I've been in a consulting role at a retail client for about 6 months now. I'm contracted to work 40 hours a week, and I'm fulfilling all my responsibilities, it's just that… well, I finish them really quickly. What takes my colleagues 8 hours to do, I get done in 2 hours.
This leaves me with a lot of free time. And I mean a lot. I manage to cover any additional tasks that come my way, align outputs, and that takes maybe another 2 hours. The rest of my day is pretty much open. I watch TV, clean, go for walks—you get the idea.
Twice a week, I go into the office mainly to “show face.” The other days I work from home. When I'm in the office, I look busy, but I'm basically just twiddling my thumbs attending meetings I add no value to or invited to as a support blanket for other consultants.
Here's where my dilemma comes in: should I feel guilty about this? Should I ask the project manager for more work? I'm a firm believer that being efficient shouldn't result in punishment via additional work, but this situation seems to be pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable.
Am I taking advantage of my employer, or just benefiting from being efficient? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Edit: spelling error