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For me, the potential value of virtually any motivation to work
overtime is negated by the sense that a bad situation isn't going
to change.
It's one thing to put in long hours *occasionally*; both
publishing and software development are extremely deadline-driven
businesses, and most of us who work in them take being faced with
*some* deadline crunches very much in stride.
Working long hours is an entirely different thing, however, when
it's the norm rather than the exception. It's especially rough
when it's clear that constant deadline crunches and a chronic
sense of crisis could be eliminated with better management -- but
that management isn't going to get better.
In my case, the motivation for years of long hours was pride in
my work and the desire to produce documentation that was
complete, accurate, and truly readable. Even that wasn't enough
after too many nights of shopping for groceries on the way home
at 10 p.m. -- and after it finally sunk in that I had no
realistic expectation of being able to routinely work fewer
hours. I don't think I'd have felt any differently had the
motivation been financial.
