Does anyone actually work 80 hours a week?

[Anonymous]

Do people working close to the President or other high ranking elected positions do this? I imagine they are on call/working long, stressful hours.

[Anonymous]

I know caregivers who sometimes work 80 hours but a lot of it is overnight and they’re allowed to sleep (with a baby monitor).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do people working close to the President or other high ranking elected positions do this? I imagine they are on call/working long, stressful hours.

I probably averaged about 75-80 as a senate committee staffer. It seems to become normalized for some people. I burned out.

[Anonymous]

I did as a law firm associate with an infant-to-toddler.

Monday-Thursday: I dropped off at daycare at 7 AM and was at my desk by 7:30 AM. I'd work consistently until 6 PM. (DH did daycare pickup earlier.). Then I'd head home to do dinner (DH cooked), bath and bedtime. I'd sign back on around 8 PM and work until 10 PM or midnight (or later if we were really busy). Then I'd sleep for a couple of hours, do a middle of the night feed at 2 AM and then sleep until 6 AM.

Fridays: I also started my day at 7:30 AM but would sign off around 5 PM to come home to see my DH and kid.

Saturday: I'd sleep in whole DH did the baby, which was our tradeoff for me doing all nighttime feedings. I'd usually work during the morning and afternoon naps, billing 3-4 hours. I spent all other time with the family.

Sunday: Spent the morning with the fam and would head into work around 1 PM (coinciding with the afternoon nap) and work completely uninterrupted in an empty office until 10-midnight.

What I really lost during these years was a ton of sleep, any chance to exercise, and any social life at all outside of my husband, baby and coworkers. I took the metro into work so did most of my administrative tasks (paying bills, scheduling cleaners, etc) while on the train. Efficiency was the name of the game to maximize time with my DH and kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do people working close to the President or other high ranking elected positions do this? I imagine they are on call/working long, stressful hours.

Yes, and they also travel a lot.

I worked for leadership on Capitol Hill in my 20s and had 80 hour weeks. Even though these were balanced by weeks where I worked 40 hours or even significantly less while they were in recess, that kind of schedule is not sustainable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did as a law firm associate with an infant-to-toddler.

Monday-Thursday: I dropped off at daycare at 7 AM and was at my desk by 7:30 AM. I'd work consistently until 6 PM. (DH did daycare pickup earlier.). Then I'd head home to do dinner (DH cooked), bath and bedtime. I'd sign back on around 8 PM and work until 10 PM or midnight (or later if we were really busy). Then I'd sleep for a couple of hours, do a middle of the night feed at 2 AM and then sleep until 6 AM.

Fridays: I also started my day at 7:30 AM but would sign off around 5 PM to come home to see my DH and kid.

Saturday: I'd sleep in whole DH did the baby, which was our tradeoff for me doing all nighttime feedings. I'd usually work during the morning and afternoon naps, billing 3-4 hours. I spent all other time with the family.

Sunday: Spent the morning with the fam and would head into work around 1 PM (coinciding with the afternoon nap) and work completely uninterrupted in an empty office until 10-midnight.

What I really lost during these years was a ton of sleep, any chance to exercise, and any social life at all outside of my husband, baby and coworkers. I took the metro into work so did most of my administrative tasks (paying bills, scheduling cleaners, etc) while on the train. Efficiency was the name of the game to maximize time with my DH and kid.

That sounds so hard. Are you still in big law?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did as a law firm associate with an infant-to-toddler.

Monday-Thursday: I dropped off at daycare at 7 AM and was at my desk by 7:30 AM. I'd work consistently until 6 PM. (DH did daycare pickup earlier.). Then I'd head home to do dinner (DH cooked), bath and bedtime. I'd sign back on around 8 PM and work until 10 PM or midnight (or later if we were really busy). Then I'd sleep for a couple of hours, do a middle of the night feed at 2 AM and then sleep until 6 AM.

Fridays: I also started my day at 7:30 AM but would sign off around 5 PM to come home to see my DH and kid.

Saturday: I'd sleep in whole DH did the baby, which was our tradeoff for me doing all nighttime feedings. I'd usually work during the morning and afternoon naps, billing 3-4 hours. I spent all other time with the family.

Sunday: Spent the morning with the fam and would head into work around 1 PM (coinciding with the afternoon nap) and work completely uninterrupted in an empty office until 10-midnight.

