I am reminded of the pithy saying, "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

I am not a clock-watcher. I give myself enough time in the morning to get to work on time even if there is bad traffic, so that means I get in early most days. I seldom leave exactly on the minute, unless I have some other obligation. Or sometimes if it's a burn-out day and I just can't wait to be done with it. :crazy:

That said, if my excess contributions of time add up to more than a few hours per week, something is wrong with my employer. Or maybe with my time estimation skills. People should not be expected to take on more projects than the available work hours.

The problem comes when you have a supervisor who has no life except the job, or ignores other parts of life in favor of the job. The attitude, although often unspoken, is implied, "I don't mind working 60 hours a week, why should you?" I don't have a solution for that, other than switching employers.

I will work excessive hours when there is a true emergency that could not have been foretold, or if I've massively messed up. But that shouldn't be happening each and every week.