One way to get ahead of the pack and advance your career is to work longer than the average person. This can mean getting in early, staying late, taking work home, or working weekends. Today I'd like to talk about the last option in this list, working weekends.
A recent piece from US News brought the topic to mind. They say that you shouldn't work weekends for the following reasons:
1) You'll come back refreshed.
2) Time heals all (work) wounds.
3) You won't bore your family and friends with tired tales about people they don't know.
4) It limits obsessive thoughts and thinking for others.
5) You'll better enjoy home and work. Or, at the very least, if one stinks, it won't as quickly leak into the other.
In past years/jobs, I worked lots of weekends. All through school, my strategy was to outwork the competition (I wasn't smarter than many others, so I gained an advantage by working harder) and that carried over into my work life. When I was just starting my career, I worked almost every weekend for several years. And those were the days before the Internet and easy mobile computing, so it meant I had to go into the office. But as time has passed, I've become more senior in my industry, my priorities (family) have gotten in line and, specifically, I've moved into my current position, I've worked very few weekends in the past five years. Maybe five at most, and then only for an hour or two here and there. Nothing major at all.
So may answer to "do you work on the weekends?" is "No, but I used to."
How about you? Do you work on the weekends? Why or why not?
Most of my jobs in high school and college involved heavy workloads on weekends, I didn't like it. Then I found an awesome job that did normal business hours. I love my weekends and don't want to ever give them up for work.
Posted by: the weakonomist | July 01, 2009 at 07:05 AM
I'm a contractor, so it depends on a project. They say time heals all wounds, but it's amazing how getting paid contract-dollars hourly can do that too sometimes. Well, to a point: Working multiple weekends in a row definitely begins to take its toll...
Posted by: Ryan | July 01, 2009 at 07:59 AM
I rarely work on the weekends. But sometimes I have to put in an hour or two of work, depending on how my week fell out. A freelance writer's deadlines don't always make for a smooth weekend.
Posted by: Miranda | July 01, 2009 at 08:39 AM
On the weekends I work on family, friends and faith.
Posted by: John Z | July 01, 2009 at 08:44 AM
I sometimes have to work weekends. I'm a Network Administrator and if I have a big upgrade or something, I have to do it when the office is closed. Luckily, this usually means I get some weekday's off during such weeks.
Posted by: Wise Money Matters | July 01, 2009 at 09:14 AM
I have a job that requires me to work on the weekends in the winter time. That said, when you are required to work weekends, you appreciate the weekends off in the summer. If I do have work that spills over, I try to do it from home.
That said, I don't think I learned the value of NOT working until I had a boyfriend who worked EVERY weekend, non-stop. Sometimes you don't realize how unavailable you become until someone else does the same.
Posted by: Jessica | July 01, 2009 at 09:16 AM
I used to work most Saturday's and late evenings because my hourly employees would come in however you need balance in your life between the various roles we engage in life: employee, son/daughter, husband/wife, father/mother, community or church leader, friend, volunteer and so on. A lot of people derive their self worth from their work that they perform and therefore think they must work in order to be worth something to society.
If the job responsibilities require you work on some weekends or extended hours then it must be done however realize if it is really the job responsibilities or your own ambitious drive.
Remember your personal Goals that should receive our attention: Intellectual, Physical, Spiritual, Family, Financial, Career, and Social.
Posted by: Pete | July 01, 2009 at 09:47 AM
i do not work on the weekends but i think my workplace is of a rare type that does not pressure anyone to do any work outside of the office and office hours (minus a couple tradeshows a year that involve working outside of office hours)
Posted by: Carrie | July 01, 2009 at 10:02 AM
As a Nurse in the Navy, weekend work was part of the job. It usually meant 2-3 weekend a month but I found that I enjoyed the days off during the week and was able to spend time with my kids that I wouldn't have had if I worked a straight shift. Now, as a church administrator, my Sundays are the busiest day of the week for me, especially as a church that meets in a school.
Posted by: Bob's Occasional Musings | July 01, 2009 at 10:19 AM
I try to divide up my weekends where Saturday is for my family (only work if it does not impose on family time) and part of Sunday, usually five or six hours, are reserved for work. Some of the weekend work I do is for the standard part of my job, but most of it is for special projects I sign up for. Although I can't seem to fit them into evenings or during my standard 45 hour work week, I take on these projects and give up much of my weekends because I find the work meaningful, a sharp contrast to the otherwise mundane work I do Mon - Fri. Having work that pays the bills and work that more closely aligns with my values provides a good balance in my life, and having structured projects in which the meaningful work fits ensures I complete it and find that meaning. Time consuming, but generally worthwhile. Although it would be nice to see some extra money for all these special projects.
Posted by: Patrick | July 01, 2009 at 10:31 AM
I've worked a few weekends in a salaried position. In past jobs, working weekends was either part of a 5 to 6 day work week or when a lot of work was required over a short term. The latter happened at a job where we were running huge data analysis jobs on a mainframe. Weekdays they ran lots of smaller and medium size jobs. It also happened when I worked for a contractor. A manufacturing plant or bakery would be closed on the weekends so that's when be would come in so as not to alter a production schedule.
