I’m working in an office. I’m not paid based on the amount of work I do, but rather, the amount of time that I am in the office doing work. Get the difference? This means that I don’t get a bonus for finishing my work faster. It means that if I finish my work faster and there’s nothing left to do, I lose money because I lose hours. Does that make any sense? It’s an odd, counterproductive system. It compels me to work slower to “work the clock” and get the 8 hours I’m expected to work. I get penalized for finishing work quicker and having nothing to do, as if it is my fault. That’s barely fair.

So as a result of all of this, I work slower. I try my best to fill in my workload within at least seven hours. Every other week, there has been a much larger load of work. One might figure that more work would make me less happy, but actually, it’s quite the opposite. If I have enough data entry work to do, I don’t have to fake work and I can work at normal speed for the whole day. It’s easier to do the real thing than to act like you’re doing the real thing.

The intern I work with doesn’t follow this theory, unfortunately, and when she comes in, work gets done much faster. Of course, this means there is less work for both of us to do, and it might drive both of us home earlier. Quite frankly, there isn’t always enough work for two interns here in the first place. I remember when I wanted another intern around. Now, not so much.

It’s my last week, though. So it is what it is, and it’ll end very soon. Good experience, good pay.