How many hours do you work per week?

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The discussion revolves around the varying work hours and experiences of individuals, particularly in demanding jobs and academic settings. Participants share personal anecdotes about working extensive hours, sometimes exceeding 90 hours a week, especially during internships or while managing multiple projects. The conversation touches on the physical toll of such workloads, particularly as one ages, with mentions of joint pain and the challenges of maintaining high productivity levels over time. There is a recurring theme about the transition from physically demanding jobs to more sedentary roles, with some noting that their productivity can decline significantly after long hours. Others reflect on their creative bursts occurring during late-night work sessions, suggesting that unconventional hours can sometimes yield the best results. The impact of work-life balance is also discussed, with some expressing the need to manage their time effectively to avoid burnout while still achieving career goals. The dialogue highlights the complexities of balancing work, education, and personal life, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and self-awareness in managing workloads.
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Just wondering.
 
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Between 90-98 I believe ..
 
40 hours.
 
40 I guess... You better do a poll!
 
Thanks for answering so far everybody

rootX said:
Between 90-98 I believe ..

:eek: Great Scott BAtmaN!
 
HeLiXe said:
:eek: Great Scott BAtmaN!

Two courses+internship+bit of insantity for starting new projects like crazy! First I started just documenting some old processes for my project and but withing a month ended up handling everything and replacing potential contractor work .. then initiated three new projects.

But I have mostly been +70-80 (school work, classes, labs) for last 2-3 years and bit higher during internships .. like most of the engineering students unless you don't want to.
 
Zero
 
In past years, I sometimes worked over 90 hours per week (construction superintendent) and generally over 60 hours per week for years (paper machine operator), though when we started up the paper machine, I worked 84 hours per week for months and months. Very hard physical labor in hot and humid conditions.

Now, I work tending my garden, doing yard-work, dealing with firewood, taking care of snow in the winter, etc.
 
turbo-1 said:
In past years, I sometimes worked over 90 hours per week (construction superintendent)

Doesn't it get very hard to do these kind of things when you reach middle / older age? Personally, I noticed people get back/carpal/other problems and stop taking too much of work. I have some years before I reach that stage
 
  • #11
rootX said:
Doesn't it get very hard to do these kind of things when you reach middle / older age? Personally, I noticed people get back/carpal/other problems and stop taking too much of work. I have some years before I reach that stage
I put in 92 hours a week when I was young, but most of those years I worked out of my home and traveled to see clients. Then my job changed to sitting in an office and I cut my hours back by almost half.
 
  • #12
What percentage of work hours do you think are productive?
 
  • #13
rootX said:
Doesn't it get very hard to do these kind of things when you reach middle / older age? Personally, I noticed people get back/carpal/other problems and stop taking too much of work. I have some years before I reach that stage
By the time I reached 36, I quit the paper mill and went to work as a consultant. I still put in a LOT of hours on some contracts, including traveling, but at least I didn't have to pound my poor feet and knees up and down concrete floors in horrible heat and humidity. I have had a lot of cartilage removed from both knees, so now, I am bone-on-bone in large part and have to put up with degenerative arthritis and additional joint pain.

Working as a consultant was generally more remunerative than working as the lead operator of a high-speed paper machine, but I got to do a lot of the work at home, and less in the mills. My fellow organic-gardening neighbor is still working in that paper mill, and though I have 10 years on him, I fear that it is only dedication and denial that is keeping him at that job. We are both physically wrecked by that business.
 
  • #14
For a time when I was out of school I used to pull 90-100 hours for months at a time, sevens days a week. Just waked up at 5:30 AM and went to work, came back home by 10:00-11:00 PM, and then passed out. One time I was so tired I actually caused a car accident.

But those were the good days. The job layed off lots of people, and then closed the shop two months later in my state.

For a time when going to school, same thing, worked more than 100 hours/week at certain times.

Now I'd be lucky to make it 40 hours.
 
  • #15
~40 the past couple of years with the economy down. I'm only guaranteed 36, so that counts as "overtime" for now.
 
  • #16
waht said:
For a time when I was out of school I used to pull 90-100 hours for months at a time, sevens days a week.
Wow, that's like 600 hours a week!
Just waked up at 5:30 AM and went to work, came back home by 10:00-11:00 PM, and then passed out. One time I was so tired I actually caused a car accident.
Oh, ok, now I get it. :-p
 
  • #17
rootX said:
Two courses+internship+bit of insantity for starting new projects like crazy! First I started just documenting some old processes for my project and but withing a month ended up handling everything and replacing potential contractor work .. then initiated three new projects.

But I have mostly been +70-80 (school work, classes, labs) for last 2-3 years and bit higher during internships .. like most of the engineering students unless you don't want to.

Thanks for this info rootX. I'm in my first year for physics. I don't know what I'll do with myself in my junior and senior year!
 
  • #18
40. Used to be 72 for 6 months, before that used to be 72-80 with second and third gig for 1 year.. Before that was a solid 36 for 3 years, before that I was a nobody, so zero.
 
