Yeah, I don't know what kind of job you had, but some of us have jobs that involve constant workflow. It's not a matter of "needing more time to do it". It's a matter of every day brings in new stuff; therefore, if I am not there that day to deal with it, it's still waiting for me the next day, along with THAT day's stuff.
And I don't work more than 40 hours a week. I just need to actually be present for that 40.
You should also keep in mind that, as I said, before I got here it took three people to do what I now do all by myself.
I am a Statistician, my job is a constant flow of projects for clients. Each project is separate and distinct and has it own timeline and parameters. Some are simply about data, some are data and analysis and some throw in making recommendations based off of the data and the analysis.
I never do not have multiple projects happening at the same time. Some are projects I am the lead for, others are projects I am a team member on.
Each project last from around a month to 6 months depending on the size and scope.
My performance is judged by timeliness, accuracy and completeness of the data and the analysis.
I'm an administrative assistant for a legal transcription company. Every single weekday, the client for whom I am responsible has six different courts running, and the court reporters upload the entire day's audio every evening, as well as log notes, docket calendars, etc. I come in in the morning and process all of the uploads from all six reporters the previous day (16+ hours of audio a day), then process and verify all of the transcript orders put in by the client from that audio, then assign the transcription jobs to our various transcribers and proofreaders. Once a transcript has been produced, it is also my job to check each one over to make sure everything is correct before sending it to the printer. While I'm doing all that, THAT day's uploads and orders are trickling in for me to process. Also, it is my responsibility to communicate with the transcribers and proofers, answering any questions or emergencies that come up, re-assigning jobs because someone's cat has to go to the vet (yes, I have really gotten that excuse), and communicate with the reporters to let them know there are problems with their work product, etc.
So literally, my job is a day-to-day workflow thing. If I miss a day, then either someone else is going to have to find time to process 16+ hours of audio and approximately 120 transcript orders, plus responding to emergencies, OR it's all going to be waiting there for me the next day in addition to THAT day's 16 hours of audio and 120 transcript orders, AND the assigned transcripts that got stopped because of an emergency are now late to the client, who is now charging us a fee for being late.
Basically, I miss days when my body literally is not available to sit up in a computer chair. That's it.