How many hours do you work a day? (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

9-6 for me. I try as much as possible to get out for at least 30-45 minutes for lunch every day. Sure it kills the wallet, but it's WELL worth it. The days I have to eat in, SUCK! I need that break to better deal with the work flow.

Although, I work a lot with video and video capturing. This past week, I've had a ton of 90 minutes tapes to capture. It's nice to set up a capture, then have 90 minutes to surf (on another computer). I can bill for the time, so it's not like I'm goofing off. It's great!

I can also set up a 90 minute tape just before lunch and let it chug away while I'm out. And I can bill for that time.


p.s. I also wait until at least 1pm for lunch because the day goes by MUCH quicker (after lunch) than if I ate at noon.

 

[andrew markworthy]

I'm amazed we've got so far without anyone quoting the Monty Python Four Yorkshiremen sketch ('luxury! - in my day ...' and before anyone says it, yes I know it's from the 'At Last the 1948 Show', not Monty Python, who adapted it for a stage show).

Okay, back on thread. As a lazy university prof with massive vacations and nothing to do but teach a couple of lectures a week and then laze away:

Typically start my day at 8.00 a.m. (only way to be sure of getting a car parking spot closer than 100000000000 miles to my office). Work at the office/give lectures/have meetings [lunch at my desk] and then come back home, typically trying to get away before rush hour. I then will work at my computer until circa 9 or 9.30, taking half an hour out of that for dinner. I also during the day try to take the occasional mini-break away from thinking about work.

However, I do take weekends off (unless we are really busy or I have a tight deadline) and I take all my vacation in one long stretch and I then totally switch off from work.

And: I love my job. It's far shorter hours than when I started (in a previous job when I was head of department on top of my other duties I was working until 2 or 3 in the morning keeping up with the administration). I'm working on things I like (trust me, you don't go into pure research for the money) and if I want to take time out I can do. I'm also fortunate that I have a patient wife and kids who are reasonably self-reliant.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Try running a business. The work never ends.

 

[Paul Padilla]

6:30 to 3:30 M-F. One late night...(7 at the latest)...per month barring emergencies. (I'm a network admin). I am one of the worst morning people on the planet but here in CA we deal primarily with Central & East coast time zones. Very relaxed boss who has no problem with extra time at lunch or cut out early here and there because he knows I always put my hours in one way or another.

There are live to work-ers like Jeff G who seem to really enjoy what they're doing, which is awesome. Personally, I'm ecstatic that I don't absolutely loathe my job. Sad, but that in itself is huge step up for me. It's nice not to wake up in the morning genuinely wishing to get in a car accident.

But I have a very difficult time with the oh so driven type-A live to work-ers. So many of them so devoutly worship ye almighty dollar sign it's a little sickening. They can't not work...always have to be moving and shaking and wheeling and dealing and splishing and a splashing. (but I digress)

The ones I know, (count a brother and sister in law in that) seem to me to be using work to avoid personal interaction IMHO. It's as if they feel that if they can always claim they're busy, they don't have to connect with anyone...including themselves. My parents house is directly enroute to essentially everywhere for bro & sis inlaw, but it's rare that they'll stop in to chat. Read...next to never for sis-n-law. It really hurts my Mom's feelings. They are in no way hurting for money, but every minute of their day seems to be taken.

 

[Joe S]

8 hours per day, occasionally have to stay longer to work out problems, but I am an "outsourced" employee, authorized for 40 hrs/week- that's fine with me.

 

[Stephen Orr]

On the clock, I work 7:35 - 2:55 (I'm a school teacher). Off the clock, I usually put in another hour per day, plus at least 3-5 hours on the weekend (unless it's report card week!)

 

[Dan Hine]

USMC: On Call 24/7. I win.

 

[todd s]

Dan, Thanks for your service.

 

[Philip_G]

I'm salary, scheduled for four 10's but in reality it's 4 elevens and a twelve..

 

[RobertR]

10 hours a day, 4 days a week. I'd never go back to working on Mondays.

 

[Phill O]

I work 15:00 to 23:00. I have rotating days off. For example
one week I might have Monday-Tuesday off. Then the next week I'll have Tuesday-Wendsday off, and so on. I also have my schedule planed out for the year. I like that, it makes it easier to plan vacations, excitera.

