I can honestly attest to what he’s saying, seeing as how I have worked insane amount of overtime at my current place of work. The worst part about it that I have noticed is that I bust my ass off by working overtime just so we can hit the all-important, all-omnipresent deadline and then turn around to find another one looming overhead. It’s painful, and to be honest it’s aggravating, infuriating, and depressing all at once. Point 2 – “If the deadline set for your project [...] next deadline will be as tight as this one. If not tighter.” – is so true it hurts. I have stated many times at my current reside that the time lines are made without actually talking to us (in some cases) and this in turn screws us, the development team. I don’t know if my statements fall of deaf ears, but I have noticed that recently I have not had to work the overtime I used to… with the exception of last week. That was rough.

Anyways!

I cannot say whether this tight-lining the deadlines is purposely done, but I can tell you that it leads almost instantly into point 4 and 5. Working overtime burns you out. I worked 7 weeks straight at my job at one point. It was our whole development team’s trial by fire. We pulled it off, but there is nothing to brag about pulling a 45 hour work day. No matter how hardcore you feel, you look like shit and your appearance will scare small children.

The second half of the post is the really important part though. It’s the part that attention needs attention paid. It’s easy(ish) to state what evil will be wrought from working overtime, if given enough time to think about it. It’s another thing entirely to actually come up with ways to stop doing it. I have trouble with this part, as I’m sure many other people do. It’s hard to say no to the people who sign your paychecks and keep you from living out of your car. Trust me on this one, it’s hard to do and I’m still trying to figure out how to get the idea across.

Jarkko makes good points on how to get rid of overtime; points 4 through 7 on the second list are easy to do and I feel are just good practices to… well… practice! Number 8 is the truly difficult one. If you do this wrong, people will feel you’re not a team player, only looking out for yourself, etc. When talk like this hits managements ears, you’re in for a world of hurt and/or welfare checks. I’m not saying you should live in perpetual fear of your higher-ups (though a little fear is healthy, or so I’m told) but shooting yourself in the foot by arrogantly declaring that you are a slave to overtime no more will not win you any points.

I’ll clearly state that I’ve got a screwed up work-ethic, and so overtime though a horrible concept, I perceive as an occasional requirement. I think I may have gotten it from my father, but I’m not entirely sure. I’m slowly working on being able to work without having to complete projects via overtime but it’s an ongoing process.

After thinking about it for a little while, i decided to elaborate a bit on what I meant. There are certain types of people out there that can go for it. They set their eyes on something, and the run full steam towards that goal. Nothing distracts them, nothing deters them. I don’t mean that only those who fly off to Japan to live there, or those who will try and do something (build, write, draw, etc) new that could be badly received. I refer to any and every person that sets their goals and lives to them. These are the people everyone should aspire to be. These are the people that can set the bar on how to really live life.

Then there is the other group that merely lives through situations and makes the best of things. They see the world as something that happens, not something to make happen. These are your desk-jockeys. These are your lunch alone in a diner sort of people. These are the people that ride the bus every day and wonder why they got on it, and then forget that they wondered it.

I’m not going to advocate which is the better path, because I know good people who fall under both categories. What I will say is that the first group, those who work towards making things happen for themselves are the ones with the soundest character. They may be assholes, jerks, or whatever label you want to tack on them but it’s true. They know what they want and the go for it. There is something to respect in that, regardless of how much of a dick they may or may not be. That doesn’t mean that they all succeed. I’m sure 9/10 fall on their face and end up working at a gas station somewhere. The other 1 though, they have what I’m talking about (and took way too long to get to.)

Solidarity of character. They have what it takes to stick it out and achieve what they set out for themselves. To use Norm as an example; he wanted to live in Japan. I can trace this desire back at least 4 years as far as I have known him. He’s just always wanted to do it. As such he took the steps to get there. He figured out how to get a visa, and the ensuing fiasco of how the hell to stay in the country for 5 years in order to apply for permanent residency. He also learned the language, the mannerisms, and the culture back to front. He did this while going through school and working. He made it happen for himself, and now he’s over there learning about the 100+ trains he can take to get anywhere and visiting 10 story electronic stores. I also know he has what it takes to see this right to the end, and I’ve never been so proud to be his friend.

Personally, I cannot tell you which type of person I am nor if I possess said characteristic . I can say that I am working towards being part of the first group; to take charge of what I want and to work towards it. It’s hard. It’s fantastically, ridiculously hard though. Sometimes is easier to just throw your hands in the air and curse the fates for bestowing such problems upon their already weary shoulders. I know the feeling, because I have been there. I’m rather sure that I’m not the only one either. Whether you admit to it or not is a different matter entirely, and not the focus of this post.

What I’m getting at here is to get you, the reader, to think about this: “What sort of person am I?”

It’s rhetorical so don’t start emailing me with what you think I am. You can, but that’s not the point here.

What sort of person are you?

[EDIT November 12, 2007]

I just came across this article at work (I read this RSS feed, its both informative and entertaining.) Madam Naomi makes a rather good point that I wish to integrate with what I have already said here. Those who make things happen for them tend to be perceived as arrogent, cocky, or are otherwise jerks we don’t like. She makes the point that some people are actually arrogent, and some simply have the balls to stand up and fight for what they want.

The two get used somewhat interchangeably and I would like to point out that not everyone that fights for it is cocky. I call it ‘solidarity of character’ she calls it ‘having balls’ but both mean the type of person who stands up for what they want and fights for it. In retrospect, her way of saying it is way more ballsy. Damn it all!

Just thought I would clarify that one. Cocky people do suck, though they still make it happen for themselves so give props where it’s due.

[/EDIT November 12, 2007]

[EDIT 2 November 12, 2007]

Jesus christ! Did everyone have this same thought pattern around the same time or what? I mean wow, it’s almost sort of creepy, given that I hadn’t read either article when I had written mine. Crazy. I mean this one is a little different then what I’m talking about, but it all relates back to what I was saying. In this case Jarkko states that people in movies seem to live such fuller lives, and he states that it is because they never give up. They have a goal and they work unendingly towards it.

It all comes full circle here people.

[/EDIT 2 November 12, 2007]