I don't miss 4 A.M. deployments or dinner-time emergencies, but I picked my current job because it doesn't have the potential for them... but when I did have them, I knew what the gig was when I signed up for it, so complaining about my decision-making process to myself wouldn't help. Every once in a while I miss the higher profile assignments or the start-up environment, but then I remember that my kids know who I am now and they're old enough to beat me at Warcraft, so it's worth the trade off.

😛

I was on the clock in high school and college jobs and I've never been happier since I got off the clock. I've always worked way more than 40 hours, but I always choose jobs that I love doing, so it doesn't matter. I negotiate for the $$ that I want, regardless of the hours required. (Truth be told, I've got a job now that I might do for free... but don't tell my boss.)

I do have a Windows Mobile device (which I pay for) that syncs work and personal email during "work hours" and I answer email during lunch or standing in line for a movie, whatever. My personal disorders make it painful to not be thinking about something or doing something, so answering email is a good way to channel it and postpones my need for medication... Every boss I've ever had appreciates the responsiveness, and it's never really cost me anything that I didn't mind giving. I guess that I've blurred the work/personal life boundaries so much that nobody can really tell the difference, including me.

😀

I do always look to see who's calling before I answer the phone, though... and I'm scrupulous about OOF messages for email when I'm really not checking email and IM.

Personally, I don't want to negotiate hours or track them with my boss -- if I do that, I wind up losing freedom the in the long run... and trying to claim comp-time for other work time will result in closer scrutiny of the other time that I'm not specifically work-focused while I'm sitting at the keyboard in my office. Not a good thing, IMO.

Currently, I have goals, commitments and tasks that are part of the year-long plan... with the occasional fire-drill thrown in for entertainment value. But if it only takes me 20 hours to do it in a given week, nobody notices or cares when I wander off on an unrelated project or just go home and play on the Xbox. It's nice to have a trusting boss who values results over face time or squeezing more productivity out of a stone.

:hehe: