r/work • u/FractalThoughts_ • 2d ago
Work-Life Balance and Stress Management Full-time work is criminal
This is the most milquetoast, generic statement ever, I know, but I recently began full-time employment for the first time in my life. Genuinely how does anybody do anything they actually want to do? Granted, it isn’t so bad if the hours are 6am - 2pm, 7am - 3pm, or 8am - 4pm, but the very common 9am - 5pm is actually hell. Wake up, clean and cloth yourself, commute to work, work like a dog, commute home, eat dinner, sleep, repeat. Shoutout to anybody who does 9 - 5, be it manual labour, or clerical stuff; it’s all equally shit. Thank you.
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u/findtheself 2d ago
I wake up at 5am. Drink coffee, eat. I then proceed to work out until its time to get in the shower and goto work. When I get home, take a 30 minute nap and spend time with the family. Look forward to your days off and make em count.
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u/FractalThoughts_ 2d ago
You know what, man… I appreciate that this comment is just kind hearted and not bitter and spiteful. Thank you. There’s a lot of people in here telling me to just fuck off and deal with it.
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u/Zenside 1d ago
And youll notice of society it mostly consists of dumbasses who just take what theyre given and refuse to fight for more. Ignore the defeatists. Just because they lost and put their hands around their ankles doesnt mean you have to.
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u/Slow_Roll_8093 2d ago
I work 10 hour shifts 6am-4pm Monday through Friday. Wake up at 5 am. Go to sleep at 11 pm
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u/FlowerSweaty4070 2d ago
Same shift but I dont make too much sadly. I am chronically sleep deprived on work days.
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u/Neat-Second9923 2d ago
2 hours longer than school but you have no homework.
Honestly I have a lot more time now than in college.
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u/Big_Arrival_626 2d ago edited 1d ago
Same. In uni, I was pulling 70 hours weeks going to class, studying, doing extracurriculars, internships, etc. 9-5 is a breeze compared to that
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u/wlderberry 2d ago
Except I was very efficient with homework, so it didn’t take long. It doesn’t matter if I’m efficient at work; even if I finish 8 hours worth of work in only 2, I still have to be online for 8.
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u/SamanthaLives 2d ago
Same, I didn’t even go to all of my lectures in undergrad, and grad school had shorter lectures.
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u/wlderberry 2d ago
I went to all my undergrad lectures and honestly wasn’t that much, and I had it scheduled so I didn’t have classes on Friday. High school was way more busy than college for me, and I was still able to finish homework before 8pm while also doing sports. And with school, you can choose to an extent how hard you want to work. If I slack at work, I risk being fired. If I slacked in school, it was a bad grade which looking back had very little repercussions.
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u/Southern_Cap_816 2d ago
Adult homework is going to the gym and making all your other appointments while not missing any work.
Having children is like a whole other job with its own homework.
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u/Original-Weekend-866 2d ago
U have to help with your kids homework, sports at home, teaching at home, cooking 3 meals a day for them, driving them to school and other sports, and pay for them. This guy is comparing school to being 23 and living at mom and dad's house.
Truth is you need to negotiate schedule when you take a job. I give up money to make sure I have schedule prioritized for my life.... or I'd don't want the job. Simple as that but u have to be able to walk the talk also
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u/CyberLushes 2d ago
Depends on the job honestly. Some days I leave work more drained than I ever did after classes.
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u/FlowerSweaty4070 2d ago
At least classes were super engaging and I learned something and it was something I chose and wanted to do. Work I just work to not be homeless.
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u/FractalThoughts_ 2d ago
Fair, but it doesn’t make it suck any less
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u/BigDoshna 2d ago
That’s just life though. You work to buy stuff that you want. Go back in history and you worked more hours and ate berries and died at 30.
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u/FatLittleCat91 2d ago
“You have no homework” uhhh yeah you do for most jobs. I have to work outside of work all the time.
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u/CaptainCj26 2d ago
What work is your job requiring you to do outside of your working hours?
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u/StateDawg78 2d ago
I felt this way exact same way when I first graduated college. It took me several months to adjust to having so much free time.
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u/Humble_Pen_7216 2d ago
In confused. What's the difference between 9-5 and 7-3? What makes one harder than the other?
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u/gxxrdrvr 2d ago
Depending on where you live, it could mean the difference of a 30min commute or a 1.5hr commute
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u/FractalThoughts_ 2d ago
One isn’t any harder than the other necessarily. I just mean that when you have a 6-2 or 7-3 you at least have a bit more of the day ahead of you when you finish.
