Consider that if you're more productive than average, it is very unlikely your employer will pay your salary proportionally to your productivity. Taking it eas

Consider that if you're more productive than average, it is very unlikely your employer will pay your salary proportionally to your productivity. Taking it easy and leaving early is often the only way you'll recover this otherwise wasted effort and get a chance to recharge. Often I'll put in 60+ hours one week to enhance productivity in a project at work, then spend the next few weeks coasting on my effort. Of course, in my spare "coasting time" I'm usually playing with new technologies and tools, so its hard to say that doesn't provide value to my employer in the long run. The important thing is to guard your time jealously, and avoid an employer that pries too much into it, or wastes it with useless meetings. Find an environment that cares more about results than warm bodies in chairs for 8 fixed hours a day.