Why are we okay with long work hours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The transition to life after college can be difficult with adjusting to a new schedule and increased independence.

"A college graduate, who recently began her first job, took to TikTok to vent about her struggles with the new phase of her life. Brielle, who goes by the username @brielleybelly123 on the platform, posted a video with text across the screen that read: “QOTD (question of the day) in a 9-5 how do u have time for ur life.”

As someone who works full time in a very full time job (60 hours a week), and handles all of the responsibilities of a special needs kid, has a home made dinner on the table every night, has a husband who wants me to commit a certain amount of emotional and physical time to him, no nanny, etc etc, I do find it charming when 22 year olds complain about having no free time. I remember having my current job pre kids. I worked a lot, but even still there was a LOT of free time every week. Now I have maybe twenty mins a day where I’m not committed to someone or something else.

Well good for you. You have agency. If you want to be a martyr, that's on you.

DP.
Perhaps it isn’t martyrdom. Perhaps it’s necessity. Some people can’t just get up and change jobs. They may be tied down due to location, training, etc. And the PP also has a special needs child. What do you suggest? The PP just tosses the child out?

There are a ton of suggestions I’d make but 1 is does she real need “homemade meals” every.day.

I mean come on… 60 hrs a week?

Yea there are so many suggestions.

I’m the teacher PP who just replied to another poster.

I’m guessing the 60 hrs a week poster is another teacher.

[Anonymous]

I'm not okay with that which is why I work PT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People waste an enormous amount of time in the office. Early in my career I would work 60 hours a week because I was single and there was nothing better to do and there were other singles in my office doing the same thing. When I got married I cut it down to 55 hours a week. when I became a parent I cut it down to 50 or so. I became much better at setting priorities and not wasting time. I almost never brought work home with me. It helped that most of the time I enjoyed my work and I had a lot of ambition.

This definitely depends on the job, though. Nurses, teachers, and other people who don’t get time at work to get their paperwork done have no choice but to put in all those extra hours.

Nurses and teachers have down time, not every day but don’t be fooled.

Really? I’m the PP and a teacher. I had less than half an hour of down time today. That included my lunch AND my planning time together. I was in front of students for the remainder of my day.

Let those of us IN THE JOB tell you what it’s like.

I get lunch and planning times, as do most teachers.

After year 3 most my plans are done. I use this time to grade papers

I get it some teachers just need to go walk around talking to people or sit quietly but there is time to grade papers.

I spend summers wisely so I’m not running around nights and weekends running errands.

[Anonymous]

In pre industrial times people worked pretty much sun up to sun down except Sunday (and the women still worked then, as did people taking care of farm animals) If you’ve ever watched those reality shows where people try to live like that, the work is never ending. It wasn’t until people started getting relatively rich that leisure time became a concept.

One problem I see is that people don’t want to take a pay cut to work less. The reality is that a company has X to spend on labor costs. If people ant to do less, they’ll need to hire more people. And because of roll up costs, cutting your time by 50% means a greater than 50% cut to your wages. Lawyers are among the most common complainers about work hours, but they tend to make a lot of money to work those hours. Is there a market for big law firms to have a position has reauires 900-1000 billable a year but only pays like $125K? I don’t know. Most firms do offer part time to more senior people, and not many take advantage of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In pre industrial times people worked pretty much sun up to sun down except Sunday (and the women still worked then, as did people taking care of farm animals) If you’ve ever watched those reality shows where people try to live like that, the work is never ending. It wasn’t until people started getting relatively rich that leisure time became a concept.

One problem I see is that people don’t want to take a pay cut to work less. The reality is that a company has X to spend on labor costs. If people ant to do less, they’ll need to hire more people. And because of roll up costs, cutting your time by 50% means a greater than 50% cut to your wages. Lawyers are among the most common complainers about work hours, but they tend to make a lot of money to work those hours. Is there a market for big law firms to have a position has reauires 900-1000 billable a year but only pays like $125K? I don’t know. Most firms do offer part time to more senior people, and not many take advantage of it.

You mean pre-industrial post-agrarian times. For most of history humans have had FAR more leisure time than we have now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People waste an enormous amount of time in the office. Early in my career I would work 60 hours a week because I was single and there was nothing better to do and there were other singles in my office doing the same thing. When I got married I cut it down to 55 hours a week. when I became a parent I cut it down to 50 or so. I became much better at setting priorities and not wasting time. I almost never brought work home with me. It helped that most of the time I enjoyed my work and I had a lot of ambition.