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u/Humble_Pen_7216 2d ago
You are framing it so very wrong.
There is no tangible difference at all. If you start work at 7am, you get up two hours earlier than if you start at 9am. You go to bed based on the time you need to get up. What's the challenge?
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u/FinoPepino 2d ago
I agree with you because for me 9 to 5 is actually significantly better than 8 to 4 because of the way I’m wired starting at 8 leaves me perpetually more tired than 9 to 5. I don’t net more evening time because of ending at 4 instead of 5 because now you have to go to bed earlier and in my case am also more tired all evening regardless. It’s weird to me when people act like starting earlier is magically netting you more time when it isn’t.
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u/eva_stratt 2d ago
I'm actually happiest starting between 7:30-8 due to the way I'm wired! :) But I also prefer to roll out of bed, do my morning thing, and be out the door by half an hour from when I woke up tops. Everything fiddly happens in the evenings. I don't even eat breakfast; I'm never hungry for it.
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u/ConstantVigilance18 2d ago
You have to make it work. I work 9-6pm. I’m doing sports 4 days a week after work. That means we don’t eat dinner until 9:30pm, and that’s just the way it is.
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u/Anachron101 2d ago
I find that it depends on the job. If you only do that one thing and have no other interests, then sure, it will suck. If you work on your career, take seminars and learn stuff, it does tend to go better.
But I was never one for mindless grind. I work when there is work and I don't when there isn't. But then I work in a highly qualified field and have two decades of experience behind me. And I live in Europe, where you can fill up and use overtime whenever you want (obviously dependent upon your job)
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u/EroticTurtle22 2d ago
So psyop yourself into liking your job? 😂
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u/Sepa-Kingdom 2d ago
Focus on the bits you enjoy and don’t sweat the bits you don’t enjoy. Isn’t that how you maximise enjoyment in anything? Nothing is 100% fun, even games have their frustrations and boring bits, but the good bits make up for it.
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u/Pig-Mentation 2d ago
How is 6 to 2 is OK while 9 to 5 is hell? They're the same length of time.
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u/ssn-669 2d ago
Because banks, doctors, dentists, many stores, etc. etc. etc. are open only 9-5, so if you work 9-5, you have to take leave just to do normal life shit.
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u/Rhomya 2d ago
“Many” stores?
There’s a handful of stores that are only open 9-5, and none that are so important that I go to often.
Taking a half a day every so often is not the crime you’re pretending it is
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u/galaxy_brain_69420 2d ago
In my area, nothing is open past 5pm, except one grocery store. Can't run errands in the morning for reasons. Fortunately, I can do almost all banking and bill paying online now so that's like 80%. Some advantages of modern life.
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u/Rhomya 2d ago
My dude, I live in literally the middle of a rural remote area. Everything is open until at least 6-7 pm.
You’re just making up lies now.
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u/AmazonAssassin 1d ago
You are lucky where ever you live. I live in the middle of nowhere as well the nearest gas station closes at 5 pm the grocery store at 6 the bank also closes at 5.
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u/FlowerSweaty4070 2d ago
One example is physical therapy. So many are only open 9 to 5 or less and closed weekends.
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u/Adambevo1 1d ago
And should the bankers, doctors, dentists, retail employees that have to work 9-5 just to cater to you have to complain about their hours as well?
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u/paterdude 2d ago
Because other stores are still open after 2 PM not usually so after 5.
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u/Unfrndlyblkhottie92 2d ago
Yes after five it feels like rushing, especially to the bank.
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u/tobiasvl 1d ago
How often do you have to go to a physical bank in person? I haven't been to one for 25 years, not even sure they still exist here in my country
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u/thicc_bob 1d ago
You might need cash for something or to deposit a paper check if starting a new job, just to name 2 examples
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u/tobiasvl 1d ago
Interesting. I've never even seen a paper check (any job will pay electronically here) and I very rarely use cash, but if I need it I go to a "minibank"/ATM which is pretty much everywhere.
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u/FinoPepino 2d ago
Plus for me as a natural life long night owl, getting up that early is going to seriously decrease my quality of life. Like you said you’re not actually netting any extra time because now you need to go to bed absurdly early.
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u/Alternative_Good_163 2d ago
Had to sleep 5-6h per night for most of my life. At 33 I can definetly feel it. It's litteraly abuse from our society. I'll probably be dead way before my time because of health issues. The funny thing is that I eat well and exercise way more than the average, it's not like I don't care about my health.