  • #19
turbo-1 said:
In past years, I sometimes worked over 90 hours per week (construction superintendent) and generally over 60 hours per week for years (paper machine operator), though when we started up the paper machine, I worked 84 hours per week for months and months. Very hard physical labor in hot and humid conditions.

Now, I work tending my garden, doing yard-work, dealing with firewood, taking care of snow in the winter, etc.

Yikes! But gardening can be tedious also. I was transferring some plants one summer and I thought I was going to pass out

Thanks for your answers everybody!
 
  • #20
russ_watters said:
Wow, that's like 600 hours a week!

just meant to squeeze in that I worked seven days a week.
 
  • #21
Pythagorean said:
What percentage of work hours do you think are productive?

I actually have no opinion in this respect!
 
  • #22
I worked some hellacious hours in college, too. Engineering school with an honors program added on, plus buying, refurbishing, and selling amps and guitars, plus playing frat parties on Friday and Saturday nights. I couldn't make enough enough money in the summers doing mill-work to keep me solvent during the school year - thus the side-lines. I was a busy guy.
 
  • #23
turbo-1 said:
I worked some hellacious hours in college, too. Engineering school with an honors program added on, plus buying, refurbishing, and selling amps and guitars, plus playing frat parties on Friday and Saturday nights. I couldn't make enough enough money in the summers doing mill-work to keep me solvent during the school year - thus the side-lines. I was a busy guy.

I bet you were getting busy too, you stud muffin musicano
 
  • #24
:smile:
 
  • #25
cronxeh said:
I bet you were getting busy too, you stud muffin musicano
Gotta make time for the important stuff. When the frat brothers were hollering for "Gloria" and "House of the Rising Sun" I'd make eye-contact with their dance partners, with the absolute certainty that many of the brothers would be worthless before the evening ended and at least some of the ladies would still want to party.
 
  • #26
waht said:
For a time when I was out of school I used to pull 90-100 hours for months at a time, sevens days a week. Just waked up at 5:30 AM and went to work, came back home by 10:00-11:00 PM, and then passed out. One time I was so tired I actually caused a car accident.

I'm sorry to hear that! Sometimes I'm so tired I jump and realize I'm still awake. And I don't know if coffee is working anymore!
 
  • #27
turbo-1 said:
Gotta make time for the important stuff. When the frat brothers were hollering for "Gloria" and "House of the Rising Sun" I'd make eye-contact with their dance partners, with the absolute certainty that many of the brothers would be worthless before the evening ended and at least some of the ladies would still want to party.

Wow they were that easy? I mean sure, John Mayer's acoustic performance of "Your body is a wonderland" will burn off panties from any woman as well ( )


No i don't mean to derail this thread, carry on
 
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  • #28
cronxeh said:
Wow they were that easy? I mean sure, John Mayer's acoustic performance of "Your body is a wonderland" will burn off panties from any woman as well
60's-70's music was more basic in the "pantie-burning" department. My later forays into music in taverns and bars made it abundantly clear that blues is the language of love in those venues.
 
  • #29
Shake your money-maker!
 
  • #30
School time cannot be considered work. I worked 15-20 hours a week whilst in school. Being in class does not count as working.
 
  • #31
KalamMekhar said:
School time cannot be considered work. I worked 15-20 hours a week whilst in school. Being in class does not count as working.
Engineering school might not be "work" in some sense, but if you intend to succeed, you'd better put in the time and effort. If you need to work outside of that framework to make enough money to make ends meet, it can add up pretty quickly. The "borrow and pay later" method of financing one's higher education may seem attractive, but I couldn't buy into it 30 years ago. It's stupid now and it was stupid then.
 
  • #32
turbo-1 said:
Engineering school might not be "work" in some sense, but if you intend to succeed, you'd better put in the time and effort. If you need to work outside of that framework to make enough money to make ends meet, it can add up pretty quickly. The "borrow and pay later" method of financing one's higher education may seem attractive, but I couldn't buy into it 30 years ago. It's stupid now and it was stupid then.

That is why you let the US Taxpayer pay for your college. Sure, you might end up having to kill someone. . . But its FREE college!
 
  • #33
I work 52 hours a week. Plus 4 hours a day on the bus.
 
  • #34
40 hours (approximately)
 
  • #35
40-100+ hours a week. At times I have worked 120 hours a week. But then again, at times I have made $2K a day, so I can't really complain. The trouble was that to maintain that pace was a short and certain path to the grave, so I finally had to cut back and stop the travel.

Pythagorean said:
What percentage of work hours do you think are productive?

I can see that at times, my efficiency goes over a cliff after twelve or fourteen hours. But it is also true that I have done some of my best work while nearly comatose from lack of sleep, in the middle of the night [like 3 AM]. So it depends on what I'm doing. If I'm going through the drudgery of something like writing code for hours and hours, there is a limit. I have learned to stop when I start staring a lot. And I always try to avoid doing any real math or physics when not well rested. But, if I'm calling upon my more creative side, the lack of sleep seems to be a plus at times.

Without a doubt, my career has been built [to a siginficant degree] upon ideas that came to me in the middle of the night - after many hours or days, or weeks, or even months, of being completely focused on the problem.
 
