<story><title>Should you work fixed hours, even if you have a flexible schedule?</title><url>https://remote.ma/2022/03/16/should-you-work-fixed-hours/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>darkerside</author><text>There&amp;#x27;s a difference between working fixed hours, working a fixed amount of time, and working within boundaries. I think it&amp;#x27;s a level you work your way up.&lt;p&gt;Early career, just work fixed hours. You don&amp;#x27;t have a sense for what is reasonable yet, and this is a good way to build up a work ethic and understand your limits.&lt;p&gt;Once you&amp;#x27;re comfortable there, tweak your hours as needed. This might mean working the same irregular hours every day (parents can schedule around their kids) or just making sure that when you hit a number, you call it a day (wake up early and work so you can go hiking in the afternoon).&lt;p&gt;As you get to know yourself better, you&amp;#x27;ll know when you&amp;#x27;ve put in good day&amp;#x27;s work, when you have capacity to keep going, and when you need to dial it back.&lt;p&gt;This last stage is important if you aspire to leadership roles. In these roles, you are never done, there is always more you can do to improve your business, so you need to find your sustainable boundary and stick to it.</text></comment>
<story><title>Should you work fixed hours, even if you have a flexible schedule?</title><url>https://remote.ma/2022/03/16/should-you-work-fixed-hours/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>hericium</author><text>I have trouble focusing and flexible hours help me avoid wasting work-incapable time on &amp;quot;being at work&amp;quot; (and not doing any). I never billed customers for additional time so was wasting a lot of it on attempts to get some work done, when I couldn&amp;#x27;t concentrate. Later I was spending additional time on doing actual work.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m doing flexible remote for a few years now and never been more productive. Less stress from &amp;quot;I can&amp;#x27;t concentrate&amp;quot; frustration, tidy backlog, more and better work done in less time. More time for other customers or side projects, hobbies and family&amp;#x2F;social.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m trying not to be indispensable. I&amp;#x27;m there when I&amp;#x27;m needed but there is no constant &amp;quot;being on call&amp;quot; feeling.</text></comment>