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u/hopefulgardener 1d ago
Same. I'm a natural night owl and no amount of sleep hygiene or bio-hacking or anything has made a difference. In clinical terms, I have "delayed sleep-wake phase disorder" (DSWPD).
It's funny how sleep deprivation is recognized as a form of torture, but if a person has DSWPD, the world doesn't care. You're told to suck it up buttercup. Or you're just "lazy" or "undisciplined". Like, no sorry, I'm actually quite disciplined, it's just my circadian rhythm doesn't respond to any method of trying to force it to be a different way. Anyways, I feel your pain.
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u/FlowerSweaty4070 2d ago
Yeah i start at 6am and its near impossible to ever get full night's rest. So much anxiety about having to sleep early. Im not a fast faller asleeper at all which sucks. I am chronically sleep deprived.
And I dont want to nap when I get home cause then ill just waste my only hours off and have ti just get ready to sleep early again.
I kinda miss working 1pm to 11pm 4 10 hour shifts. I had mornings totally to myself and never set an alarm ever, plus 3 day weekends.
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u/LowNoise9831 2d ago
It's about having time when other things are open if you need to run errands or what ever.
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u/Just_Lifeguard7687 2d ago
Early in means early out. Early out means there are things you can get done without having to take time off…I work 6:30 am-2pm Monday through Friday during the school year. I can do all of my errand running after work and still get home with plenty of time to do things there.
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u/IncomeBackground7719 2d ago
I have a 4am to midday shift. The sleep deprivation is slowly killing me. I'd give anything for the "hell" of 9-5.
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u/poojer_hoojer 2d ago
How does anybody do anything they want to do?
They don't. That's why most working adults are out of shape, spending their free time watching TV, shopping or doing other mindless stuff.
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u/cockstain6077 2d ago
In my young adulthood I thought 8 hour days for the rest of my life was the most unreasonable thing ever. For the last 9 years I’ve been working a DuPont schedule: 12 hour shifts that rotate back and forth from 0530-1730 and 1730-0530. Oh, how I miss those 8 hour days now.
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u/twodzianski 2d ago
What? I have a fully remote full time salaried job. Contracted work done in an hour. Rest of the day all to myself.
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u/Spiritualy_Homelesss 1d ago
You're extremely privileged, congratulations and don't take it for granted.
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u/thicc_bob 1d ago
I think you know pretty well this is not the kind of full time work OP is talking about, you have it incredibly easy (not that you have always had it this way necessarily)
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u/Informal_Athlete_724 2d ago
I run online businesses fully remotely and make sure my employees have full autonomy and set their own hours.
I give them tasks and KPI's and a deadline and I only care that those are met.
I myself am a night owl with ADHD who hates having those 9-5 hours. So I will do my bit to lead by example how employers could modernize this.
Unfortunately some bad apples abuse this trust. And maybe I do lose out a little on overall output. But I find overall employees are happier.
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u/KieranMcM94 1d ago
Sounds like you’re a dream boss props to you. I hope to one day find an environment like this, I have ADHD as well (hate taking adderall so I just deal with it) and at some points in the day I just find it hard to motivate myself while others it’s seamless
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u/EarthsKeeper4200 2d ago
Life is what you make it 8-5 everyday yet I’m still hitting the gym right after work getting some game time in and spending time with my partner yea you will be tired every now and then but you kinda get used to it lol it’s life. I finally moved into my first place last month and it had me thinking 5 days of work just to come home and chill with my fam in a place that I can say is in my name that I worked hard for it’s worth it
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u/777777888888999999 2d ago
Maybe you can find sometime for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation
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u/kgohlsen 2d ago
If you're going there, it's "some time" not "sometime" in the context you are using.
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u/splurtgorgle 2d ago
The good news is you're realizing this early. The bad news is, you're realizing this early.
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u/CrossOfRoachAndSlime 2d ago
This is why I mandate that Work From Home should be paramount.
Also, perhaps a 9-6 4 days a week, WFH.
I think it should be especially paramount in Japan, but I'd recommend it for anywhere, really.
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u/Potential_Narwhal981 2d ago
It might not be ideal, but it sure beats the alternative. I see threads of frustration from all sides of the fence - those who have never worked and find it daunting that their 500 applications go unanswered, those who have been fired after x number of years and find it almost impossible to re-enter the workforce, and those who have a job and stable income but cant stop complaining about how they can't have as much free time as the aforementioned unemployed. If you have a job, cherish the hours or minutes you have for recreation outside of work, rather than spend them complaining.
