Pause for thought.....

[TylerDurden]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3216863/Why-three-day-weekends-YEAR-Better-work-life-balance-boosts-health-productivity-expert-argues.html

[eveheart]

I found the language in that article curious. Phrases such as "...By working most of the time, we also lose time with family and friends...." Who works that much?

Here (California), the traditional work-week is 40 hours divided up into 5 workdays and two weekend days off. I work a cushy job at 32 hours per week. I realize that some workers in other countries like Japan have a crazy-long work week because of the culture, but this author is British, so I wonder what the British work week looks like. Do you really work "most of the time"? (So sorry, my education about modern Britain comes from tv shows like Keeping up Appearances.)

[cherimoya_kid]

My mom loves that show, Eve. I'm not sure if it's because she sees herself in the main character, or what.

[TylerDurden]

I found the language in that article curious. Phrases such as "...By working most of the time, we also lose time with family and friends...." Who works that much?

Here (California), the traditional work-week is 40 hours divided up into 5 workdays and two weekend days off. I work a cushy job at 32 hours per week. I realize that some workers in other countries like Japan have a crazy-long work week because of the culture, but this author is British, so I wonder what the British work week looks like. Do you really work "most of the time"? (So sorry, my education about modern Britain comes from tv shows like Keeping up Appearances.)

Theoretically, we have a 40 hour work-week in the UK but there is a lot of commuting for most of us so that it is more like 50 with commuting.My brother had one of the most wonderful jobs prior to his trip abroad; he worked in the City and would work routinely from 9am to 12pm and would then go home, with only a half hour commute at most to his job and back. In theory, he was supposed to work 40 hours a day but, after the 2007/2008 crash, the owner did not want to do any real investing as he could not retire yet had a lot of friends' money and he specialised in a too high-risk part of the financial sector, so I think that is why my brother just twiddled his thumbs, more or less, being a friend of the owner. Something like that. Anyway, he now works for an American company  that, in theory, has to abide by laxer British working practices, but, in reality, he as to work a lot more. Sure, he gets UK amounts of holidays(average is 22 days, with USers being allowed only 2 weeks?) but he cannot go for more than 4 days at a time, with the last 2 days always being a weekend, and he has to maintain contact with his office at all times(his colleagues sometimes phone him on a Sunday, while he's abroad, to suddenly give him a lot of work to do on his laptop). Working on Saturdays is a must if he has a big presentation in a month or two to do. And overtime is not paid yet he has to do it if he is suddenly given way more work than usual. Ironically, he gets paid a bit less than his previous job. He sticks with it as the job is more secure than his previous jobs, though.

[Ioanna]

I don't know many Americans with a 40-hr per week job, that actually 'only' work 40 hours. It's hard to find time for family, proper meals, exercise, and sleep, let alone vacation from it all. We go in early, we stay late, we bring work home, and then we work weekends if need be. It's too draining. The weekend, even if not worked, is not 'free' if spent in recovery from stress and lack of sleep from the work-week before.

There have been cut-backs and lay-offs despite significant work load increases. Less people to do more work, hmmmm. Most of us need the paycheck and are not in a position to quit a job despite the increasing for the same or sometimes even lesser pay.

There have been plenty of articles discussing the implementation of a 40-hr work-week and significant increases in consumerism.

Like many of my friends and family, I do like what I do for a living, but finding balance has been a struggle.

[sabertooth]

Self employment along Diversification of the working hours is the only way I've been able to maintain sanity while running the rat race. There is no way I would be happy working 40 hours a week doing the exact same task. I "work" roughly 50 hours a week....about 30 hours is on the books, working as an electrician. Then about another 20 hours is other odd jobs and maintaining our Air B&B home business. Lucky for me I am a man of many talents and can pick and chose what kind of work I engage in.

I try to take two days a week to spend with my kids, during which I often work harder keeping up with 4 children than I do at construction.

If I am lucky I take about half a day on Sunday to rest a little when I'm not doing yard work. Since I work for myself I can take a could of hours for resting in the afternoons, instead of the 30 minute breaks you get when working for a slave driving company.

Its hard to see any other way of doing things.... for many people 40 hours a week is the only way to survive as a member of the working class in America, unless you want to be a bottom feeder of the welfare state..... But with the emergence of the alternative economy it is becoming possible for people to meet many of their needs through barter and secondhand wheeling and dealing...we can all learn how to help each other do more with less.... be happy... and come to know how to recognize when enough is enough.

