My post today at The Chicago Manual of Style Shop Talk blog:
Merriam-Webster.com defines “work-to-rule” as “the practice by workers of refusing to do any work that is not strictly required as a part of their jobs in order to protest something (such as unfair working conditions).”
Well, that’s too harsh for my purposes. But it hints at the main idea: when you have a deadline or a specified number of hours you’re authorized to spend on a project, there’s a limit to the amount of fussing you can do, and if you find yourself running out of time, you might have to start ruthlessly eliminating the optional stuff.
Photo: Stress, by Giuseppe Savo