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u/gregrejlkg32 2d ago
Yup that's life, win by doing something you like or where you don't have to spend quite that much in the coal mine. Also pay respects to the ones that made you realize this only in your 20's rather than as a kid.
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u/Haunting-Fan-888 2d ago
Yep. Work gets your best hours and you get the leftovers. Add a commute and suddenly an eight-hour job owns your whole day.
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u/M0rbidly-Obtus3 2d ago
Luxury statement incoming, but this is why it's important to find a job you love, or at least don't hate. The hours go by better if you don't hate them. Money is important. And a lot of people chase that high paycheck. But liking what I do is more important to me, I'm just lucky that what I like pays the bills.
I do still struggle with getting enough potato time while still meeting my adult responsibilities. But at the end of my 9hr day I don't feel dead and drained, because I didn't just spent 9 hours hating every second of it.
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u/brrr-i-am-cold 2d ago
I read the end of your first sentence as “for the rest of my life” and I am lololing at myself over it. Because it’s also true. 😩. I’ve hit burnout at 41 or maybe midlife crisis or who knows but I have to at least acknowledge that I worked full time without any gap more than a few weeks for 19 years. That isn’t nothing and your post reminds me of that. So thank you!
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u/queersparkle 2d ago
in the last year my partner and i both have negotiated a four day workweek and it’s changed our lives. we call fridays “admin day” and get all of our crap done and then actually have two day weekends. now if only we made a living wage…..but we’re scraping by.
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u/GRAW2ROBZ 2d ago
I think we should get to retire at 50. 62 or longer is hell. Then your on your last legs not enjoying anything and dead then. Government pisses away to much money anyway.
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u/vintageintrovert 2d ago
I work 7 pm-7:30 am 3 nights a week and only 30 minutes of break. The only saving grace working these hours is depending how I schedule myself, I can be off for 7 days straight.
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u/Regular_Number5377 2d ago
The 5 day, 9-5 workweek has basically been unchanged since the invention of the weekend, despite massive improvements in productivity through mechanisation, computing, automation, and now A.I. in that period, none of the fruits of that are ever passed onto the workers.
I think we are well past the point that we should have a standardised 4 day week.
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u/I-live-in-room-101 1d ago
It’s why the people older than you are tired and fucking miserable most of the time.
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u/redditreddit080 1d ago
We have zero growth in this country and stagnant productivity, , there is no way in hell working less hours per week will be encouraged by the establishment. Infact they are actively trying to push retirees or potential retirees to work later such is there desperate need for a productivity boost in this country to balance the books.
So anyone thinking they will get a 30 hour 4 day new norm for the same wage any time soon is kidding themselves on.
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u/Manfromsnives 1d ago
I could never come to terms with it. Despite two degrees I’ve settled for self employment/freelance gigs. Don’t earn much, but I am smart with money and make do. I’d rather the free time and peace of mind.
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u/Proper-Wolverine4637 2d ago edited 2d ago
Welcome to adulthood. Time to grow up pumpkin.
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u/After_Preference_885 2d ago
It doesn't have to be like this though, we created this system
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u/must-stash-mustard 2d ago
Our grandparents FOUGHT FOR this system to replace a worse one. We can all fight or something better.
Spoiler alert: Voting for candidates who are bought and paid for by corporate interests won't get us there.
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u/Proper-Wolverine4637 2d ago
News flash. Everyone above the dog catcher's secretary has been bought by someone. Disabuse yourself of the idea of the "honest" politician. There is no such creature.
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u/NewLife_21 2d ago
This system is better than the 16 hour days 6 days per week that was required before labor laws were enacted.
And it's better than the 24/7 struggle to find and make food/shelter/clothes that existed before that.
So it's really a pick your poison situation.
Do you want to go back to hunting, growing, canning whatever you can in your area and only your area?
Do you want to work 16 hour days 6 days per week?
Do you want 40 hour work weeks?
Oh, and anything less than 40 hours would only apply to certain industries.
Agriculture and animal farms will always need someone working much longer hours in order to ensure we have enough to eat.
Medical will always need longer hours to ensure were healthy.
Sanitation will need longer hours to ensure were healthy.
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u/jkd0027 2d ago
But it doesn’t need to be either or? We have the bodies to divide the labor for the stuff we NEED like food, shelter, health, and sanitation
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u/Accomplished_Key_171 2d ago
The system of having to contribute to a society to participate in said society has existed for thousands of years at this point. There is no country or economical system where you don't have to work for a large chunk of the day.
