Since it is mismanagement sometimes. Do you then have periods where you are twiddling your thumbs (or ebaying, or visiting here) waiting for more work? If so, can you go seek more work on your own? Also if you keep yourself busy during these slow times, can you bring that up during crunch as far as having more leeway to…
So I take it ghost or Daz, that making anything for the benefit of the company at your locations is worthless for you and them in the downtime? I mean that they are disorganized or what not that anything you create isn't used anyways, or that they don't even bother to give you a kudos for your fortitude?
download porn. play games until they tell you to stop. scream in the producers face until they tell you to go home. Break your computer. pretend your mouse is a nerf ball and throw it at your creative directors head. spam email people you don't know in the company with limecat.net. The time will pass............…
I don't think you can build up a bank of pre-emptive crunch hours. That would be lame. People would probably just tell you to fuck off. Soul's words are pretty much it.
Every job has down time and crunch time. Some days (or weeks) its like OMFG busy-busy. Other times is OMFG zzzzzzzzz... But most jobs/employers expect you to keep yourself busy if you finish a task and have nothing else to do. Busy with other work, not surfing that is.
if you run out of work in crunch time, there are usually plenty of other people around you with too much still to do ... help out where you can. If no-one wants your help for fear of breaking stuff at a crucial point, make coffee or something. Go to the all night petrol-station for bottles of coke. Tidy the place up.…
I spend slow time learning new tools & techniques. Or editing our help docs. Or demoing new engine features. Or taking some of the workload off another artist. There's always something constructive to do. Definitely can't bank slow hours against crunch ones. Although I have seen an incentive that kinda worked... crunch…