is simply too much to be done I look at what can realistically be achieved and do that - I don't force myself to overwork and I don't feel guilty about it. I'll also look to see if there are ways to streamline the workload - e.g. can anything be delegated, can any processes be improved to speed things up, can anything be dropped altogether?

FranklySonImTheGaffer · 06/03/2022 11:05

I don't always get my work done in my working hours but I refuse to start working for free in my own time - if you can't get it done there's too much work.

Practical things I do that may help you

  1. Block out time in your calendar at the start of the day to attack a complex piece of work (if I have a big complex piece of work I start at 8, give myself until 8:30 to skim emails, pick out my priorities for later then block out from 8:30-10:30/11 to work on it). This only works if you can be strict about protecting that time though.
  2. Have a to do list with a column for priority and score everything 1-5. Have another column for notes so if you're working on something and have to stop, you can note where you got to / what's left.
  3. Stop checking your emails / phone so often - if you're working on something, focus on it without distractions.
  4. Accept that some things aren't going to be done today - just make sure that those things are the ones with a lower priority score - think of what is important to complete rather than what you complete quickly.
Tee20x · 06/03/2022 11:32

I don't get my work done in working hours and am another one who refuses to bring it home. I do what I can do, and am not about to start doing free overtime just because the workload is unmanageable.

People doing overtime and working long hours at home just sets up unrealistic expectations and makes it look as if the workload is manageable when actually you're going above and beyond.

My advice is don't do it

boatahoy · 06/03/2022 12:11

No I do not manage to get my work done within my working hours. We do get flexi but if I take a flexi day then I'm even more behind with work. I'm covering a huge caseload on my own, as also covering for a colleague who has had to help out with cover elsewhere. I find that I am writing up reports, catching up on admin over the weekend and I still rarely start the new working week with no backlog of work.

Original poster
Folicky · 06/03/2022 13:53

What I'm taking from this is the "just don't do it" message. Bugger it - I'm not working over my hours anymore in a broken (public) sector.

The focus time /pomodoro thing, tomatoes no??

OP posts:
Greeceisthebest · 06/03/2022 14:06

Timeblocking
Batching
Zero inbox 3 times day only

Check out Gamze Time on YouTube, she explains all

floatsomeandjetsum · 06/03/2022 14:38

It also depends who you work for. If it's Civil Service then I wouldn't. I work for myself so it's different.

Original poster
Folicky · 06/03/2022 14:48

Anyone use the Prieto principle?
20% of the effort gives 80% of results with any success?

OP posts:
DinosaurOnlySpaces · 06/03/2022 14:56

Be clear with your line manager what you are prioritising and what you've let slip. Even if they can't/won't reduce your workload, they can take the responsibility if there are tasks you aren't managing to complete within the time. If they want you to change your priorities, they can let you know.

I find I do my best 'thoughtful' work in the mornings when I'm fresher, and I try to leave the routine tasks to later in the day.

Working in short timed bursts, aiming to finish when the time is up is much more productive for me than working in an open-ended way, aiming to finish when the work is done perfectly.

LividLaVidaLoca · 06/03/2022 16:10

Ugh. I’m a teacher, the work never ends and there’s never any time back to do it.

BIWI · 06/03/2022 16:17

You need to prioritise your tasks. At the start of each week, list out everything you have to do, then go back and grade each one as urgent/essential, important, less urgent. (You also need to consider if/whether/how you can delegate some of this work.)

The urgent/essential are the ones you have to do first, so plan appropriate blocks of time into your calendar. Be realistic about how long they are going to take, and match this against the deadlines you have for these tasks.

Then find time to slot in the 'important' ones.

Anything else you can leave till the end of the day.

At the end of the day, cross off everything you've done, and then start with a new list. Some of your important things (that you haven't scheduled) may be becoming more urgent/essential. Some of the non-urgent things may now be becoming important.

Then at the start of the next day, again spend 10-20 minutes scheduling.

You may find it necessary to break down your more complex tasks into a series of smaller tasks.

But you must do this if you're going to manage your time efficiently. If, when you've been practising this for a couple of weeks and you're still not getting things done, then you need to speak to your line manager, and ask for some help.

MrsDThomas · 06/03/2022 16:24

I do the same thing every day. Doesn’t matter if its not done , its there the following day.

ChoiceMummy · 06/03/2022 16:53

@Folicky

Anyone use the Prieto principle? 20% of the effort gives 80% of results with any success?
Ime that really works best in sales style environments.

For me, I push back when I know that I am at my capacity. And because I rarely (twice in a couple of years) have ever said that I'm at overload, others hear this more loudly than my peers saying it. But to counter that, they also know that I take on additional projects when have greater than expected capacity.

My suggestion:
Only touch emails once - if I don't have the time to respond or action, then I don't read.
I religiously block out time for all activities in my calendar and will not give up time allocated for projects etc. If expected to take on more than I can, I always then ask what is to go elsewhere or be a non priority and for them to contact or arrange alternatives.
If I do extra hours, then I expect to take that time back and I do. A decade ago I lost so much time in TOIL that I could never claim (over the year equivalent of an extra day a week) and will never do that again.

Yourway · 06/03/2022 16:55

No useful advice sorry - I’m a teacher.

We literally have to do work at home so we have work to do at work Hmm.

Original poster
Folicky · 06/03/2022 16:57

@BIWI, I need to do this and will practice it this week. I used to take work home with me a lot before children but now can't and don't want to do this. So I need a plan. I have a belief though that I'm not going to be able to do it - the prioritising thing, so that's probably feeding into some procrastination. But really I just need to give it a try

OP posts:
BIWI · 06/03/2022 17:00

Why do you think you can't do it?! Sounds like you need to do it.

Like everything else, it's a discipline.

I can also recommend this book

Talks about doing the things you really don't want to do first, instead of always going for the nicer things, or the things that you know will be easier to do.

BIWI · 06/03/2022 17:02

I'd also have a read of this blog

BIWI · 06/03/2022 17:04

... although a lot of that does make it seem very complicated! The essence of time management is planning and prioritisation - as well as the discipline to carry it through.

raspberryjamchicken · 06/03/2022 17:07

No, teacher so there is always something extra you could be doing. The job has flexibility for leaving early if kids have activities/appointments to get to so that is a positive but that just means more work to be done at home (eyes pile of 60 books sitting next to me).

lanbro · 06/03/2022 17:12

I do a lot of work outside of work hours but I work for myself so it directly benefits me. I also take any time that I want off so it's swings and roundabouts.

In a salaried position, for someone else,then no. Unless you're omega big bucks, just no

CMOTDibbler · 06/03/2022 17:13

No, no way. I had an extremely busy but manageable in 45 hours a week job, and then a member of the team left and their role was split 'temporarily' across 2 of us while they were going to recruit. And then the next month it was COVID, then after a year of waffling it was apparent they weren't going to replace them. Since their job was equally busy, this leads two of us at anxiety inducing levels of hour by hour fire fighting as there is no one to pass anything off to, everything must be done, and many things are time critical. Management don't care - though I haven't had a manager since last summer and the manager before that lasted 11 months and they were just looking at it as a stepping stone and weren't going to rock things - as they have since said.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 06/03/2022 17:16

I was in meetings or traveling to/from meetings for 4 days out of the 5 last week. So 1 day to actually do anything out of the whole week. Needless to say I'm behind and have a lot to do next week.

I'll log on tonight and set a priority list, and figure out what I will delegate tomorrow. I think I manage ok but we have been understaffed for so long it does just feel like fire fighting a lot of the time!