Quote:
Originally Posted by braisler
I work a pretty standard schedule of about 40 hours a week. I have a good bit of flexibility as I run my own lab, so I pretty much decide when I need to be here based on what needs to get done and when. Most days I'm in by 8-8:30 and out around 4:30-5 with lunch at my desk while working.
I guess what strikes me as odd or off-putting is the ridiculous number of hours that some people work. Whether they are required to by their job, or require it of themselves, it just seems excessive to me. I pretty much enjoy my job and the work that I do, but I would venture that a lot of people don't enjoy their jobs. If it wasn't for the need of income, most people wouldn't work as much as they do currently... or wouldn't work at all.
It seems to be a largely US based problem, but I'm sure that other countries suffer from it as well, that we work and work and work putting in more and more hours without seeing any benefit to ourselves. I have colleagues in Italy and Germany who do similar work to what I do and they typically take off for 2-3 months a year during the summer. That kind of break here in the states is absolutely unheard of in most professions. I consider myself fortunate in my current position to get 3 weeks paid vacation per year.
Does anyone else feel that people typically work more hours than they should have to just to make a living?
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I tell you it's no way to live. I found myself working not out of need but simply because it's what I did. I think I kind of freaked when I got out of the Navy and had to be responsible for a child. I started out just working the government job and doing school. Then I needed to pay for school so I started a small weekend construction business. But even after the student loans were repaid I just kept going. For a long time I never took vacations. With the state if you built up more then 200 hours vacation you started to loose it. I lost a ton of vacation hours the first ten years or so. I finally woke up to how stupid that was and started taking 3-4 weeks a year, after 15 years with the state you got four weeks. I used them all and went to some really cool places. But I still ended up calling work once a week just to check in.
Trust me it's no way to live. Take vacations, enjoy your days off and spend time as much time as possible with friends and loved ones. Life's just too damn short.