How does one work 50+ hours a week?

[xpress]

^^^ Agreed.

If you want to work 100 hours a week, move to korea.

 

[Harold falcon]



So how did you get rich not working long hours?
Be careful, this is a trick question.

Please to answer the previous query.

 

[NORE]

I have already answered this ITT

 

[akatsuki]

I am thinking about this thread while sitting in my office right now nearing midnight on Friday.

 

[norcaltransplant]



I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to be on call like that unless they were saving lives or delivering babies. Sure the dollars may stack up but you are relinquishing a large chunk of your life in the process. Sadness.

And what if you are involved in the above professions?

 

[norcaltransplant]

Another factor I believe missing from the argument, is the scale of compensation provided by the 100-hour work week jobs. If the difference between working 50 hours as compared to 100 hours corresponds to a pay raise from 80k to 160k, I would be hesitant to bury myself pursuing the latter. However, from my understanding, the compensation packages in the finance industry function on a much higher scale, e.g. the difference between 125-150k to low seven figures if you are promoted beyond VP.

 

[akatsuki]

Some of us actually enjoy our job... There is a real sense of camraderie that happens on a team after midnight on a grueling project.

 

[thenanyu]

nm

 

[Amelorn]

Let me convey my admiration for those who can stomach a 70+ hour work week for an extended period of time. In all honesty, by 2 years I'd be depressed, and a period longer than that would risk my suicide. The exception would be business owners. Something "clicks" psychologically that allows a person to work for themselves far longer than a rarely-seen exec.

My own "philosophy"? (This may seem comparably flakey)

Reading many posts here and understanding them as a reflection of the wider American work culture, it's easy to see why Americans are prescribed anti-depressants in their current quantities. Obesity also becomes understandable. How does one have the time to shop and cook, in addition to exercise time?

One rather haunting experience was visiting a hospice. I encountered an old man who bitterly and deeply regretted the excessive time spent in the white collar world. I really do wonder if the "60 hours a week? lol *****" crowd won't be weeping in a hospice over a mis-spent life, assuming of course a heart attack doesn't kill them before 65.

Additionally, I've been spoiled. Travelling throughout the "Anglosphere" has shown me alternative ways of life and working cultures. Our "cousins" internationally work shorter hours, enjoy comparable societies, and have much more leisure time.

In America, your work is your life, not to the degree of places like Japan, but much more so than in many Western European nations. I mean, if you hate working so much, move somewhere else with strict labor laws.

Actually, if you measure in terms of time spent at the office, Americans beat even the Japanese.

I am a believer in working to live, not working to survive the night in order to work again the next morning. To compound that, my personal wants are not excessive, chiefly being decent take-out sushi, travel, time to socialize, and intellectual pursuits unlikely to be used in productive employment. A large house or prestigious car isn't a high priority. Of course, I say this being young and single. Were a wife and kids to enter the scene, that would change entirely. I would want a standard of living for them far above what I received. However, there's a better chance of an ingot of gold being thrown through my window than my marriage/children occurring. Going back to to bachelorhood, the best thing my grandfather ever did was teach me to invest. A reasonable income from (at least) a tolerable job, not drained continually for a wedding, large house, Christmas presents, private school, college etc, saved and invested prudently could afford extra income in times of need or a fairly plush existence in the golden years. I am grateful at having that option aside from the traditional income-rich/expense-heavy existence I see among the American middle and upper-middle classes.

Finally, I am a believer in a life well-spent at all stages, as not everyone has the luxury having 80 or so years to find fulfilment. If a doctor tomorrow gave until the New Year to live, I would not slip into a catatonic depression common to similarly condemned young people. When death came, I would not beg for time. Would there be regret for lost promise of the future and some unread books? Yes. However, I would also remember visiting 4 continents, while residing on three. I would remember having friends on 5 continents, the travel experiences that globally belong to the privileged few (relatively), laughing and joking in Bavaria with the locals in the own tongue. Most of all, I would remember some simple and profoundly happy days of spontaneous fun.

/flakiness off and out

 

[GreenFrog]

A lot of our European 'cousins' are also ************ because the "cushy" lifestyles they're able to 'afford' have been subsidized by unsustainable levels of government debt.

 

[Amelorn]



A lot of our European 'cousins' are also ************ because the "cushy" lifestyles they're able to 'afford' have been subsidized by unsustainable levels of government debt.

''

The Anglosphere extends beyond the US and the UK. Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia also are in there. 3 of those 4 are quite well. Further, I find it rather rich than any American can chastise Europeans over unsustainable government debt.

 

[Claghorn]

^^^ Agreed.
If you want to work 100 hours a week, move to korea.

Yup. I've been sitting comfortably on about 50-60 for the last few years, but my fiance, who works at a large American PR firm here in Seoul, has been working from 8-11 five days a week and generally puts in another 6 or so on the weekend. She's been doing this for three months now.

The amount of hours put in by Koreans in Korean companies are a bit deceiving. When I first started working, several people on my team told me I was working too hard. My boss actually told me the best way to work was to spend 45 minutes productively then surf the internet for 15 minutes, 45 minutes of work then 15 minutes of play. My first reaction was that this was terribly inefficient (it was). However, business culture here, especially at larger companies (this one being the HQ of a multibillion dollar international corporation), frowns upon leaving work before your boss does. So if you finish everything you need to do by 5 but your boss plans on sticking around to 8 (which they often will as a protracted office presence might lead to promotion), you aren't leaving until 8...even if you have nothing needing to be done. Of course you could get ahead on your work, but that's also frowned upon.

As far as my fiance, unfortunately that's 14-15 hours of straight work. Her boss sucks.

 

[Eason]

^^^ good reasons not to work in Korea

 

[Romans116]

I have a wife and child i love and will be going to all ballgames etc. i also like to take time to read, excercise, make love, make my own dinner, etc. I feel sorry for most the people in this thread who think success is monetary or business related.

 

[tj100]



I feel sorry for most the people in this thread who think success is monetary or business related.

Again, I think this is a "to each their own" moment. I feel sorry for those of you who don't love your work. I would rather be at work than on vacation.