You see the title. Starting out my IT career at the age of 18. I would get projects from my boss and finish it a week early. What do I get? Good job, here’s more work. I was blinded and naive. Faster work = good image = good employee, I was so wrong. This will become the normal and corporate will start to “expect” faster work from you.
I am now 23, I still occasionally finish projects a week early (Elden Ring prep haha) but I would never tell my boss that I did. Why should I? So I can get more work? Earliest I would turn in is a day before. I get raises for being “consistent” never got extra unnecessary work “just because”, and a shit load of down time.
If I can give my younger self an advice it would be “Stop sweating your ass off for these billionaire corporations, come to work, do what you need to do and clock out”