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  • #36
Ivan Seeking said:
Without a doubt, my career has been built [to a siginficant degree] upon ideas that came to me in the middle of the night - after many hours or days, or weeks, or even months, of being completely focused on the problem.

Middle night works for me too, or even when I am sleeping, for strange reasons I am always very creative during those times. I would wake up, scribble on paper and try to go back to sleep. However, for some people showers work better.
 
  • #37
rootX said:
Middle night works for me too, or even when I am sleeping, for strange reasons I am always very creative during those times. I would wake up, scribble on paper and try to go back to sleep. However, for some people showers work better.

Yes, I have solved academic [esp homework] and practical problems, in dreams before.

As for taking showers, that seems to greatly enhance my abilities as a singer. :biggrin:
 
  • #38
Ivan Seeking said:
Yes, I have solved academic [esp homework] and practical problems, in dreams before.

As for taking showers, that seems to greatly enhance my abilities as a singer. :biggrin:

There are always so many academic problems while none of much challenge and interest (@ undergrad level) that I can barely keep up with one for more than 30 minutes. I haven't been enough fortunate to find a problem that can appear in my sleep. I only solved work related practical problems in my sleep.
 
  • #39
TheStatutoryApe said:
Plus 4 hours a day on the bus.
That is cool. I need to get a bike:biggrin:
 
  • #40
rootX said:
Middle night works for me too

Me too! As you can tell I am always doing homework at this time and it is 2:30am here
 
  • #41
Ivan Seeking said:
I can see that at times, my efficiency goes over a cliff after twelve or fourteen hours. But it is also true that I have done some of my best work while nearly comatose from lack of sleep, in the middle of the night [like 3 AM]. So it depends on what I'm doing. If I'm going through the drudgery of something like writing code for hours and hours, there is a limit. I have learned to stop when I start staring a lot. And I always try to avoid doing any real math or physics when not well rested. But, if I'm calling upon my more creative side, the lack of sleep seems to be a plus at times.

Without a doubt, my career has been built [to a siginficant degree] upon ideas that came to me in the middle of the night - after many hours or days, or weeks, or even months, of being completely focused on the problem.

I generally code and write research updates late at night. If I'm reading papers or doing handwork, or just thinking about an approach to a problem, I'll usually go outdoors somewhere and find a shady, windy spot (no bugs or sun).

I don't think I can really count hours though. I'm very sporadic. I sometimes do short bursts of work (minutes on, minutes off) then one night I'll start working on something and it will suddenly be 6am, another day I won't even think of work.
 
  • #42
Actual hours worked... 5-6 hrs to be honest. After that I'm only good for mindless labor.
 
  • #43
rootX said:
There are always so many academic problems while none of much challenge and interest (@ undergrad level) that I can barely keep up with one for more than 30 minutes. I haven't been enough fortunate to find a problem that can appear in my sleep. I only solved work related practical problems in my sleep.

I dream in concepts and problems every night. Only rarely do I actually solve a problem in my sleep, but it does sometimes lead to ways of solving it after waking up. Rarely do I actually see an image in dreams, though I can create photo-realistic images in my head while awake.

I once sit down late one evening in the boat house to solve a problem. When I solved it, I figured it was just a few hours, but I notice light coming under the floats and thought I stayed up night. When I checked it was 24 hours later.
 
  • #44
This thread reminds me of a scene from one of my favorite movies:

Bob Slydell: You see, what we're actually trying to do here is, we're trying to get a feel for how people spend their day at work... so, if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?

Peter Gibbons: Yeah.

Bob Slydell: Great.

Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh heh - and, uh, after that I just sort of space out for about an hour.

Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?

Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work

I usually work 40-50 hours in a given week.
 
  • #45
I'm currently working 53 hours a week, though next week it's 64.
When the fall semester rolls around, I'll be back down to 32 hours (taking 16 credits limits the hours available to work).

Last semester, I worked 42 hours while taking 15 credits, so the fall semester should bring some welcome rest.
 
  • #46
I'm also a night person. I would be writing proposals between midnight and 2 am. Working at home is great. If I had an epiphany at 3am, I could hop my my computer, access all of the systems at work and be productive. Amazingly, some of the people I e-mailed were also up working at 3-4am and would respond. We were a sick bunch.

Then our a-hole VP decided that unless people sat in the office they probably were slacking off, so they forced everyone to commute daily and fill out daily reports that had to show everything we did every hour. Productivity fell off so much that our division, that usually exceeded quota by 300%, didn't even make quota and it never did again. People quit, I also quit and went to a competitor.
 
  • #47
Evo said:
IAmazingly, some of the people I e-mailed were also up working at 3-4am and would respond. We were a sick bunch.

*snickers* That's great!
 
  • #48
Uhmmm, do you subtract or add the hours you spend on PF?
 
  • #49
Evo said:
Amazingly, some of the people I e-mailed were also up working at 3-4am and would respond. We were a sick bunch.

Haha, I e-mail my advisor a report at 2 am and nearly instantly got a reply back from her. I think those are her productive hours as well.
 
  • #50
rolerbe said:
Uhmmm, do you subtract or add the hours you spend on PF?

If one would add them, then I'm working 24/7. :biggrin:
 

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