My career is taking a back, back seat to everything else.

[Anonymous]

And I am feeling guilty. I am basically phoning it in at work. Not doing my best work. I think it's nearly impossible to get fired (gov't job), but my mediocre performance is making me feel bad about work generally.
Now that the 2 older kids are school-age, I really feel like I need to be home right at 5 for homework/activities. Plus I have a 2 year old, so I want to hang out with him as much as I can.
So I leave for work at 7 am to ensure a 4:30 departure. So I can't work out in the morning or at night. (Well I could at 8:30 pm, but experience has shown me that I will never, ever do that.) So I go during the work day. Then I do many household tasks at work
- signing up for activities, filling out forms, etc., do I can maximize my 5 pm-8 pm time with the kids.
So I feel like an underperformer at work.
Anyone else feel this way? Anyone have any tips for managing this better?

[Anonymous]

At least you are honest. So many of us WOHMs act like we are doing it all on here.

[Anonymous]

I could have written your post (though i only have 2 kids). Are you bored at work? Could you volunteer for a highly visible assignment so you're not tempted to do personal stuff during the day? Maybe for just long enough to regain some of your career self confidence again. Any chance your husband could pick up some slack, or just accept to let things slide at home a bit? Work life balance is never perfectly in balance - sometimes you tip one way and sometimes another...

[Anonymous]

Another one chiming in to say I am the same. I don't even work out!

[Anonymous]

And people wonder why the general public has such disdain for federal government employees. Thanks for confirming that, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I am feeling guilty. I am basically phoning it in at work. Not doing my best work. I think it's nearly impossible to get fired (gov't job), but my mediocre performance is making me feel bad about work generally.
Now that the 2 older kids are school-age, I really feel like I need to be home right at 5 for homework/activities. Plus I have a 2 year old, so I want to hang out with him as much as I can.
So I leave for work at 7 am to ensure a 4:30 departure. So I can't work out in the morning or at night. (Well I could at 8:30 pm, but experience has shown me that I will never, ever do that.) So I go during the work day. Then I do many household tasks at work
- signing up for activities, filling out forms, etc., do I can maximize my 5 pm-8 pm time with the kids.
So I feel like an underperformer at work.
Anyone else feel this way? Anyone have any tips for managing this better?

Too bad. Sorry, I dont get why you cant do you job well when you are actually there for 8 hours. Does your job require you to work after 4:30. People like you give federal employees a bad rap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And people wonder why the general public has such disdain for federal government employees. Thanks for confirming that, OP.

Sure. Everybody at private companies/firms are "on" for 7.5-9.5 hours per day, never check DCUM, pay bills, etc.

No, thanks, I don't want to buy that bridge you have for sale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And people wonder why the general public has such disdain for federal government employees. Thanks for confirming that, OP.

Sure. Everybody at private companies/firms are "on" for 7.5-9.5 hours per day, never check DCUM, pay bills, etc.

No, thanks, I don't want to buy that bridge you have for sale.

Ha. I'm at a private company and totally the same. I get paid a lot too. I don't think it's the work -honestly nothing I could be doing at work would make it a larger priority in my life. Sucks, but it's true. I'd prefer to work PT...but can't afford the cutback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And people wonder why the general public has such disdain for federal government employees. Thanks for confirming that, OP.

Sure. Everybody at private companies/firms are "on" for 7.5-9.5 hours per day, never check DCUM, pay bills, etc.

No, thanks, I don't want to buy that bridge you have for sale.

You are right, everyone slacks off at work at one point or another but I think that most people find a way to get their work done (I work some night and even some weekends). Op is admitting that she is "underperforming".

[Anonymous]

You are feeling guilty because you are spending work time not doing work. You are feeling that you have to use that time to fill in forms, work out, etc., but you do not. You need to do the work you are being paid for and then you will not feel guilty. Your employer should not suffer because you can't find the time to work out or to manage your children's activities. Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day and something has to give, but not something you are paid to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I am feeling guilty. I am basically phoning it in at work. Not doing my best work. I think it's nearly impossible to get fired (gov't job), but my mediocre performance is making me feel bad about work generally.
Now that the 2 older kids are school-age, I really feel like I need to be home right at 5 for homework/activities. Plus I have a 2 year old, so I want to hang out with him as much as I can.
So I leave for work at 7 am to ensure a 4:30 departure. So I can't work out in the morning or at night. (Well I could at 8:30 pm, but experience has shown me that I will never, ever do that.) So I go during the work day. Then I do many household tasks at work
- signing up for activities, filling out forms, etc., do I can maximize my 5 pm-8 pm time with the kids.
So I feel like an underperformer at work.
Anyone else feel this way? Anyone have any tips for managing this better?

You are not only lazy but you also have no shame. How about you make an effort to go at 8:30pm.

[Anonymous]

Not OP. If I work out (at home or at a gym) at 8 pm or later, I'm so revved I can't fall asleep for hours. I'm already a bit of an insomniac, so I don't want to make sleeping any more difficult. I understand why OP doesn't want to plan to work out in the evenings, especially if she's discovered that she's too tired to do it, or too revved afterwards to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Work to Live.

I think a lot of us have unrealistic expectations of how hard we should be working.

Set realistic goals, reach those goals, and repeat. No need to be "#1 A+ Allstar" at work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP. If I work out (at home or at a gym) at 8 pm or later, I'm so revved I can't fall asleep for hours. I'm already a bit of an insomniac, so I don't want to make sleeping any more difficult. I understand why OP doesn't want to plan to work out in the evenings, especially if she's discovered that she's too tired to do it, or too revved afterwards to sleep.

Oh, and this makes it ok to just skip out of work for an hour or more - OP, do you put in a leave slip for the times that you are out. I hope you stay on your supervisors good side bc while is a hard to get fired from a federal job the one exception is time and attendance fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Work to Live.

I think a lot of us have unrealistic expectations of how hard we should be working.

Set realistic goals, reach those goals, and repeat. No need to be "#1 A+ Allstar" at work.

Agreed, but that means finding a job that fits those goals not abusing the one that you have. Seems that OP would be perfect for a part-time gig but that would a pay cut and I am sure we can all guess how Op would feel about that option.