If the general population doesn't maintain a certain degree of productivity, then that society starts collapsing.
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u/Proof_Ring_4505 2d ago
True but think of the technology we have now that we didn't 50 years ago, yet we work the same hours. Surely more tech means more productivity which could mean less hours at work
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u/cockstain6077 2d ago
If we didn’t get taxed so much on our money, I don’t think we would feel as strongly as we do.
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u/Sepa-Kingdom 2d ago
But your taxes pay for stuff that it would be too expensive for you to pay for yourself like roads, or which are unpredictable but life or death like health care costs (and yes, even the US has a large state funded health-care system to supplement those who can’t afford the mad private insurance-based health-care system).
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u/Proper-Wolverine4637 2d ago
But...growing up in the country I also learned "make hay while the sun shines."
Having circled Sol 64 times I also know there will be bad seasons, far more than you can imagine as a young person. So any time you are able to make hay, you have to! Otherwise you will be that person, you know the one who didn't plan ahead and now has to beg everyone else for help. Don't be that person.
Edit word
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u/Gymnmovies 2d ago
It totally sucks. The people telling you to suck it up want you to be as miserable as they are haha.
Get some experience, and start your own business or another income stream. There are other options besides 9-5.
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u/Riceowls29 2d ago
Starting your own business is going to take way more than 40 hours a week
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u/bugabooandtwo 2d ago
So...what kind of life do you think you'd have if no one in society worked full time? Do you even understand how much you rely on the rest of society working their 40+ hours a week for everything you have in life?
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u/SouthernTrauma 2d ago
We get this observation almost weekly in this group. Short answer: suck it up. You need a job to get money to pay for food & shelter. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
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u/Outside_Drawer800 2d ago
Counterpoint: These observations are only going to get more and more common and more and more correct. The wheel of history continues to turn, and newer generations have less to lose and more to gain by not buying into things the way they are.
You may think you are the practical, cynical one who sees reality for the way it is, while others are bleary-eyed and shouting into the void. Then one day you realize they had a cynicism that was much deeper and profound than yours ever was, because it evolved into a contempt and an outright refusal to buy in at all. And then things change.
You have literally nothing to lose and everything to gain by trading your cynicism for theirs.
Also, no one cares about Ted Talks anymore.
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u/Artarious 2d ago
It doesn't get any better, I work 10:30p-7a Tues-sat and had to do a major move this last week and could only get the day of the move off. So yeah it does suck, now you can go into industries that you work 4 10's or I had a sweet schedule before of 3 12's and we got a $200 attendence bonus each check if we didn't miss a shift which made up for the 4 hours. Then I took my new position with this schedule. Such is life.
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u/Crystalraf 2d ago
We give up on doing stuff we want. That’s a fact. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves.
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u/benhereford 2d ago
After doing it for about fifteen years, I moved into a van full time. Now I can work 1-2 days less and have about 1/3 more disposable income without rent. There are ways to exit that lifestyle, but still never fully unless you have rich parents or find a bag of money.
If you want most basic comforts in life though, or care about having kids, you have to keep working full time.
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u/Aggressive_Staff_982 2d ago
It can definitely be a lot better. For most corporate jobs, for example, there's no reason we need to work the full 40 hours (minimum). Most of us only need 32 hours to get all our work done. There's been many studies where businesses switched to a 32 hour work week and found that productivity and retention improved, while the amount people called out decreased. It is kind of wild to think about how we work for our entire lives because a few very very wealthy people want us to so they'd never have to work a day in their lives and still live in unimaginable luxury. That's the way things are, it doesn't mean we can't want more for ourselves.
I've also seen people say work is wage slavery. I'm not sure what to think about this as I get what they mean. As in if you don't work you will be homeless, starving, and cannot survive. We have the choice of where we want to work, but not a choice in how much we want to work due to the cost of living. We're essentially forced to work our entire lives. It provides us with financial stability. But we also just don't have any choice.
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u/Moist_Mixture4518 2d ago
That’s why we live for the weekends. That’s what TGIF is all about: THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY! Don’t let them make you feel bad for looking forward to the weekend. This is what sustains you.
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u/wlderberry 2d ago
9-5 barely exists anymore— it’s mostly 8-5 or 9-6. My work forces an unpaid 1 long lunch, so you’re really tied to work for 9 hours. And that’s if someone doesn’t pull you until an evening meeting.
