punch the clock
Log work hours
To punch the clock is to record one's arrival or departure at work, originally by inserting a timecard into a mechanical clock that stamps the time.
The phrase often carries connotations of routine, uninspired work—just putting in hours rather than being engaged: He's just punching the clock until retirement.
Someone who punches the clock does their job but nothing more.
- daily grindWearisome regular routine
- nine to fiveStandard workday timeframe
- attendanceRecord of who's present
- rat raceExhausting competitive work routine
- dead end jobPosition offering no advancement
shift work · obligation · time card · payroll · habit · monotony · timesheet · employee handbook · conformity · regularity · overtime · consistency · same old routine · schedule · duty-bound · wage slave · predictability · job description
- workjob, 9 to 5, jobs, labor, employee
- labor idiomsnose to the grindstone, burning the midnight oil, pull your weight, crunch time, work like a dog
- work ethicdiligence, hard worker, industriousness, go-getter, hard work
- Work JargonASAP, FYI, EOD, synergy, deliverable
punch the clockgo above and beyond
meaningful work · vocation · labor of love · burn the midnight oil
punch the clockself-employment
Working for yourself
freelance · entrepreneurship · independent contractor · sole proprietor · gig economy
punch, clock, punched, punching, punches, puncher, clocks, clocked, clocking