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40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

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Re: 40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

#21

Post by latch »

WeWin wrote: post #17

A rather confusing post: does the author want to work only 20 hours? Or work 40 hours but be rewarded the same as someone who works 60 hours? Or work 60 hours doing something they love all the time? All of these seem quite unrealistic but for different reasons. The 40 hour week was brought to America in 1938, brought about primarily by unions - the word 'weekend' didn't even exist until the 1870s. Enjoy the freedom t…

I don't know how you found that post confusing. It's pretty clear: a fixed-length work-week for any type of creative, rewarding or challenging job isn't ideal. (I added the creative, rewarding and challenging part, because I'm sure it's implied).

The op's point is that the freedom you think we ought to enjoy, isn't freedom...it's a rigid pre-defined template. Real freedom, when it comes to work-life balance, is working the amount of hours in a week which you want and is appropriate.

Re: 40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

#22

Post by nuclear_eclipse »

jamesbritt wrote: post #18
acheron wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're talking about working for yourself (that is, working for customers), then sure, that makes sense. If you're working for someone else who is paying you specifically to work 40 hours, then there's no reason to work more than that unless you consider your time worthless.

That's the difference between really liking your job and really liking the money your job provides.

I can really like my job and really like my family, hobbies and down time even more...

Re: 40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

#23

Post by gawker »

There's always a point where we all feel bored about a job - even if we love the job. I think the challenge is trying to find things that you love within your current job and it helps guide towards something you feel more passionate about. Bad job or good job - I think there's always something you can learn about yourself. A job is just something that you do that helps you figure out yourself.

Re: 40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

#24

Post by wanorris »

cryptoz wrote: post #11
wccrawford wrote: post #3

"People who hate their jobs often work 40 hours weeks, why be one of them?" Working 40 hours doesn't make you one of them. It's not even a symptom of the real problem. I work 40 hours weeks, and love my job. And I loved my last job. And I liked all the jobs before that. That's because I have pride in doing my job well, I've worked for people who appreciate it (even if that sometimes means the customer, and not my bos…

> I work 40 hours weeks, and love my job. Do you work exactly 40 hours? As in, start and 9am, leave at 5pm and never arrive early or leave late? Never a week of 41 hours? Because if I worked at a job I absolutely loved - as you describe - I would probably choose to work 50 or 60 hours. I think that the assumption here is that if you work 40 hours, you're probably doing it because that's what is expected of you and yo…

I very much think this is a question of personality and not a question of which one is better.

Personally, I'm like you -- if there's something really interesting to work on, I like to dive in and really attack it until I'm done. Even if that means 14 hour days for a stretch.

But other people I've worked with work differently -- they like routines. Go to work, have 5 things to accomplish that day, accomplish them, then go home. Then it's time for the daily walk in the park, or maybe on Tuesdays it's time to mow the front lawn, or whatever other things they slot into their time that make up their lives. Lots of people love having a life like this. And it doesn't mean they don't care about their jobs or take pride in their work the way people like us do, it just means they're different.

Re: 40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

#25

Post by Hisoka »

amjith wrote: post #7
kemiller wrote: post #2

This seems like the perspective of someone without spouse and kids. Which is fine, and I don't even disagree. But there are people for whom (and phases of life in which) a steady pace is not a bad thing at all, and not necessarily indicative of hating your job.

He is a professor at the University of Utah, married with two kids. I think his post represents a set of people who work hard and play hard. When you are passionate about your work, it's very hard to keep it within 40hrs/week. So your weeks look like periodic bursts of intense work interleaved with excursions and vacations. You don't have to be single without kids to have that lifestyle.

Professors don't count. This post would have more validity if it came from someone working at Wall Street, or a huge consulting firm, or even a lawyer

Re: 40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

#26

Post by sbov »

This post seems to be missing the point. When people say they work 80 hours a week, they don't mean 80 hours one week, then 0 the next. They mean 80 hours, then 80 hours, then 80 hours, then 80 hours... That is primarily what the linked posts seem to be talking about avoiding.

Re: 40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

#28

Post by jisaacstone »

cryptoz wrote: post #11
wccrawford wrote: post #3

"People who hate their jobs often work 40 hours weeks, why be one of them?" Working 40 hours doesn't make you one of them. It's not even a symptom of the real problem. I work 40 hours weeks, and love my job. And I loved my last job. And I liked all the jobs before that. That's because I have pride in doing my job well, I've worked for people who appreciate it (even if that sometimes means the customer, and not my bos…

> I work 40 hours weeks, and love my job. Do you work exactly 40 hours? As in, start and 9am, leave at 5pm and never arrive early or leave late? Never a week of 41 hours? Because if I worked at a job I absolutely loved - as you describe - I would probably choose to work 50 or 60 hours. I think that the assumption here is that if you work 40 hours, you're probably doing it because that's what is expected of you and yo…

NO.

I love my job but I also love other things. I get all my tasks done in the 40 hours (usually). I take the rest of my time to do other things I love.

I have a family and many hobbies. I love to travel and take time off whenever I can just to go and have fun.

That is why I stop at 40 hours.

Re: 40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

#29

Post by tmh88j »

I feel like these types of articles where the author attempts a deft explanation as to why work isn't work when you enoy it, are just annoying.

Surely as engineers, hackers, tech-minded people, we all know what the definition of work is. Nowhere in the definition of work does emotion come into play (unless your job description is to achieve a specific emotion).

This reminds me of a high school teacher of mine who used to heckle the football players asking them why they lifted weights and would say they're not actually accomplishing work(unless you're deadlifting, I guess). Most of them didn't understand which made it even more amusing.

Re: 40 Hour Work Weeks Suck

#30

Post by john_b »

Saying that 20 hour and 60 hour weeks, depending on the situation, are better than 40 hour weeks ignores one very common and important case: when the work is boring but important. The author seems to assume that 20 hour weeks can solve all boring work, but they can only really solve boring and unimportant work. If it's important and boring, you'll probably need to spend more than 20 hours a week on it. I'll stereotype a little here and guess that the author might be like a lot of professors I know, in that he assumes that boring work is the definition of unimportant work.

But sometimes you need to get some boring thing done and it just takes a while. It may not be fun, but in those cases it really helps to have the rock solid habits and discipline that come with a regular work schedule (whatever it is) to fall back on.

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