Here is something that I think is becoming more and more true the longer I spend working.


There is ”work” and there is your “career”. The latter is probably more important than the former.


Your career comprises things like the technical skills you need to build up to have longevity in this sector, soft skills you will need to build to move up the ladder and so on. Things that have value to you regardless of who is paying your pay check.


Then there is “work”, which is the things your employer is paying you to do. Maybe they want you to type “int vlan” a hundred times a day, or do things sub optimally, maybe they want you to make their stack optimal.


When there is little overlap between work and your career, then work becomes a burden. Then you have people complaining about a lack of work/life balance. If there’s good intersection between the two, then people tend to be happier.


There are also boundaries you need to set with your employer. It is true that one person not being able to set boundaries, or that one person who answers their phone all the time because they have nothing better to do, can wind up causing an expectation that all others in the team need to do the same. A reasonable employer will understand that not all people are the same. The 20 something with no family has different demands on their time vs the 30 something with a partner and young kids. The 50 something with grown up kids may look at work differently to the previous two examples. I enjoy my work, but I set firm boundaries with my employer.


There will never be enough time, but if you wind up doing things of no value for your career in the time you have, then that is on you.