This definitely depends on the job, though. Nurses, teachers, and other people who don’t get time at work to get their paperwork done have no choice but to put in all those extra hours.

Nurses and teachers have down time, not every day but don’t be fooled.

Really? I’m the PP and a teacher. I had less than half an hour of down time today. That included my lunch AND my planning time together. I was in front of students for the remainder of my day.

Let those of us IN THE JOB tell you what it’s like.

I get lunch and planning times, as do most teachers.

After year 3 most my plans are done. I use this time to grade papers

I get it some teachers just need to go walk around talking to people or sit quietly but there is time to grade papers.

I spend summers wisely so I’m not running around nights and weekends running errands.

That’s great for you. That’s not how some of us have it. I get 30 minutes out of class a day. I’m with students for over 5 hours a day and have one hour of meetings a day.

I teach 150 students. Grading buried me, and the 30 minutes I get just isn’t enough.

I’m glad you have it good. Don’t assume the rest of us are just lazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People waste an enormous amount of time in the office. Early in my career I would work 60 hours a week because I was single and there was nothing better to do and there were other singles in my office doing the same thing. When I got married I cut it down to 55 hours a week. when I became a parent I cut it down to 50 or so. I became much better at setting priorities and not wasting time. I almost never brought work home with me. It helped that most of the time I enjoyed my work and I had a lot of ambition.

This definitely depends on the job, though. Nurses, teachers, and other people who don’t get time at work to get their paperwork done have no choice but to put in all those extra hours.

Nurses and teachers have down time, not every day but don’t be fooled.

Really? I’m the PP and a teacher. I had less than half an hour of down time today. That included my lunch AND my planning time together. I was in front of students for the remainder of my day.

Let those of us IN THE JOB tell you what it’s like.

I get lunch and planning times, as do most teachers.

After year 3 most my plans are done. I use this time to grade papers

I get it some teachers just need to go walk around talking to people or sit quietly but there is time to grade papers.

I spend summers wisely so I’m not running around nights and weekends running errands.

That’s great for you. That’s not how some of us have it. I get 30 minutes out of class a day. I’m with students for over 5 hours a day and have one hour of meetings a day.

I teach 150 students. Grading buried me, and the 30 minutes I get just isn’t enough.

I’m glad you have it good. Don’t assume the rest of us are just lazy.

Reconsider the types of assignments you do so your not buried in grading.

Don’t pretend those 5 hours with students don’t have grading time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People waste an enormous amount of time in the office. Early in my career I would work 60 hours a week because I was single and there was nothing better to do and there were other singles in my office doing the same thing. When I got married I cut it down to 55 hours a week. when I became a parent I cut it down to 50 or so. I became much better at setting priorities and not wasting time. I almost never brought work home with me. It helped that most of the time I enjoyed my work and I had a lot of ambition.

This definitely depends on the job, though. Nurses, teachers, and other people who don’t get time at work to get their paperwork done have no choice but to put in all those extra hours.

Nurses and teachers have down time, not every day but don’t be fooled.

Really? I’m the PP and a teacher. I had less than half an hour of down time today. That included my lunch AND my planning time together. I was in front of students for the remainder of my day.

Let those of us IN THE JOB tell you what it’s like.

I get lunch and planning times, as do most teachers.

After year 3 most my plans are done. I use this time to grade papers

I get it some teachers just need to go walk around talking to people or sit quietly but there is time to grade papers.

I spend summers wisely so I’m not running around nights and weekends running errands.

That’s great for you. That’s not how some of us have it. I get 30 minutes out of class a day. I’m with students for over 5 hours a day and have one hour of meetings a day.

I teach 150 students. Grading buried me, and the 30 minutes I get just isn’t enough.

I’m glad you have it good. Don’t assume the rest of us are just lazy.

Reconsider the types of assignments you do so your not buried in grading.

Don’t pretend those 5 hours with students don’t have grading time.

Don’t assume you know my circumstances.

It sounds like you have a great situation. I’m happy for you. Why don’t you support your fellow teachers who don’t have it so good instead of assuming you have all the answers? If I could change something, I would have. I can’t.

