Work hours/Daily regime - what do you do?

dellas1979

Ok so I started a new job, and each day now I work an hour longer than in my last job. Also the traffic is bad in the new direction so I have to leave the house earlier too. So up at 8, home at 5.45 (I might try find a way around traffic). Is this a long day? What do the rest of ye go through?

rainyrun

thats a great day!! I would not describe that as a long day at all... do you get a lunchbreak?

dellas1979

Get an hour for lunch.

Really? You dont find that long???

premier10

I wish my day was as short as that!!:mad:

dellas1979

What hours do ye work??????

I am intrigued now...

Jebus maybe I need a good dose of perspective.

looksee

Nope, you are not doing too badly there!

tenchi-fan

dellas1979 wrote: »

Ok so I started a new job, and each day now I work an hour longer than in my last job. Also the traffic is bad in the new direction so I have to leave the house earlier too. So up at 8, home at 5.45 (I might try find a way around traffic). Is this a long day? What do the rest of ye go through?

Today I left my house at 6.20 (up at 6am) and got home at 6pm. All commute and work.

Yesterday I left my house at 7.20 (up at 7am), 7.30 bus, didn't get to work til 9.30 because the traffic was bad, left work at 5.20pm, 5.30pm bus, then got home at 7pm.

It's a crazy commute. Working days are only 7.25hours long. But the traffic is just ridiculous. Thank god i'm leaving in 6 weeks because after 18 months I'm sick of it.

premier10

Now that's something to complain about

jam_mac_jam

a long day, are you mad.

D-Generate

About to start a job which is 8:00 to 19:30, give or take 30 minutes each side. Good times ahead! I don't know anyone in London who is fortunate to work 8 hours and not an hour more.

mikemac

Get a motorcycle or scooter, could save you multiple hours every week if it's a long commute with lots of traffic

Plus you'll be cool :cool:

Eoin

That is not a long day by a long shot.

How long is your commute incidentally?

lizanne83

God they're handy hours.... clearly jam-mac-jam has very long hrs too by that response!
I'm usually up by 7am, leave home at 8 (I'm a 'girl' so need nearly the hour for getting ready, breakfast etc) at my desk in office by around 8.30 every morning 25 ish min drive not bad). Stay in office anything from earliest 5 to 5.30 / 6.30 / 7.... depending on work. 5 day wk in office averaging 45 hrs... but doing a Masters also while working full-time so work is more busy than ever & never finishes as it's straight home to more study/work projects again anyway. So when masters finish end next year, any work hours /work days will feel easy and I'll feel I can give more to it then, too
I think too many people are working too long hours these days anyway.... maybe due to a feeling of needing to ensure visibility and job security during recession times... It depends on people's position too: most high-up managers can easily spend 10 hrs/day in office, sometimes more. Not healthy but fact.
I do this a few times but only due to fact of studying & project deadlines also I try stay bit longer at end of day to dip into project work.... last point is that the commuting, for most people, is the worse. I use to do it (Trains then buses/luas) but so much more less-stressful when not a huge commute....

Shzm

lizanne83 wrote: »

God they're handy hours.... clearly jam-mac-jam has very long hrs too by that response!

It's all in his username. His morning starts with sitting in a jam, he finally gets to work where he makes a few big macs, then gets stuck in another jam on the way home.

Bet he was waiting for this topic to come along.

Gavin "shels"

Not long at all, I usually work Monday and Wednesday midweek in work, so I'd be up for college at 8.15am, home by 4pm, something to eat and change and then in work and home by 10.20pm.

chappy

I would love that!!!

I did 2 years working on the other side of the city...would get 6:30am bus into town,7:25 dart, into work for 8:30,at best an hour lunch, finish at 9:15pm some nights,9:30pm Dart back in to town, 10:15pm bus home...

Got moved to a nearer store but still do 9-11 hour days plus maybe an hour commute each side...

Do not complain OP!!

murphym7

I get up at 6.45 every morning, get to work for about 7.30. Work until 18:00 -18:30 depending how busy the office is with an early finish on a Friday. Average working week 45hrs. That day looks great. Perspective is needed.

daigo75

I also believe such a day is relatively short. I leave home at 7 AM and I'm back at 7-7.30 PM on average. Yesterday I left at 3 AM and I was back at 5 PM. It's tiring, but still nothing compared to some of my previous jobs, where the *average* time spent in the office was 12 hours a day, Monday to Saturday...