 

[Jacinto]

I'm self-employed and work out of the house. I'd say I average around 4 hours of work per day, and sometimes have to work weekends to meet deadlines. At my old office job, I was stuck in the office 8 hrs. a day, even though I really only did around 4 hrs. of real work per day. Now I work about the same amount of time per day, get paid way more per hour, and when I'm done, my time is my own to spend with my wife, my kids, or at the gym, and I don't waste a minute of my life commuting. I'm not swimming in money by any means, but the rewards of not having my kids in daycare are priceless, as is all the extra time I get with my wife on the two days a week she isn't working (12 hr. shifts as a nurse).

 

[Nathan Eddy]

I can work as many hours a day as I wish. Right now, I usually work 8 to 5, but that's only because of the limits of daylight. During the summer, I'll work longer hours. However, I work 7 days a week, only taking time off about once every 3-4 weeks to fly home and see the family. I'm a project manager (i.e. salesman) for a roofing company in Gulfport MS, helping to repair the storm damage of Katrina, so the work never ends. There's always more to do. I figure we'll be done just in time for the next hurricane season.

But I love my job. I don't really have a boss that tells me what to do. I can go where ever I want, whenever I want. I don't have anyone looking over my shoulder to see if I'm working or goofing off. I usually only go to the office when I've got paper work to turn in. This freedom makes a huge difference. I determine how successful I am. There is something strangely motivating in the fact that I don't HAVE to go to work today--so much so that I'm working harder than I ever have in my life. And the money is fantastic. There's always that.

 

[Scott Dautel]

I'm out the door at 7 AM & often doing messages from the car. working pretty steady until 6:00 PM. Home for dinner, help the kidlets with homework, then often working again (laptop) 9-11 PM.

Yup ... lunch is ~20 min at the desk. This all adds up to approx 60 hr weeks, but more when I'm travelling, which is approx 4-5 days per month. I just counted ... I've had 5 total vacation days since July.

I work in a fairly large multinational corporation. A sched like mine is pretty normal for a core group of people that intend to move up. There are quite a few who put in 8-5 every day, but they're stuck where they are and run the risk of losing their jobs if business slumps.

What I dont get are the 20-somethings coming out of college now. I read surveys and interviews and I'm almost always hearing the same message from this group .... "I expect to make a lot of money at my career, but I'm going to be sure to reserve plenty of time out for me and have a life, too".

HELLO ... nope, doesn't work that way! Never did, never will. Getting worse now with global job competition. Unless you've figured a sure-fire way to become a hit rock/movie star ... figure on working your ass off. If you're going to have a family and a own a decent home, plan on basically ZERO time for you for the next oh say 40 years.

I think that sounded like I'm miserable. Not really true. I have a pretty nice life and pretty good job security. But it certainly does seem like current generations are working alot harder on average than 20 or 30 years ago & I dont see how it can go much further.

 

[Jeremiah]

I work about 40 hours a week, usually 8 to 4:30, I work in home remodeling so 35-45 hours is about right. I would work 12-16 a day if I could, I am a hours whore. Eat my lunch on the job site or at the fast food place.

 

[NickSo]

approx 9am - approx 6pm. 1 hour lunch. pretty standard, 'cept they're pretty flexible with hours.

 

[Ron-P]

I work 6am to 3pm (actual in office hours), but, I also commute 150 miles round trip each day which adds an additional hour in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon, so, my "real" work hours are from 5am to 4:30pm, almost 12 hour days.

Just recently I told by boss I was quitting due to the commute, we worked it out so I can work 1 to 2 days from home and commute in only 3 or 4 days a week.

The best part, I get all my "take home work" done in the office so for my work days at home, I have no work. It's working our great. Add to that, I drive a company funded Chevy truck which comes with a company gas card so there is no money out of my pocket for the commute, and I can use the company truck for personal use.

My lunches usually average an hour and a half and the boss pays, we go to nice eateries, no fast food joints.

 

[MarkHastings]

I hear ya! I leave at 8am and get home at 7:30pm every day. It's rough. By the time I get home, I barely have enough time to eat dinner before it gets too late. It sucks not being able to do a whole hell of a lot during the week.

 

[Ron-P]

That's tough Mark, I go in early on purpose so I can get home at a decent hour. I could not handle getting home that late.

 

[Kain_C]

I work retail so I have the worst hours. You never know if you're lucky to get 40 hours (which you never do) or if you're going to have to settle for 32 hours a week. I may have to work at 7 am one day or come in late and work until 11 or 12 at night another day. Sometimes I work late one night and have to come back at 7 am the next day, which is terrible because you do not have time to do anything, so I end up maybe getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep before going right back to work.

I'm trying to get something else started that will end my retail career for good and which I plan on never going back into once I'm gone.