Blog #440: The Importance of Company Time to Neurodivergent Entrepreneurs
- Jeffrey Snyder
- May 23, 2024
- 3 min read
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Ever since I founded “Going the Distance” 3 years ago this month, one of the things I strongly believe in is the importance of company time. Working in retail for nearly 20 years taught me that wasting one’s time is never a good idea and it can make yourself and the employer look bad.
But when you are an entrepreneur, company time is valuable almost like a rigid routine. Sure, you might need to shake things up a bit, but the important factor is to lose as little company time as possible. For example, this morning, I had scheduled a two hour work period at one of my offices at Starbucks in Seekonk, MA. Due to a thunderstorm and another matter on the other end of my transportation, I ended being delayed 5-10 minutes.
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Now to some people, particularly neurotypical individuals, being delayed 5-10 minutes may not seem like it’s a big deal, but in business, especially those who are neurodivergent entrepreneurs or employees, it is a big deal. One of the things that annoys me greatly is how some people view company time as no big deal, especially if there is no full understanding of the concept. Sure, there are going to be moments where things are out of your control, but it’s all the same.
When you are running a business, whether its self-run or you have underlings working for you, it’s important to spread the importance of company time. The lost 5-10 minutes I had could have been getting a little more extra time to get what I need to get done, well, done. Plus, my breakfast and hot chocolate at Starbucks would have been nice and warm (but that’s beside the point).
Now, when it comes to some employees or employers, perhaps they have a mindset that they can play by their own rules and still get paid for doing what they are paid to do. A few years ago, we had an employee hired to do the carts at my day job, but when it came to actually doing the job, he actually wanted to beat to his own drum and not be a team player. Well, it’s clear that he didn’t last very long because he was fired after a few days.
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Now, there may be some accommodations needed for the individual that go against the company time of the business. For example, if you want the individual to have their cell phone on them at all times in a job, then that is a necessary accommodation. If you need to use the loo, then that’s an accommodation to have on company time. If you need to have your iPod on because it’s a coping mechanism, that’s an accommodation that can be made on company time.
But what isn’t an accommodation is to play the game by your own rules because much like the individual I talked about, you won’t last long at the place of employment because all that you do that is against the mission of the business is all on company time. At my former day job, I’ve had seen several people abuse company time and they were never fired because my job was a union job.
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As a matter of fact, teaching about the importance of company time actually begins in school. When I was a student in the Seekonk Public School system from the 1990s to the 2000’s, I treated going to school as going to a job. The time I was on was not my time, but the time of my teachers and the time of the class and school. Naturally, those who went against the time of the teachers and the school suffered the consequences as a way of teaching that this is what will happen once you get that high school diploma or college degree.
The important factor is as a neurodivergent entrepreneur, I hold my company time at Going the Distance in very high regard and company time is essential because that’s time tasks related to the business need to get done. If I had employees that were working for me, I would say that if you aren’t going to take company time seriously, you’re gone.
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Catch you all later!!
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