to ask if anyone else is half-arsing their job?

[Spacemannn]

I work full time with two pre-schoolers (due to my part-time working request being declined). I get paid well (although not mumsnet well) for a mid-senior job, with no line management, but the bulk of my salary goes on childcare.

Since having my second child, I just cba anymore. I used to be such a perfectionist and always go above and beyond, but I just don't care as much anymore. I work hybrid, and on my WFH days I'm trying to squeeze in as many chores/life admin as poss in between tasks.

Is anyone else like this? Does it matter? I switch between feeling guilty, and then feeling like as long as I'm getting the work done and doing an ok job, that's fine? I still get paid the same whether I put in 70% effort or 100% effort. There are no promotion opportunities on the horizon, and I don't think I'd want the extra responsibility at the moment anyway.

Any tips for working smarter not harder? I'm organised, responsive and quick, so I don't think it's a case of me not adding value to the company...

But they are the same people that are useless and unproductive in the office too. Browsing the Internet and doing life admin in the office or at home and doesn't make any difference. A pisstaker is a pisstaker.
With no promotion on the horizon in her case the employer encourages this attitude. People aren't slaves.
You have a slightly naive view. Plenty of shirkers I the office.

No company ever failed because someone put a load of washing on between (pointless) Teams calls.

Can we have that on a T-shirt please?

Because it's so true. In fact, those people productively WFH while also taking their time-outs away from the computer (essential) to pop the washing on etc. or even do the school run are probably in a lot of cases the glue that keeps the company going. It's well known that women coming back from maternity leave are generally more loyal and productive than the average. Even those giving 70% (ie most). Working hard in the office at your own perfectionist definition of 100-110% with your head down hardly ever gets rewarded anyway, it's part of the gender pay gap problem.

A bit less often is more as a PP said, minds need time to destress and be creative and AI will be taking over the more mundane work.

Some people make looking busy in the office into a career in itself. Looking busy takes a lot of effort.

In my last office based role, I spent about 2 hours a day at my desk. The rest was running from pointless meeting to meeting going over the same old repetitive ground most of which could have been done on teams or via email.

Hybrid working has at least killed off most of these ridiculous waste of time gatherings and meant we can actually concentrate on getting our job done quicker without unnecessary interruptions

Just carry on with the way you are now. Most of us work to live and not live to work.

I’d be doing your best to make yourself indispensable. If you’re not climbing, youre sliding.

OP I've had exactly the same thoughts as you. Pre working from home I always felt I had so little time. I now work from home exclusively, bar client meetings, taken on additional work and responsibility and feel as though my workload is minscule causing major guilt.

I then analysed what was different and similar to other posters I'm now not walking from meeting to meeting, having coffee 20 times a day, listening and getting involved with idle office chit chat and politics. I can now solely focus and prioritise my workload and I get it done so much quicker without distraction. I no longer feel guilty but it also works the other way as I will also have to work some evenings when we have big projects or issues to deal with but I see it as give and take now.

I don’t think working at 70% is shirking. Far from it. That’s probably all most jobs need - 70% attention during work hours.

Most jobs don’t need a 100% employee. That’s why people aren’t rewarded for 100% - because it’s not a requirement of the company.

im not talking about brain surgeons and judges. They need to be 100% but most people in most jobs- nah. 70% is absolutely fine.

Big different between doing 70% and, say, 30%. 30% is defo shirking.

The nature of my work means sometimes it's insanely busy and I'm working at 100% all the time as well as doing extra hours etc. And other times it's less pressured and I can take my foot off the gas a bit, do some chores in the house, take a slightly longer lunch break etc. If I was working in the office I'd a) have to leave at 5 during the busy times even if I needed to do more and b) when it was quieter I wouldn't really get a break and would end up feeling burnt out.

WFH is great. And in my case, both me and my employer benefit.

There are a lot of businesses out there who will pay as little as they can get away with in order to get the job done.

Unsurprisingly there are also a lot of workers out there who will do as little as they can get away with to get paid.

Absolutley

There was this chap sitting next to me once. He watched football during 90% of the office hours and did the work on paid overtime. He wasn't the only one. That company valued presence and the hours people put in. Being present means nothing.

You have basically just done the pre-teen thing ‘If you don’t agree with me, you are MENTAL!’.
🤣

What cobblers! The OP said she is doing her job. No doubt if she wasn't it would have been noticed.

Exactly the same situation OP, only I am paid barely above minimum wage, I don't feel guilty. I am NEVER behind in my work, I don't speak to general public so no fuss about phones being ignored. They want more than that they can bloody pay more (and before anyone jumps on me yes, I will be leaving shortly. Because I can't hack being in the minority actually doing my job properly.)

Yes, and it amazes me how many people on here have fallen for it. In any thread about remote working, there are always some posters that gullible.

Mrsherdwick surgeons half arse all the time, just not while carrying out surgeries youd hope. There is more to the job than the actual surgical action.

Nobody works at 100% efficiency 100% of the time. It's not possible.

Very true, and I'd be disinclined to recruit someone who thought they did.

Starting with 'When you've got kids' implies you think those without kids have no 'excuse' and should be putting in 100% effort while parents are allowed to get away with 70% because 'it's hard'. Is that the impression you intended to convey?

I had a senior manager like that. Stomped round office hugging and puffing muttering under her breath.

She was very good at asking a junior member of staff to compile a report/ gather information for her then in a very loud voice stating ‘this isn’t what I asked for don’t bother I’ll do it myself AS ALWAYS’ before making tiny tweeks and passing the work off as her own

And the days she WFH she was never contactable blaming poor coverage where she lived (a fairly large commuter town)

Absolutely no one wanted to work for her however our HOD was intimidated by her and bent over backwards to accommodate her every whim.

@bringincrazyback no, I was just trying to relate my answer to the OP’s question, which relates to the fact that she feels that she’s less bothered about her job since having kids. I am sure there are many other reasons why you might decide to plateau or take a small step back from work (caring responsibilities, ill health, relationship problems) but that isn’t the OP’s situation (so far as we are aware).

I run digital transformation and change management projects on a global scale so yes I’m pretty experienced in corporate life. Are you ?