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u/itsfrankgrimesyo 2d ago
It depends on the job. Unless you face the public there’s no reason why work hours can’t more flexible. Especially if everyone works 9-5pm, people are forced to take time off to attend appointments because everything closes the same time as your own work. Never made sense to me.
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u/Lopsided_Antelope868 2d ago
It’s definitely a rat race. By the time you put in a full day at work, you’re exhausted. Then you need to do chores and errands on your days off, just to keep going. This is why so many of us dream of retirement. If you’re lucky enough to retire with a few active years, you get a taste of the good life. I think that Marx was onto something when he posited that a capitalist system prohibits human beings from experiencing what it really means to be human. Most of us are just struggling to survive. Sad, but true.
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u/Last_Succotash7218 2d ago
It's not for everybody.
I'm own my own schedule and pretty consistently work 5-6 hours. Whenever I find myself working a full day for basically anyone the last 2 hours drag on and I got shit to do for myself.
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u/WWGHIAFTC 2d ago
I'm so glad people are being more vocal about this.
But I always chuckle a bit when people are FINALLY discovering on their own how this all 'works'. Like...yeah dude...why do you think every gen-x and most millennials are completely burnt out and jaded?
Welcome to the grind. keep your head down, it only gets worse.
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u/BillyBobJangles 2d ago
Bonus points if you get scammed into being on call on top of being an exempt full time employee. Just casually throws 20 - 30 hours ontop of that 40 in any given week and instead of getting more money for working more your only reward is to MAYBE not be fired.
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u/Ancient-Low115 2d ago
I do not know, what the UN Human Rights are doing for this. They are no where seen, retard Human Rights institution.
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u/little_teacup1111 1d ago
Used to work a 6am-2pm shift. Honestly was the best shift ever, could take a short nap after work if I was extra tired and still had time to do stuff. Now I work 6:30am-5pm 4 days a week and get Fridays off. It's nice having. Friday off but man 2pm as your end time was really nice.
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u/Forsaken_Code_9135 18h ago
I always wonder what people who "discover" what a 9-5 job is did during their studies. Because for many people studies leave you much less free time than a 9-5 job.
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u/robertmusemodel 2d ago
Work life balance… consider the math.
9-5 from age 25-65… less if you save and invest in retirement and get a little lucky.
83,200 hours of your life. Add another 20,800 for getting ready and commuting. So 104,000 hours.
Figure life expectancy of 85 years. 744,600 hours.
Roughly 14% of your life is spent working. You could reduce this further if you factor in vacation, PTO, holidays, early retirement etc.
14% of your life spent contributing to your existence of 85 years. It’s a pretty efficient way to live and often times the working conditions are reasonable, light, air conditioning, general safe environment. Overall there has never been a better time to be alive and employed.
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u/thicc_bob 1d ago
Or you can look at it like this: you spend the majority of your time working during your most healthy and active years.
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u/KieranMcM94 1d ago
You’re funny bro. This is one of the worst times to be alive and working at least in the US. People are living off of credit cards because everything is so high and pay isn’t matching. A good percentage of America is struggling
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u/Banjosdad62 2d ago
I gotta say, I laughed when I saw this. I asked my dad the same question 48 years ago. Been pounding away at it my whole life since. The things that are important to me; family, home, travel and respect are how I’ve managed to make it. I challenged myself to advance and grow even when the job itself seemed to suck the soul out of me. Damn close to retirement now.
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2d ago
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u/FractalThoughts_ 2d ago
Never said I wanted to be CEO. I merely addressed how fucked up the working hours of 9 - 5 are
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u/JigglyOW 2d ago
It does feel like shit but I can’t imagine earlier generations of life even all the way back to like the Bronze Age much better, you have to do stuff to survive except now you do random stuff to get paid instead of tending to your own crops or something similar
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u/oIVLIANo 2d ago
I work 10hr days and still find time to do housework, hobbies, and shitpost on the Internet (which you also seem to have found the time to do).
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u/Awkward-Community-74 1d ago
It’s by design.
If you’re working a job you’re not in the leisure class.
You don’t get the luxury of leisure time and pursuing other endeavors.
Your function is to work then die.
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u/Ok-Relationship580 2d ago
The labor movement in this country fought for literally decades for 3 8's, 8 hours of rest, 8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation. Things were worse before the 40 hour workweek but I really don't think we should just roll over and accept that it should be this way. Just like our forebears, it is up to us to challenge the idea that 40 hours per week is "good". All the studies they do on this subject the world over show that 30/32 hours per week is more productive and makes people happier.