work is so time consuming
One of the best things about being one-fourth of a small business is that we can work whenever we want, as long as we get our work done. Those with a kid can take off and do kid-related-school/summer camp things, those of us who go to school can be gone for chunks of the day, Kate can go rescue a puppy in need, etc. One of the worst things about being one-fourth of a small business is that we tend to work our asses off, because every little 15-minute-billable-chunk is important. Every single one of them.
We have this time-tracking thing I built almost 5 years ago, and it's served us well. My favorite report is the utilization (non-vacation/sick/lunch/holiday hours worked divided by hours in the pay period) and billing report (billable hours worked divided by hours in the pay period), because I get to see where I stack up with my co-workers. Of course, when mkd has 115% utilization for the pay period and I only have 75%, I feel like crap. But over the course of a year (or quarter), it all works out and it ends up that we utilize and bill about the same.
This week has been one of those times when the three of us who bill are already at like 70% utilization, with half of the pay period left to go. By the end of the weekend we'll probably all stand at 85%. I'm very goal-oriented; I don't mind working this much when I know there's an extra reward at the end. There's some scuttlebutt that we may take a day off and go to a doubleheader. Or, at least Barkarby would because they're her tickets. :) I was lobbying for
cuban food last night, but everyone was too tired. I'll keep lobbying, because I love me some mojito!
If you're wondering why the other person in our gang doesn't have large numbers like the rest of us, it's because Kate is the resource manager and none of her 8 hours are directly billable to anyone. That's ok, because she writes the checks. When she's not check-writing or bill-collecting, she writes blog entries about the importance of having a
sanitary napkin and a cigarette in your first aid kit, the trials and tribulations of
being a girl and selling a car and how to (or not)
keep a Portuguese Water Dog out of your koi pond. Really, she's a font of information.
