Why Are People Complaining About 40 Hours a Week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
People I know are desperately looking for jobs, so WAY TO BE INSENSITIVE, OP. You are posting on DCUM, in an area that depends on federal jobs.

There’s always law enforcement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you hand your phone to your spouse so she can tell us how much of your lifestyle she’s enabling?

I suspect your spouse carries a lot of the household burden- prepares meals, cleans house, does laundry, coordinates activities, cares for children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that you work more does not make it a universal truth that working 40 hours is easy or desirable.

Especially in today's world where many jobs now force you to take 30 or even 60 minute unpaid lunch and affordable housing comes with a 60+ minute commute your "40" hour job is really 60+ when counting all the unpaid extra time you're forced to devote to it.

People are more productive than any other point in history and studies show that after about 20 hours a week you get seriously diminishing returns on output. There is literally no reason we need to be working 40 hours and the only reason we're forced to is so the 1% can get even more money despite the fact that they already have more than they could possibly spend in a hundred lifetimes.

When I turn on my take home police vehicle my work clock starts and doesn’t stop until I pull back in my driveway and turn it off. I love 60, 70, and 80 hour weeks with sizable overtime pay. That’s how I pay for private school and club sports without dipping into my salary. I go to all my kids’ events, get a paid hour for lunch and a paid hour to work out. A 70 hour week bumps my pay an additional $3,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work well over 70 hours a week across multiple jobs, plus manage several Airbnbs. I’ve automated most of the Airbnb work, so it’s not hands-on every day.

Even with that schedule, I’m home every night. I’m married, spend time with my spouse, take my vacation days and travel, and I’m at all my kids’ events. I don’t feel overworked or burned out.

So what is it? Am I just wired differently, or have expectations for what’s considered “too much work” shifted?

I do not believe you actually work 70 hours across multiple businesses. I suspect you vastly overestimate time spent working.

[Anonymous]

I used to hir 40 hours at work by Wed each week for years. My normal schedule if you consider commute was leave home for work at 645 am and get home around 745 pm.

I would get home, change, eat dinner out of microwave as wife would leave a plate, clean up kitchen for wife. Then we get kids to bed, watch TV with wife for awhile. Since wife with kids a day when we had babies I do the bottle feedings at night and change diapers. My wife need to sleep as had kids all day.

My kids a lot of activities such as soccer, dance recitals were on weekends and I go. I also mowed my own lawn, spend Saturdays helping wife Laundry and vacuuming and home improvements.

I did not have time hobbies, going out with friends, social media, gold etc. I had plenty of time for my family and work those hours. I on average sleep 5-6 hours a night so I literally had plenty of time to be gone 65 hours a week.

People today are just a bit lazier including myself. ,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to hir 40 hours at work by Wed each week for years. My normal schedule if you consider commute was leave home for work at 645 am and get home around 745 pm.

I would get home, change, eat dinner out of microwave as wife would leave a plate, clean up kitchen for wife. Then we get kids to bed, watch TV with wife for awhile. Since wife with kids a day when we had babies I do the bottle feedings at night and change diapers. My wife need to sleep as had kids all day.

My kids a lot of activities such as soccer, dance recitals were on weekends and I go. I also mowed my own lawn, spend Saturdays helping wife Laundry and vacuuming and home improvements.

I did not have time hobbies, going out with friends, social media, gold etc. I had plenty of time for my family and work those hours. I on average sleep 5-6 hours a night so I literally had plenty of time to be gone 65 hours a week.

People today are just a bit lazier including myself. ,

Or they realize there's more to life than working 70 hours a week.

[Anonymous]

Is this the legendary J1 J2 J3 guy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work well over 70 hours a week across multiple jobs, plus manage several Airbnbs. I’ve automated most of the Airbnb work, so it’s not hands-on every day.

Even with that schedule, I’m home every night. I’m married, spend time with my spouse, take my vacation days and travel, and I’m at all my kids’ events. I don’t feel overworked or burned out.

So what is it? Am I just wired differently, or have expectations for what’s considered “too much work” shifted?

I believe most people who complain about 40+ hour week jobs are exempt meaning they don't receive additional compensation for the extra hours. Go ahead leave the extra money from your Airbnb's on my desk before you turn out the lights.

Furthermore, in many cases the employers are clearly gaming the exemption status. Treating employees as hourly but paying them as salaried so they don't have to pay overtime.

In many cases this is on top of having had to get advanced degrees in STEM just to get the job and working in unpleasantly crowded cubicles or worse open offices with coworkers that can't make small talk in Chinese.

[Anonymous]

70 hours a week; so 5 days a week that’s 14 hours a day. Say you work 7 am to 9pm, there’s zero chance you’re also attending all your kid’s functions and also helping with the family to do list. Do you have a stay at home spouse? A lot easier to only work when you don’t have to cook, clean, shop, do laundry, shlep your kids to appointments and activities; attend school events, etc…

Something has to give. What is it, op?

[Anonymous]

I love how some people count getting ready for work and their commute and lunch as hours spent working. Therefore, I work 80 hours a week. I’m the most productive and important and incredible person where I work, and I still make all my kids events, volunteer rescuing puppies and fly to the Mediterranean every weekend to rescue immigrants from sinking boats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work well over 70 hours a week across multiple jobs, plus manage several Airbnbs. I’ve automated most of the Airbnb work, so it’s not hands-on every day.

Even with that schedule, I’m home every night. I’m married, spend time with my spouse, take my vacation days and travel, and I’m at all my kids’ events. I don’t feel overworked or burned out.

So what is it? Am I just wired differently, or have expectations for what’s considered “too much work” shifted?

You’re probably double counting hours somewhere. How much of the time that you’re home every night, at the kids events, and on vacation are you also working?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to hir 40 hours at work by Wed each week for years. My normal schedule if you consider commute was leave home for work at 645 am and get home around 745 pm.

I would get home, change, eat dinner out of microwave as wife would leave a plate, clean up kitchen for wife. Then we get kids to bed, watch TV with wife for awhile. Since wife with kids a day when we had babies I do the bottle feedings at night and change diapers. My wife need to sleep as had kids all day.

My kids a lot of activities such as soccer, dance recitals were on weekends and I go. I also mowed my own lawn, spend Saturdays helping wife Laundry and vacuuming and home improvements.

I did not have time hobbies, going out with friends, social media, gold etc. I had plenty of time for my family and work those hours. I on average sleep 5-6 hours a night so I literally had plenty of time to be gone 65 hours a week.

People today are just a bit lazier including myself. ,

Here it is, the secret of winning at life! Just need to only sleep 5-6 hours a night. Easy peasy.

[Anonymous]

You are working 14 hours per day and enjoy that and you think other people are weird?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how some people count getting ready for work and their commute and lunch as hours spent working. Therefore, I work 80 hours a week. I’m the most productive and important and incredible person where I work, and I still make all my kids events, volunteer rescuing puppies and fly to the Mediterranean every weekend to rescue immigrants from sinking boats.

Don’t forget time spent thinking about work. My 100 hour weeks mean I’m just wired differently!

[Anonymous]

Ok, and your point is what?