So I deal or I quit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People waste an enormous amount of time in the office. Early in my career I would work 60 hours a week because I was single and there was nothing better to do and there were other singles in my office doing the same thing. When I got married I cut it down to 55 hours a week. when I became a parent I cut it down to 50 or so. I became much better at setting priorities and not wasting time. I almost never brought work home with me. It helped that most of the time I enjoyed my work and I had a lot of ambition.

This definitely depends on the job, though. Nurses, teachers, and other people who don’t get time at work to get their paperwork done have no choice but to put in all those extra hours.

Nurses and teachers have down time, not every day but don’t be fooled.

Really? I’m the PP and a teacher. I had less than half an hour of down time today. That included my lunch AND my planning time together. I was in front of students for the remainder of my day.

Let those of us IN THE JOB tell you what it’s like.

I get lunch and planning times, as do most teachers.

After year 3 most my plans are done. I use this time to grade papers

I get it some teachers just need to go walk around talking to people or sit quietly but there is time to grade papers.

I spend summers wisely so I’m not running around nights and weekends running errands.

That’s great for you. That’s not how some of us have it. I get 30 minutes out of class a day. I’m with students for over 5 hours a day and have one hour of meetings a day.

I teach 150 students. Grading buried me, and the 30 minutes I get just isn’t enough.

I’m glad you have it good. Don’t assume the rest of us are just lazy.

Reconsider the types of assignments you do so your not buried in grading.

Don’t pretend those 5 hours with students don’t have grading time.

I’ve argued with this teacher before. She/He isn’t interested in hearing it.

I’m another teacher who refuses to work outside of school most of the time. I’m a good teacher and well regarded in my school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People waste an enormous amount of time in the office. Early in my career I would work 60 hours a week because I was single and there was nothing better to do and there were other singles in my office doing the same thing. When I got married I cut it down to 55 hours a week. when I became a parent I cut it down to 50 or so. I became much better at setting priorities and not wasting time. I almost never brought work home with me. It helped that most of the time I enjoyed my work and I had a lot of ambition.

This definitely depends on the job, though. Nurses, teachers, and other people who don’t get time at work to get their paperwork done have no choice but to put in all those extra hours.

Nurses and teachers have down time, not every day but don’t be fooled.

Really? I’m the PP and a teacher. I had less than half an hour of down time today. That included my lunch AND my planning time together. I was in front of students for the remainder of my day.

Let those of us IN THE JOB tell you what it’s like.

I get lunch and planning times, as do most teachers.

After year 3 most my plans are done. I use this time to grade papers

I get it some teachers just need to go walk around talking to people or sit quietly but there is time to grade papers.

I spend summers wisely so I’m not running around nights and weekends running errands.

That’s great for you. That’s not how some of us have it. I get 30 minutes out of class a day. I’m with students for over 5 hours a day and have one hour of meetings a day.

I teach 150 students. Grading buried me, and the 30 minutes I get just isn’t enough.

I’m glad you have it good. Don’t assume the rest of us are just lazy.

Reconsider the types of assignments you do so your not buried in grading.

Don’t pretend those 5 hours with students don’t have grading time.

I’ve argued with this teacher before. She/He isn’t interested in hearing it.

I’m another teacher who refuses to work outside of school most of the time. I’m a good teacher and well regarded in my school.

I’m the PP teacher. What are you talking about? I haven’t argued with anyone???

Is it possible there are 2 teachers in the US that feel overworked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People waste an enormous amount of time in the office. Early in my career I would work 60 hours a week because I was single and there was nothing better to do and there were other singles in my office doing the same thing. When I got married I cut it down to 55 hours a week. when I became a parent I cut it down to 50 or so. I became much better at setting priorities and not wasting time. I almost never brought work home with me. It helped that most of the time I enjoyed my work and I had a lot of ambition.

This definitely depends on the job, though. Nurses, teachers, and other people who don’t get time at work to get their paperwork done have no choice but to put in all those extra hours.

Nurses and teachers have down time, not every day but don’t be fooled.

Really? I’m the PP and a teacher. I had less than half an hour of down time today. That included my lunch AND my planning time together. I was in front of students for the remainder of my day.

Let those of us IN THE JOB tell you what it’s like.

I get lunch and planning times, as do most teachers.

After year 3 most my plans are done. I use this time to grade papers

I get it some teachers just need to go walk around talking to people or sit quietly but there is time to grade papers.

I spend summers wisely so I’m not running around nights and weekends running errands.

