Here’s a sign that you’re in a good spot professionally: the clock strikes five or five thirty, and you haven’t gotten done what you set out to do that day. Instead of saying well, it’s quittin’ time, guess I’ll pick back up here tomorrow. You crack your knuckles and brew a pot of coffee and say well, guess it’s gonna be a late night tonight.

Personally, I think there’s something thrilling about it. You might hear that and think ew, no thank you. That is someone being forced to burn the midnight oil, and stay late like some typical office lackey, probably because their boss is telling them to. Poor sap.

I think if you can get to a place in your professional life where you can choose to stay late, you might consider yourself blessed. You stay late not because you’ll get in trouble if you don’t, (though maybe you will over the long term) but because you want to, because the thought of going to bed is only enticing if you can do so with the satisfaction of a clear docket, and because there isn’t much else you’d rather be doing anyway.

It might look like ass to all your friends, and in some ways, it sure is. But most people hate their jobs, and aren’t interested in developing skills in their area of work. And yet, skills pay bills. So if you realize that you don’t mind working late, as I did recently, do yourself a favor and take a moment to appreciate it.