Malice

I'm up around 7:15, into work for 8:15. I get 30 mins for lunch and I leave anywhere between 5:30 and 7:00. I'm usually home again about 20 mins after I leave, depending on the traffic.

pow wow

I get up at 6.20, leave the house at 6.40, at the gym for 7am. I make it to work for 8.15. Half hour lunch plus two 15 minute teabreaks and then I leave at 7pm to head back to the gym and then home by 8.15, except on Thursdays when I leave at 4pm as I'm tutoring on a course at the local college.

We've just started working extra hours on Saturdays too so of course I'm delighted :rolleyes:

dellas1979

My gosh...
Dont mean to come across as lazy or something. I only finished my Masters a few weeks ago (2 years parttime) and I worked full time (old job was 9.30 to 5 - public sector. I got up at 8.40 - in work for 9.30, home for 5.30/5.45).

I think my problem is that after 4 years, I have become lazy and complacent.

This morning I had to get up at 8am. Left house at 8.30. Work at 9 till 5.30 and home at 5.45.

Think O/T is expected at no extra cost (say 30min here and there).

I dont know whats going on with me - like a really weird feeling of they are long hours???? And Ive been working since I was 16. In college I was in 9-5. Id go to work at 6pm till 3am (nightpackers) and then up again at 8 for college.

Why cant I get my (old) head around this???

rick_fantastic

Normal Day (Monday - Friday)...
up at 6am, in gym from 6.25 to 7.35, quick shower and in office for 8am. lunch at desk and finish at 4.30pm, drive to second job and start at 5pm, no break, finish at 9pm. Home by 9.30pm

If not going to gym, up at 7am, shower and leave at 7.30am in office for 8am.

Work from home via VPN then for x amount of hours a week, cant really count them because Im at home...

WHAT RECESSION?????

dellas1979

rick_fantastic wrote: »

Normal Day (Monday - Friday)...
up at 6am, in gym from 6.25 to 7.35, quick shower and in office for 8am. lunch at desk and finish at 4.30pm, drive to second job and start at 5pm, no break, finish at 9pm. Home by 9.30pm

If not going to gym, up at 7am, shower and leave at 7.30am in office for 8am.

Work from home via VPN then for x amount of hours a week, cant really count them because Im at home...

WHAT RECESSION?????

WTF???
Are you man or machine? :eek:
Do you not get tired? Can you give an age? i.e. 20-25 or 30-35 (if ya dont want to be specific!).
Can you please PM me some of your energy and motivation.

Eoin

Absolutely no way I could manage working out in the the gym in the mornings, but I do train in the evenings. So up at about 7:40 and in the office for 9 or so. Work till 6:30 or 7 and then either home or training for 7:15.

dellas1979

eoin wrote: »

Absolutely no way I could manage working out in the the gym in the mornings, but I do train in the evenings. So up at about 7:40 and in the office for 9 or so. Work till 6:30 or 7 and then either home or training for 7:15.

I am in awe :eek:
I think I like TV too much. I have this routine where I have to get home in time for neighbours (please dont laugh ). I train in gym at weekends and go for 20-30min walk most evenings.

high heels

I work shift work so 12 hour days.. Up at 6:30 leave at 6:45 and work at 7am.. But I can have breakfast in work home at 7 but most of the time in bed by 9:30..

But then I get 5 days off .. I dont think I could do 9-5 I like 5 days off in a row.. But social life is a bit **** as work nights/ weekends even christmas.. so cant join a sport etc..

Ginny

up at 7, on bus by 7:45 in work by 9, finish at 5 home by 6:30. The commute is a killer.

Hrududu

9-5.30 is pretty standard. They've been the hours I've worked since leaving college.

I have to get up earlier than you though to get to work on time. Currently working a lot of extra hours (with no extra pay or time in lieu) so I'm looking forward to when things quieten back down again.

peasant

daigo75 wrote: »

*average* time spent in the office was 12 hours a day, Monday to Saturday...

But isn't that just it ...time spent in the office?

I find that after 8-9 hours concentration and productivity seriously wanes and sometimes you're better off going home to start fresh in the morning, with renewed energy. What would take you three hours extra in the evening after a long, normal, hectic working day can be dispensed with in half an hour the next morning when you're fresh and rested.

After a sucession of 12 hour days all I'd produce is a string of costly mistakes.

dory

My day isn't too bad. Up at 7.30, leave house by 8.15. Walk to work, in by 8.30. An hour for lunch then finish at 5.30, home by 5.45.

doolox

Long days in general only work on repetitive nonthinking tasks, where judgement and discretion are involved people will make mistakes after a certain time. That is why lorry drivers and pilots hours are regulated by law and similar restrictions apply to most employments regarding working hours.