That’s great for you. That’s not how some of us have it. I get 30 minutes out of class a day. I’m with students for over 5 hours a day and have one hour of meetings a day.

I teach 150 students. Grading buried me, and the 30 minutes I get just isn’t enough.

I’m glad you have it good. Don’t assume the rest of us are just lazy.

Reconsider the types of assignments you do so your not buried in grading.

Don’t pretend those 5 hours with students don’t have grading time.

I’ve argued with this teacher before. She/He isn’t interested in hearing it.

I’m another teacher who refuses to work outside of school most of the time. I’m a good teacher and well regarded in my school.

I’m the PP teacher. What are you talking about? I haven’t argued with anyone???

Is it possible there are 2 teachers in the US that feel overworked?

Your posting style is very similar to a teacher who claims to be quitting after this year because she works 12 hours per day on the weekends. Apologies if it’s not you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We know that 40 hours a week is unhealthy.

People who hate their lives or use excessive work to escape like many do with alcohol will wonder what the big deal is.

The reality is that working 40 hours is unhealthy and it should change.

.

The problem for you is, there will always be people who live their work and jobs and will be willing to work harder than you obviously are. I would stack my health against anyone’s and I regularly work 50 hours a week because I love what I do. I also make a lot more money than you ever will, if your statement is indicative of your attitude about work.

You can’t even read your own words and see how mentally and emotionally unstable you are.

The research is out… 40 hours is unhealthy. You work 50 and lay all the evidence in your unhealthy angry post.

You sound pathetic, and I feel sorry for you. I wish you could get help to be a happy and healthy person.

How dare you tell me that what I choose to do with my time - work 50 or so hours a week in a job I love- is unhealthy. You have no idea who I am or what I do.

I’m sorry you’re not very ambitious or even worse, too dumb to hold a job that brings meaning to your life. You simply don’t know what you’re missing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In pre industrial times people worked pretty much sun up to sun down except Sunday (and the women still worked then, as did people taking care of farm animals) If you’ve ever watched those reality shows where people try to live like that, the work is never ending. It wasn’t until people started getting relatively rich that leisure time became a concept.

One problem I see is that people don’t want to take a pay cut to work less. The reality is that a company has X to spend on labor costs. If people ant to do less, they’ll need to hire more people. And because of roll up costs, cutting your time by 50% means a greater than 50% cut to your wages. Lawyers are among the most common complainers about work hours, but they tend to make a lot of money to work those hours. Is there a market for big law firms to have a position has reauires 900-1000 billable a year but only pays like $125K? I don’t know. Most firms do offer part time to more senior people, and not many take advantage of it.

You mean pre-industrial post-agrarian times. For most of history humans have had FAR more leisure time than we have now.

And for most of human history humans lived in mud huts and died at 30, assuming they survived childhood and childbirth.

You're missing this essential component called civilization. If you want the high quality standard of living that comes with advanced civilization, you gotta work. Mind you, we do have people who manage to live well by the standards of history without working seriously, and they're called people on welfare. At least they still have running water and electricity and McDonalds. But when I look at their lives, it's mostly sad and empty.

[Anonymous]

Not a teacher but obviously some will have more work, like a English teacher grading essays VS a teacher who uses scantron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We know that 40 hours a week is unhealthy.

People who hate their lives or use excessive work to escape like many do with alcohol will wonder what the big deal is.

The reality is that working 40 hours is unhealthy and it should change.

.

The problem for you is, there will always be people who live their work and jobs and will be willing to work harder than you obviously are. I would stack my health against anyone’s and I regularly work 50 hours a week because I love what I do. I also make a lot more money than you ever will, if your statement is indicative of your attitude about work.

You can’t even read your own words and see how mentally and emotionally unstable you are.

The research is out… 40 hours is unhealthy. You work 50 and lay all the evidence in your unhealthy angry post.

You sound pathetic, and I feel sorry for you. I wish you could get help to be a happy and healthy person.

How dare you tell me that what I choose to do with my time - work 50 or so hours a week in a job I love- is unhealthy. You have no idea who I am or what I do.

I’m sorry you’re not very ambitious or even worse, too dumb to hold a job that brings meaning to your life. You simply don’t know what you’re missing.

Again I can tell by your tone and anger outbursts you are not healthy nor are you open to understanding that,

Enjoy your early heart attack.