Are you on someone else's schedule?

"A job is working on someone else’s schedule. I was expected to be productive for eight hours in the middle of the day, five out of seven days a week. This doesn’t match my natural rhythm. Some days I can work for fourteen hours, others I just need a day off. If I work in the mornings only, I don’t need a weekend. I’m really keen to explore different modes of working to find what is most productive for me."

I just came across this post thanks to Ashley Tower's recent Posterous post.

This hits the nail on the head for me in terms of why I am passionate about working for my self and building up a scalable business. I love to experiment with how I work well and trying out different schedules. I know for a fact that the normal 9-5 is not my optimal schedule.

Are you working on someone else's schedule?

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Comments (3)

Jun 30, 2010
Ash Moran said...
I've found that having people working for me puts me on their schedule though. Some people like a 2 hour break in the middle of the day, some people hate it! Just working for yourself isn't enough to put you on your own schedule, it has to fit with everyone else around you. Pair programming especially has an obvious synchronisation issue...
Jun 30, 2010
 said...
Agree with Ashley there mate. It's no good being on your own randomly productive hours if the rest of the world is working 9-5. Putting in extra on top of that can be a bonus, but there's a reason why businesses get everyone working 8 hours at the same time in the middle of the day, because it's the most productive time!

Ok so when you're building up the business on your own that's fine, but sooner or later if you're going to run a successful business you'll be expected to work 9-5 by the other businesses you're interacting with and you'll have to adapt. :-)

Feb 08, 2012
Frank said...
You have to work on everyone else's schedule because it's a matter of trust. If no one can get to you from noon to 3 because of your afternoon nap, you might do the best work in the world an no one will care, because you are not fully under the thumb of time like the rest of us.

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Startup guy and full stack web developer. Most recently founded Buffer, also co-founded OnePage. Keen to learn and striving to do what I love. Say hello :)

I post my longer reflections over on my blog.

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