I'm all about the Bear necessities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08NlhjpVFsU

[cherimoya_kid]

Saber, are you doing commercial or residential? I do commercial A/V, I've been stuck at this job site near Bristol for weeks. I hate commercial construction sites. I can't see how you stand it.

[eveheart]

I googled "average us worker vacation time" and got a statistic that the average US worker gets 16 days of paid vacation per year - that would probably be two weeks vacation time plus major holidays http://www.cbsnews.com/news/by-the-numbers-the-american-vacation/.

I take all my vacation each year - 5 weeks - in one-week increments. I like the rhythm and social life of going to work, so one week of vacation at a stretch is enough. I always arrive at work 1/2 hour early to avoid traffic, and I start planning my day right away, while the office is quiet and I am fresh. I don't work at my desk, and my actual duties are wildly creative and unsupervised, so that keeps the stress level at zero. I get a two-hour lunch, long enough to feel un-rushed, and I leave the office exactly on time and go home right away, to avoid traffic.

I advocate for doing what you love and against working for the money. Plenty of workers at my location sign up for double shifts (16 hours straight) for the overtime bonus, but I don't see them as happy, relaxed, sane people. Stress is written all over their faces, and they lose their temper too easily.

[Ioanna]

CK - Bristol, CT?

[cherimoya_kid]

CK - Bristol, CT?

virginia. A decent town surrounded by miserable xenophobic mountain people. I'm a Southerner, but these people make me uncomfortable.

[sabertooth]

Saber, are you doing commercial or residential? I do commercial A/V, I've been stuck at this job site near Bristol for weeks. I hate commercial construction sites. I can't see how you stand it.

I apprenticed for a company that did both commercial and residential. Now that I am on my own, I primarily do small jobs and property maintenance. I try my best to stay away from large scale commercial jobs, the money is good but you have to work for the devil and usually conditions are quit hellish. I spent way too much of my life energy assisting the corporate giants endeavors to consumerize the world.

I've worked on schools, hospitals, big chain restaurants, pharmacies, car dealerships, wealthy peoples ostentatious houses. Practically every large commercial job I worked on was for an enterprise for which I held personal disdain for. Ive participated in building this corporate prison for far too long...... very recently, about two years ago, I went out on my own and now choose to do small jobs for homeowners and small business owners. From now on I want to focus my efforts on supporting the alternative economy, and staying clear from doing corporate jobs.

The life of a tradesman is tough and conditions are rough, part of my past health problems likely stem from the high stress, highly polluted environments I worked in.....  I would of walked away from this life long ago if I could find a way to make the same money elsewhere....but because I have developed a skill set which enables me to earn a decent living and provide an honest service, without being a slave to the time clock wage masters, I have chose to stick with it and develop my skills to full potential.

I now charge $35 per hour to a property management company, and up to $65 per hour for small service calls, troubleshooting and appliance installation.... Much of what I make is cash money, and I get all my business from word of mouth. I make twice as much money working 30 hours per week for myself, as I did working 40 hours for a company.

[cherimoya_kid]

I'm still not a big fan of running wire in a lot of these small, old houses, but it's a lot better than commercial construction. It amazes me how abused construction workers are.

[Hanna]

Eve, what is your job? I can’t imagine what kind of office you are working in.
I work 32 hours a week too.

[eveheart]

I work in a large county facility, where my company has a contact to provide the services that I perform. I go to my own company's office once a week for a staff meeting, otherwise I do my actual work throughout the county's facility, where I am given a desk in a spacious cubicle to organize myself before I run around all day. I've deliberately worked my way up to this position because it's what I really like doing, and my skill set is widely marketable. This has been a good employment strategy for me. All three of my children (adults) have used the same employment strategy, and it works for them, too.

[Hanna]

http://www.npr.org/2014/05/22/314898665/think-work-is-stressful-for-many-it-s-more-relaxing-than-home 

I love my profession, but here in Germany work is usually stressful, just as described by Ioanna, even in my profession. I was lucky because I got a job which isn’t stressful most of the time. My boss knew from the beginning that I don’t handle long-term stress very well.