First ill preface that I know i am REALLY spoiled to even have a wfh job. Im honestly amazed something like this exists.
Which leads me to my question. Im good at my job, its a great company, I get nothing but good feedback. But honestly, its easy. Really if anyone wanted to learn, they could do it. I feel guilty pretty much everyday at how easy it is. But the fact that its easy also makes it really difficult to put in 45 hours of real work. I try to use some of the time for educational videos or something related to work but honestly with my adhd mind, 9 hours is a lot unless im SUPER busy.
All my previous work has been jobs running around all day, fixing problems, managing people, which I dont want to go back to necessarily but sometimes I miss it. I work very well in chaos.
I have tried meds to zoink me out and they do work, but I prefer not to be dependent.
Yeah I have guilt in amy job that im not working hard enough ha. Murica!
You made it out of the bad working conditions, use this free time to fix your mental health.
It is a privilege, dont waste it.
Bad times might come back any day.
Honestly I used to get this, now I just focus on what tangible deliverables I have and if I’m getting them done in a timely manner. If I am, I take whatever time I need away from work.
I also like working flexible hours. Sometimes meetings bog me down and I have trouble constantly context switching (there’s something called a context switching cognitive penalty). So on those days I’ll relax in between meetings (other than some minor maintenance and meeting prep work), and then I’ll get some work done after hours when I’m feeling more focused and won’t be interrupted. Though this may not be possible for everyone with family obligations.
Finally, find some fun projects to do at work in between other obligations. Doesn’t have to be some major thing, but sometimes I’ll find an opportunity to develop minor tooling to help myself or my team. I try to find things that will also develop my own skillset.
Bonus is that a lot of my side projects get brought up during my performance review.
The above makes it sound like I work way more than 40 hours a week, I definitely do not lol. But doing things at my own pace lets me get all my work done and then some, and I have a work life balance.