Is it really my attitude....please help?

Question

I feel I am not working hard enough...each morning i come to office and then basically browse fpr sometime check the mail and if there is work to be done i do it !!!...its not like i dont work at all but....In the MNC they believe in the culture of doing all things beforehand...I too have a list of some things that needs to be done about 2 months from now, ideally I should be tackling those issues but i am not doing that..I am a person who does things on time and not before time......mind you I have never been late on delivering my work...but somehow i cant do things beforehand...
and here in office everyone sits late into the evening, while i leave on time..and I am feeling guilty because i am doing that !!!(but i get the work done)
Is that bad..is it my attitude...please advice

Answer 1

First, most people at companies think there isn't anything wrong with leaving on time as long as there isn't still work that really needs to be done - so I don't think leaving on time equals necessarily equals a bad attitude. If you walked out on work that should have been done on that day that would be more of a bad attitude.

When it comes to the "before-hand thing" it depends, really, on what that really means. Is it a matter of, "Here's some stuff that needs to be done over the next two months if you're looking for something to do" or a matter of, "Your job includes tasks that must be done immediate and tasks that must be done over the long term." It also depends on whether its a matter of "We prefer to get longer range projects done as early as possible" or "The project needs to be done by x/xx/xx. We don't really care when it gets done as long as its done by that date."

If it is an expectation or requirement of your company that long-range things be done as early as possible than you are not living up to your job description. If, instead, by "culture" you mean you work with people who happen to like to do things early but company policy/philosphy only "cares" that the work is done on time then that's different.

If its the company or supervisor who has the expectation that your job includes short-term work and long-term work that should be done as early as possible then you are not living up to the expectation/job requirements.

If doing things early is something that they don't necessarily require but prefer then you will not impress any supervisors because you will appear to be disregarding their preference.

It all boils down to whether the "before-hand thing" is a requirement or just a preference, and who, exactly, requires or prefers getting things done early. If its just a co-worker then you don't have to worry much.

You may want to stop browsing in the morning. Really - there's no need to do that. Check your mail while you have some coffee or tea, make a list of "to do" stuff, and then get busy.

You may also want to factor in a half hour or hour a day to be working on the long-range project with the earliest deadline. Even if you only devote a half hour a day to a project, the project that would take two hours to be completed will be completed in four days.

There is a good chance that whoever likes things done well before-hand has a very good reason for that. If that's the case (which it probably is) then you could be creating problems for people without even realizing it.

It seems to me you have decided what you will do when and that you will hand in work by a time or deadline. You've decided that "you're a person who does things on time and not before time", but that isn't written in granite. If, by any chance, you have a workload that is just too much to allow for doing the long-range work you should discuss that with a supervisor. Otherwise, you do need to realize that you can be a person who does things before-hand if you want to.

If its possible, you could have lunch at your desk and check e.mail while you have your lunch. Skip the e.mail and browsing you do "for some time" in the morning, and devote that time to getting one kind of work or another done. If you can pack as much as possible into your work day you should then have no reason to feel guilty if you leave on time.

I do think you may miss the point that it may not be enough to get the work done by a deadline, and it may be very important to get it done well before the deadline. Since you feel guilty about leaving on time, obviously you aren't an "employment sociopath". I think any apparently "attitude problem" may be a matter of your missing the point that it may not be enough to get the work done by a certain time/date.

I don't think you have a bad attitude. I do, though, think maybe you need to adjust your behavior in order to show your employer that you don't.

Answer 2

It's not your fault. You just work at a faster pace than your coworkers, and I commend you for your excellent work ethic. If you feel guilty, maybe after you have finished your work you can ask someone else if they need help with what they are working on. Just don't let yourself be taken advantage of.

Answer 3

yes it is