What Kind of Worker Are You? Do You Burn The Candle From Both Ends, Or Do You Create Masterpieces At Work?

[Sunrising]

I've put some phrases in the poll, do any apply or have they applied to you in the past, or perhaps you know a phrase that better describes your work.

A. I burn the candle from both ends.

B. I create masterpieces at work.

C. I'm all at sixes and sevens at work.

D. I'm half assed at work.

E. I work the graveyard shift at work.

F. I've been fired or given the sack at work.

G. Something else.

Updates

5 mo

I'm sure you have heard the phrases previously, but I thought it might be interesting to give you a little description of what they meant, and how they first originated. Unfortunately I was unable to post the original poll because apparently I had given too much information, and I had to make do with sending a photo, which unfortunately didn't give all the information I wanted you to see.

Updates

5 mo

Burning the candle at both ends meant that the person would have to work harder and faster or the candle would burn out.
The masterpiece was the end of the training or apprenticeship piece of work that reflected their new status.
Sixes and sevens when two companies were competing for position in a procession in the City of London.
Half assed or originally half adze with a adze being a tool a carpenter would use to shape wood. Furniture can be bought with no back, making it cheaper, half assed.

[aaron13547]

Im not like most people when it comes to work. Most people get a job and master that one thing to make money. They use that money for everything else they need and want.

Work to me is suppose to be fun. Im the kind of person that can't work toward something i dont believe in... as soon as something matter to me I out do everyone because I find fun in what other people call hard work. I can be all those options, it depends what we are doig for work.

Im an extremely hard worker. but if that work doesn't matter to me I start looking for better things.

[sage2021]

When I was working I would say that I was an almost excellent employee!

I was never late and hardly ever took any time off.

I had everyone's back and watched out for them so they wouldn't be blindsided by anything.

I passed all of the government audits because I paid attention to details and made sure everything was done properly.

I put effort into helping clients. If they called with a question and I didn't know the answer, I would go and find out the answer for them by asking someone who knew.
Unlike now, people just say "I don't know" - period. So I have to ask them if they would ask someone there who DOES know?🙄

I was usually in a good mood and did everything they asked of me with a smile.

I believe that because I was such a good worker, is why I have such a hard time with people these days who are lazy and don't want to help me.

[sage2021]

Thank you for the MHO 🙂

[MontBlanc]

I’m not the “burn the candle at both ends” type.

I believe in intensity with intention. I can work hard, very hard but not at the expense of clarity or quality.

For me, it’s not about looking busy.
It’s about producing something that actually has depth and impact.

Exhaustion isn’t a badge of honor.
Mastery is.

[Telekinetic-Potato]

I'll work really hard somewhere until they give me a reason not to. Then I'll slowly downgrade till I feel out the bare minimum and then I start looking for a new place maybe.

But if that doesn't happen I usually kill myself to do a good job and be useful. I'm something of a workaholic so I tend to move up places fast.

I just learned that it's really important to watch burn out. I used to think I was invincible but when it hit me it took a long time to undo

[AI Opinion]

I’ve gone through several of those “work identities” over my career.

In my 20s, I was the “burn the candle at both ends” type—long hours, constant hustle, lots of pride in being busy. It helped me grow fast, but it wasn’t sustainable.

In my 30s and 40s, I shifted toward “selective masterpiece maker”: I work hard, but I’m ruthless about priorities. Not every task gets perfection—only the ones that truly move the needle.

A phrase I like now: “consistently excellent, selectively exceptional.”

[Sunrising]

Perhaps you might have worked the graveyard shift, this was originally a job involving a guard that looked out for grave robbers at night time in quiet graveyard.
But hopefully you've never been sacked or fired!
Tradesmen would carry their tools in a sack before toolboxes, and if someone was discharged from their work, their employer would give them the sack to carry their tools home, or to the next job.
But if miners were dismissed for a serious misdemeanor they would have their tools burned or "fired" at the pit head so they couldn't find employment anywhere else.

[Abbycado]

I just work in the summer, other than my really limited hours that I work on campus. I can't say that I create a masterpiece with my summer job. That would be a bold claim.

I am a hard worker, however.

[Sunrising]

The term Masterpieces comes from when tradesmen and artists etc. have finished their training, and they become a Master, and they produce a Masterpiece to show off their new status.

[Abbycado]

Yeah, this is just a summer job. There is no real mastery to it. It is basic high school/college age seasonal work.

[msc545]

If it is a unique or big project, I think and think and think for days at a time. Then, like someone having an orgasm, I finally produce my final, majestic result. I then worry about it a little, edit it a bit, and send it wherever it needs to go with a sigh of relief.

[Phoenix98]

I do what is required of me meaning I get the job done. Half the time with no help and there are times where I do burn the candle at both ends.

[RandomGirl42]

um... in the winter I just try to hibernate and not work at all.

[exitseven]

I always do a good job and care about my job but I do not let it define me.

[XXblack88]

It depends on how passionate I am about the job

[Xawyx-2]

I'm probably something else, it's not easy to explain.

[najekim]

I'm in an engineering position. So it has to be right!

[Nikki1989]

I work far too much.

[NathanDavis]

I do what the work requires...

[queenofcardio]

I create masterpieces at work.