Sometimes though deadlines mean that long hours have to be done but this should be seen as an exception. I'd go as far as suggesting that an organisation should put in a corrective action plan just as they would if an employee makes a mistake and the root cause of the extra hours worked should be investigated and avoided the next time around. Employees working long hours is a sign that someone in authority has made a mistake and not budgetted properly for the task at hand. If it is found that all was done properly inside the organisation and the extra workload is due to outside demands then unfortunately there is very little that can be done in these harsh competitive times. Records should be kept of all the extra hours worked and every effort should be made to get better customers and dump the more demanding customers when the good times roll again.........

Sadly, many small business and suppliers have to work long hours at very little gain because of the huge bargaining power of large customers. In the present environment there is very little ordinary people can do about it.

rain on

I'm up at 8, out the door at 8.30, in work at 8.40. Half hour lunch, finish around 5.15 and home by 5.30 typically, except on Fridays when I finish around 2.30. I'm on flexitime so as long as I put in my hours every week and am there from 10-2.30, I can come and go as I want.

daigo75

rain on wrote: »

I'm up at 8, out the door at 8.30, in work at 8.40. Half hour lunch, finish around 5.15 and home by 5.30 typically, except on Fridays when I finish around 2.30. I'm on flexitime so as long as I put in my hours every week and am there from 10-2.30, I can come and go as I want.

Aaaah, flexitime and working from home, many companies see them as "the devil"... :rolleyes:

I remember working in several companies where they were intentionally (and sarcastically) intepreted like this:
- Flexitime: employee are not asked to work precisely 9-5.30 every day, they can arrive before 9 and leave after 5.30 whenever they like.
- Working from home: allowed, as long as it's done outside office hours.

Obviously this wasn't written everywhere, it was just the way the managers were talking about it. Good for a Dilbert strip...

Note: Sorry for going off topic.

rain on

Nah ours is pretty good, I remember wondering when I started if it was going to be like that but you genuinely can come and go when you want, a lot of people come in at 7, a lot of people come in at 10, nobody complains. Working from home is good too - I haven't done it but a good few colleagues often spend the day at home and usually find, strangely enough, that they're more productive than in the office.

dan_d

I worked 8am-6pm. Left the house at 6.50am, at the office by 7.30am, left the office about 6.00 to 6.15pm, got home by 7pm.

I'd like your job OP....:D

thesuburbs

That's a nice working hours OP!

I'm doing a fairly intense post-grad and am up at 6.30, breakfast & commute, college is 8.30-5 with roughly an hour free time split through the day (though most of us will be studying while eating as the course progresses), home by 6.30pm, grab dinner quickly and study til 11pm. I'll be doing this for at least 5 years, the last 3 of which will be way worse time-wise. Obviously not paid but the demands of the course do mean life is basically study & sleep, even at weekends but I don't mind 'cause it's interesting. Previous to that I worked years of retail doing shifts of 9 hours (some starting at 8am, some finishing 10pm) for minimum wage with an hour off for lunch and two 15 minute breaks which I thought was fine but I enjoyed the work.

lizanne83

I think the killers in this topic that are showing trends tend to be:

- Too long commuting (not too bad for me but common for many = stress & lost time)

- Working overtime hrs (unpaid) due to increased work demands

- Killer TV. I just can't understand why people watch so much of it. You're sitting at a desk/work all day looking at screens etc... then you go home to voluntarily plonk down sitting again in front of another screen? Forgive me for saying it but it's total laziness & the biggest time waster of life. Now I know there's going to be acceptable replies such as: TV means winding down and switching off after a long day in work.... TV is educational, etc. These are all true but too many people are too addicted to too much TV. I am going off the topic to a point but this is in relation to the previous posts from the dellas saying she's too addicted to neighbours and it makes her lazy etc... Argh I just don't get it!

I am working a full-time job in a large organization (Mon - Fri). while studying a Masters at the same time. After average 9+ hrs in office per day, I hit the gym or go for a run to wind down & exercise... then at least 3 hrs spent studying each evening usually till midnight or after.... same again each day and weekends is taken up with study too. I'm shocked that OP thinks that a standard 9 - 5 day in the office is 'too much'.... it's as handy as hell, nearly too handy. Do you not want a biT of a challenge?

There is no way I would be able to maintain constant work+ study 7 days/week if I watched TV as much as some do. I really think TV makes people lazy & lacking discipline. I'm not saying that watching TV is bad (it can be very good & educational & relaxing to a point) but my argument is that too much TV is watched. It's easy to fall into that rut but when you do, I think so many other things are sacrificed: work/productivity, fitness, exercise, seeing people, etc.....

