More Daily Chores

When I come into work here, I have a swipe card to get into the door. I have to swipe to leave also or else the security system won't let me back in. My theory is that the system has two purposes. One, to keep people who don't work here out and two, to track the time of the people that do work here.

I then have to clock into a timesheet program with an ID number. In that program I must log into a job or else I'm not really at work (according to payroll). I also have to fill-out my name (even though everyone has their own ID number that they must use to log in to begin with) and the kind of work I am doing ie: Polishing 10lbs of shite and then stuffing it into a 5lb rainbow adorned box.

Next I do the design work and print it out for review by Stoner, Connie or Carl...or if I'm lucky all three! Once revisions are made, I send them JPEGs of the work to pass along to the client (because I can't be trusted with client contacts. Part of Carl's paranoia).  I have had my own clients at other jobs. Clients bigger than any of the ones they deal with here. And maybe to Carl's point, I do some freelance on my own for some of my previous clients.

After the many rounds of revisions, I am to print out copies of the work I've done. These are suppose to go into a job folder and then used for billing. I usually end up printing out the same things again, because someone misplaced the first print outs or the entire job folder.

Now, I understand that to make money you must track your work and for design you should track every round of revisions, but doesn't there seem to be more than one redundancy in this process? I've never had to do so much to justify the work I've done. The closest I've come to it was when I worked for one of the two big toy companies. But that was due to me being an independent contractor more than anything else.

Please share your time tracking duties. Be they small or be they mighty? Let me know if I'm just whining.