Posted by: td | July 01, 2009 at 10:33 AM
No, I just don't do it. I work flat out during my regular work hours and then I'm done. There are plenty of people at my company that do work extra hours but mainly its compensating for not having enough impact during regular hours rather than working "extra".
Posted by: Peter | July 01, 2009 at 11:09 AM
I work in EMS, so there are plenty of times weekend work is required of me. My company DOES pay a weekend differential, however.
Posted by: v. Watson | July 01, 2009 at 11:11 AM
During crunch time (once or twice a year), I work 120 hr weeks split between home and office. The rest of the time, I work 40 hr weeks at work with at least one at-home all-nighter every week. Since I have had a family I rarely work on the weekend--instead, I just give up sleep during the week to get that extra work done.
But when I was without a family and just starting out? I regularly worked 12-16 hrs a day and at least 8 hrs on Saturday. It's a great thing to do if you are trying to get a foothold in your field because you look way more productive than any of your peers! And since you don't have a family then, why not? Once you get your career going you can take it a little easier.
Posted by: MC | July 01, 2009 at 11:13 AM
I definitely do not work on weekends 99.5% of the time. I'm on salary so I get no additional compensation for putting in extra time. I'd consider putting in extra hours on weekends like that to be taking a voluntary pay cut on an $/hour basis. I don't think working a bunch more hours would really impress my management. I just don't think its worth it to spend all my free time working.
Posted by: Jim | July 01, 2009 at 01:22 PM
I agree with MC, when your single without kids, it's not so much an issue to work nights or weekends. In my early 20's, I worked weekends and overnight shifts with no complaints because I was making money and getting ahead. Later when I was a single parent, I found I couldn't work weekends because daycare was only open M-F, so I had to find a day job that matched the daycare hours. I'm still at the same company, and now I prefer to keep my weekends to myself and my family, but I have no problem (but almost no chioce, ha ha) to work weekends or overtime as the business requires. Still, I think you have to keep it within reason or else the family suffers.
Posted by: Christy | July 01, 2009 at 01:40 PM
I work unusual hours (I teach in a museum), so I end up working a lot of weekends but getting a couple days off mid-week some weeks. As long as I get a couple days off, I don't care which days they are.
My wife works a nine-to-five, but will come in on weekends for a few reasons:
(1) a deadline is approaching and overtime is authorized
(2) she wants to get out early on a day mid-week (to have time to prepare for an activity)
(3) being pregnant, she's had some weeks where she can only manage to work 7-hour days, so she makes up the time on Saturdays
(4) someone calls in an emergency (major bug in the software that one or more governments is upset about, for example) and she's the right person to fix it
When the baby arrives, my wife will keep her job while I stay home with the kid. The question I'm wrestling with right now is if I'll ask for a weekend position or just quit entirely.
Posted by: LotharBot | July 01, 2009 at 02:58 PM
I am a Network Administrator and do a lot of weekend work out of necessity. I can do some of the work remotely from home but some things I have to be onsite to do.
Posted by: Pat | July 01, 2009 at 03:48 PM
Still do, but tapering off.
Investing time in you career seems to be similar to investing for retirement, extra work early in life pays a lot more dividends than trying to catch up at the end
Posted by: Strick | July 01, 2009 at 04:45 PM
Not for nearly 20 years, except when I have to travel for a meeting (leave on Sunday or return on Saturday). That happens 2-3 times per year.
Weekends are sacred!
Posted by: rwh | July 01, 2009 at 05:03 PM
Very occasionally. The stuff I do is deadline driven and we're busy, so that's just the way it is. I try to do early mornings or late nights when I have to instead and spend weekends with the husband.
The directors in my firm are always leery of people working lots of hours - they consider them inefficient and to be a risk of running over fees. So be careful with what you assume people are noticing!
Posted by: guinness416 | July 01, 2009 at 07:29 PM
I work every day and am on call 24/7. I can't wait to see what universal health care does to my desire to keep that schedule up. I take 4 weeks of vacation a year.
Posted by: aaktx | July 01, 2009 at 08:44 PM
In my job I usually work a Saturday once a quarter when we are putting together our quarterly earnings release (I work in financial reporting for a large public company). Outside of that I don't work weekends and never work Sundays (I prefer to reserve the Sabbath for things of a more spiritual nature).
Posted by: BillyOceansEleven | July 02, 2009 at 02:10 PM
I'll work a weekend or evening only if a deadline needs to be met. Otherwise, the work will wait till the next day.
Posted by: MikeS | July 02, 2009 at 04:08 PM
I'm a CEO of a company and usually work both Saturdays & Sundays. Basically I need to back up a 24 hour operation and have to do what it takes.
Practically though, I never go into the office on the weekend - hate the commute - but just respond via phone or email. Maybe 5-6 hours over the total weekend, so really not much at all.
You are right though if you work too much on the weekend you it doesn't feel so good come Monday!
-Mike
Posted by: Mike Hunt | July 04, 2009 at 12:04 AM