"I am, in fact, willing to work nights and weekends to get an assignment done on time, if that is a relatively rare event, the deadline is actually meaningful,

"I am, in fact, willing to work nights and weekends to get an assignment done on time, if that is a relatively rare event, the deadline is actually meaningful, and if when it happens it is recognized as a failure of planning that will be post-mortemed so as not to become a regular event." I'm willing to work beyond the hours if they're uncomfortable asking (or don't ask). It should be a very bad thing to ask people to work late or over weekends, and should be recognised as a sign of a big failure. If they're comfortable asking, then that person doesn't value my time.