What I really lost during these years was a ton of sleep, any chance to exercise, and any social life at all outside of my husband, baby and coworkers. I took the metro into work so did most of my administrative tasks (paying bills, scheduling cleaners, etc) while on the train. Efficiency was the name of the game to maximize time with my DH and kid.

That sounds so hard. Are you still in big law?

Nope. I did it through my second pregnancy and moved elsewhere. It was great to build a financial cushion and get the experience, but was entirely unsustainable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew a management consultant type who probably came close to 80. But she was frankly not good at her job and eventually got fired.

So this is interesting. When I was in mc I’d say the stars worked harder than average—60 and 70 hour weeks. But the 80 hour a week people on the very far end of the tail were often people who were a bad fit for the job and were working those hours partially bc they were inefficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did as a law firm associate with an infant-to-toddler.

Monday-Thursday: I dropped off at daycare at 7 AM and was at my desk by 7:30 AM. I'd work consistently until 6 PM. (DH did daycare pickup earlier.). Then I'd head home to do dinner (DH cooked), bath and bedtime. I'd sign back on around 8 PM and work until 10 PM or midnight (or later if we were really busy). Then I'd sleep for a couple of hours, do a middle of the night feed at 2 AM and then sleep until 6 AM.

Fridays: I also started my day at 7:30 AM but would sign off around 5 PM to come home to see my DH and kid.

Saturday: I'd sleep in whole DH did the baby, which was our tradeoff for me doing all nighttime feedings. I'd usually work during the morning and afternoon naps, billing 3-4 hours. I spent all other time with the family.

Sunday: Spent the morning with the fam and would head into work around 1 PM (coinciding with the afternoon nap) and work completely uninterrupted in an empty office until 10-midnight.

What I really lost during these years was a ton of sleep, any chance to exercise, and any social life at all outside of my husband, baby and coworkers. I took the metro into work so did most of my administrative tasks (paying bills, scheduling cleaners, etc) while on the train. Efficiency was the name of the game to maximize time with my DH and kid.

Biglaw wife who responded previously here, this sounds right. I can never figure out how any woman does it with kids. Pregnancy, babies, it's not workable for most women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people working close to the President or other high ranking elected positions do this? I imagine they are on call/working long, stressful hours.

I probably averaged about 75-80 as a senate committee staffer. It seems to become normalized for some people. I burned out.

That's impossible though. That is 8 in the morning until 8 at night 6 days a week and 9 to 5 on Sunday, assuming no breaks and you are not counting commuting.

[Anonymous]

No.

It's vanishingly rare. People wildly overreport how many hours they work when asked, compared to time use surveys (where people log time as they do things). I was just reading about this - according to a study, the average person who claimed to work 75 hours a week actually worked 55.

The average person who claimed to be working 60-69 hours per week was actually working 52.6.

The average person claiming to work 70, 80, and 90 hours a week were all working less than 60 hours a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people working close to the President or other high ranking elected positions do this? I imagine they are on call/working long, stressful hours.

I probably averaged about 75-80 as a senate committee staffer. It seems to become normalized for some people. I burned out.

That's impossible though. That is 8 in the morning until 8 at night 6 days a week and 9 to 5 on Sunday, assuming no breaks and you are not counting commuting.

I'm sure PP is counting emails read and responded to in bed. People who claim they are in an office 80 hours a week are simply lying.

Or they're insane, or hate their families.

[Anonymous]

I've had CNA's who worked 72 hours a week

Nursing home--3 twelve hour shifts
Work for Mom in home--3 twelve hour shifts

[Anonymous]

Sustainably? No. I worked like that in my 20s when I was single. I often worked 8am - 10/11pm Mon-Fri, 3-4 hours on Saturday and a status meeting on Sunday.

Maybe people are including the commute - total number of hours away from home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No.

It's vanishingly rare. People wildly overreport how many hours they work when asked, compared to time use surveys (where people log time as they do things). I was just reading about this - according to a study, the average person who claimed to work 75 hours a week actually worked 55.

The average person who claimed to be working 60-69 hours per week was actually working 52.6.

The average person claiming to work 70, 80, and 90 hours a week were all working less than 60 hours a week.

As a lawyer, people absolutely work those 80-100+ hour weeks at trial. You are working every moment you are awake and sleep is rare. Often a $1b+ dollar patent case gets about 1 week in court, so every moment matters. There's also a support staff providing all food and needs, so you don't do anything except sleep and work.