depends on who you’re working for an what industry you’re in.
Then I’m misunderstanding you - I’ve only ever heard the word associated with programming and in that context it’s mostly negative. I’ve been in similar situations as you describe, where the extra worktime/load is compensated for with more time off and a higher per-hour wage. With the extra time off people don’t have to be in “job-mode” all the time and over all it seems like a different, but still balanced relationship between personal and professional life.
When people talk about “crunch” I’m basically thinking work in front of the computer, eat take-away and sleep under the desk 24/7 until the project is done. Often for months at a time, with the only compensation being monetary - No time off to balance out the workload.
What you’re describing seems more like jobs so “adventurous” that they don’t fit inside the standard 9-5 box rather than the crunch I’m thinking of. Walking around in the woods with a magnetometer is a grand adventure compared to debugging code for 18 hrs. a day.
I do that too. But I started my own business now, later in my career, and crunch time is of my own choosing. And weirdly, I’m most effective as a coder when binge coding – probably something about the context switching penalties.
Then I’m misunderstanding you - I’ve only ever heard the word associated with programming and in that context it’s mostly negative. I’ve been in similar situations as you describe, where the extra worktime/load is compensated for with more time off and a higher per-hour wage. With the extra time off people don’t have to be in “job-mode” all the time and over all it seems like a different, but still balanced relationship between personal and professional life.
When people talk about “crunch” I’m basically thinking work in front of the computer, eat take-away and sleep under the desk 24/7 until the project is done. Often for months at a time, with the only compensation being monetary - No time off to balance out the workload.
What you’re describing seems more like jobs so “adventurous” that they don’t fit inside the standard 9-5 box rather than the crunch I’m thinking of. Walking around in the woods with a magnetometer is a grand adventure compared to debugging code for 18 hrs. a day.
I do that too. But I started my own business now, later in my career, and crunch time is of my own choosing. And weirdly, I’m most effective as a coder when binge coding – probably something about the context switching penalties.