Lastly I agree with Doolox post above: people decrease in effectiveness after a certain amount of hours worked... and it's almost counterproductive. One reason for this is due to increasing deadlines so individuals, and managers, need to monitor this & know when to shut off, take a breather (go for walk, run, gym/break) before back to work/study again.

My rant is done.

monkey brain

I work shift work, which is all nights and 12 hour shifts, 10-10am. I get up about 5.30-6pm,chill out- all i am fit to do is watch tv or go online..have breaskfast/dinner and head out the door about 9. If i walk its 45mins but if i am lazy bus is about 20 mins. I arrive in work about 9.45pm and then get home about 11am next morning. I only do a 2-3 nights and have the same off, but working nights messes you up, your tired all the time, your body can be all over the place and hard to commit to a weekly club or class. Also your 1st day off is spend sleeping and the day your back in, your just waiting to go to work. I like shift work and would have no problem doing this in the day time. Never really worked 9-5 so i know no different..

dellas1979

lizanne83 wrote: »

I am working a full-time job in a large organization (Mon - Fri). while studying a Masters at the same time. After average 9+ hrs in office per day, I hit the gym or go for a run to wind down & exercise... then at least 3 hrs spent studying each evening usually till midnight or after.... same again each day and weekends is taken up with study too. I'm shocked that OP thinks that a standard 9 - 5 day in the office is 'too much'.... it's as handy as hell, nearly too handy. Do you not want a biT of a challenge?

hi liz. I have worked since I was 16 - never known a summer not to work. I recently finished my MA (over 2 years), while also working full time, and I recently got a new job.

I love TV. I also read/internet while watching TV and I do plan somethings around TV, for example, I too jog/walk in the evernings but after home and away...I know it sounds odd - but its like a routine. I have also planned, on occasions, study time around programmes I like to watch.

Anyhoo, I just thought it was a long day, thats all. Maybe I just need to get used to it and settle in new job. There is alot of training at the moment, and I think its making the day/job drag.

boobar

Up at 8.00, out the door at 9 in work at 9.30. I work through lunch, have a sandwich at the desk, I leave at 5 and then home by 5.30.....I used to work much longer hours, but have a young child now so it's important to me to get home ....I can access work email from home but rarely take work home these days....just have to be disciplined.

lizanne83

Hi Dellas,
Thanks for reply. I just want to say that I’m not having a dig at you. You sound like you’ve always been v-busy & disciplined but just find yourself watching too much TV now that you’ve a little more relaxing time after finishing MA etc.... and if you find more time on your hands it’s probably a natural thing to turn to and maybe I would too if had time... but I don’t know as I can’t remember the last time I’ve had much time on my hands. Like you I’ve been working since 16 and similarly I can’t remember a summer that I wasn’t working! Even during undergrad degree years I worked part-time until the second half of final year only. I have seen the amount of hours each day that housemates, friends, and family have sat in front of TV watching programme after programme until the evening is over... with not so much as a bit of exercise or other activities in-between. It’s a trap I’d never want to fall into. I do like to sit down and relax to watch a programme I know that is on and I’m interested in but what I can’t comprehend is sitting down to flick through stations and watch one thing after another.... nearly every day! I know this is v-common though
My point is just that a lot of people now (which you said you do yourself in previous posts) find themselves planning things around TV programmes rather than other way around (e.g.: the X-factor’s, Big Bro, and soaps like LOST and CSI and all these ones we all hear talk about) so if this is the case, the workday cannot finish early enough so that they can rush out there door & home to spend the final part of their day (that was already spent sitting), sitting some more....!

dellas1979

Haha no liz - I used to watch TV like that too when I was studying. I find its like having a break. Id come home for 5.30 and start again around 7.30. Maybe then around 9 watch something else on TV for a bit. Then finish up studing around 11, watch more TV and go to bed for 12.

Attention span of a sparrow.

To me, there is nothing more relaxing than watching TV. I love it. As I said, I tend to plan things around programmes that I like!!! I feel out of routine if I miss them! For example, if I catch the last 10mins of neighbours, am ok. I then have dinner. I then have to watch h&a. I then go for a jog/walk. I then shower, do usual grooming stuff, and then watch more tv for the night (between doing other tasks i.e. ironing/clothes, internet, manicure, organising things etc). Its mad! At the weekends I am less of routine and dont watch alot of TV as I like to socialise.

I have been known though, to turn down social things, especially during the week, due to something good on the TV.

I find when my brain is relaxed, I get more done! I feared this job was going to interfer with my little strange routine .