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I chose to, out in Utah I had the option to go from 40-80 hours a week if I so chose to. It wasn't draining but not many places openly allow for whatever you want.
At my job, it's hard for me to fathom that type of environment...I tend to get in before 830 and don't stay past 5...maybe even 445...I have a pretty long commute (100 minutes door to door one way),
Remember you're coming from one view. There's many who work 50 and that's normal for them. Auto mechs for one. Many love their work and even when off duty, will work on cars for friends (And for side cash) I once worked no less than 55 hours a week for a company for several years. Nature of the beast (Japanese Company, go figure) I'd have complained but I was making good money then and my boss and supervisor were doing 5-15 hours more than I.
I'm now looking at a job which the basics are 10 hours a day M-T and F-S for OT. Why? They have 2 shifts, making cleanroom equipment. Big seller and the company is begging for workers, so that's what they want and I am willing. Mainly it's money for the hourly workers, not everyone is salaried...
I can't answer for the poster you were asking, but in my case, I had a commute like that for most of my working life and even longer for the last five or six.
"Moving closer" is not a viable option for most people who live in New Jersey and work in the city. An hour and a half is about average door to door. Manhattan is on an island, there are a finite number of ways to cross the water from NJ to the city, and you've got a quarter million people trying to do that during the same window of time every day.
Even if you live in one of the cities on the Jersey side of the Hudson it will take you half an hour to get to work in the city. and if you do live in one of those cities, you don't have a backyard and you have to pay for private school because they are urban areas that don't have good, safe, public schools. There are some very expensive areas in those cities, but again, they are not sf homes with yards and good schools. Most people want the suburban life that the city job salary provides for.
We get people all the time on the NJ forum who have accepted a job in the city and are inquiring into where to live. They want a house with a big yard in a nice family neighborhood, good schools--and a 45-minute commute. We tell them to pick two, because there is no such thing as all three. It is usually the commute that they have to get a grip on reality about.
When I work that many hours, it is simply because the volume of work cannot be completed by a deadline without putting in the extra hours. That happens occasionally but not all the time at my job. Some places it is pretty regular - and I call poor management/business practice when that is the case - i.e. they need to hire more people or upgrade equipment etc.
I studied electrical engineering in college, graduated from a pretty good school, i never counted how many hours i studied, but there were many times i only slept 4 or 5 hrs a day, and i did this for probably 3 out of the 4yrs that i was in college. When i first graduated from college and started working, i kinda took easy on myself, worked 40 hrs a week just like others and used my spare time to travel and did things that made me happy. I didn't live like everyday like it was the last day of my life, but i lived like every year was my last year.
A few years ago, my wife and I decided that we wanted to buy a 2nd house for investment purpose, to save the 20% down payment, at one point, i had 3 jobs, 1 full time, 2 part time. Here is a schedule of what my day looked like when i had 3 jobs:
3:20am, wake up
3:30am, leave for my 1st part time job
4-8am, my first part time job
8:30am-4:20pm, my full time job
5:00pm-8:30pm, 2nd part time job
8:30pm-9:00pm, drive back home
I did this for about a week or two and decided to quit. I learned that I can do it, but not on consecutive days, so I quit the 4am job, getting up at 3:20am was too much for me, but kept my other part time job and of course full time job. I did my full and part time for about 5 months.
To answer op's question, why? because at the time, I wanted to buy my 2nd house, I wanted to buy it badly and wanted to buy it ASAP, so i worked hard, long hours, made money and eventually saved enough money and bought my 2nd house, :-)
People always say don't work hard for the money, let money work hard for you, but to let money work hard for you, you first need to have the money.
Currently, i only have a full time job, but doing some other things on the side. Nevertheless, i can definitely see myself working 8am to 9pm a day, 5 or 6 days a week if it becomes necessary, :-).
Last edited by some1livesinamerica; 01-15-2018 at 12:54 PM..
I work more than 50/week. My commute is walking 30 minutes door to door. I’m a manager of 2 teams with 13 direct reports. Super busy, tons of projects, many meetings and interruptions and administrative work so it’s hard to get things done.i also teach an online class for an Ivy League university for an in demand field. My place of work is very prestigious. I’m not rich but do ok. It’s hard right now so don’t know how long I can keep it up but am setting myself up for a good retirement (still far away) and future options.
I’m not complaining but I am busy and stressed pretty much every day for much of the day. Hopefully I make it before I have a friggin stroke.
If I have to jump on a call for 20-30 minutes to monitor and validate a deployment 1-2x a month, that's fine. Production releases to 24/7/365 systems can't be done during business hours. But working 50-60-70 hours a week all the time? Screw that.
Once in a while, sure there may be times you have to have that extended week, but it shouldn't constant. I don't know how people live that do those ridiculous hours on a continuous basis
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