Work/Life Balance Is Overrated

[Betonblck]

Nope, I don't enjoy being a workaholic. I'm happy to not be a workaholic.

I work 40 hrs a week, make enough money to live comfortably and get plenty of time off.

I love what I do but even then I'd rather be in the gym, popping/dancing, out with friends, or even on NT than at work.

 

[wr]

Sometimes older men stay at work or "stay at work" a lot to stay away from home.

As the next generation, we have to makesure no to inherit all the bs rhetoric and self righteousness from the generations before.

People don't take into account with technology being so present, you are more than likely on the job doing the workload of four employees 20 years ago.

 

[Rootin4EverybodyBlack]

Work to live, don't live to work.

Can't wait till I am in a position where I have telework.

 

[nazdrowie]

Can't wait till I am in a position where I have telework.

teleworking it nice but can get old after a few days. its nice to have some variety and get to the office a few days a week...

...i do think that if that was option for a lot of American workers, itd make life much easier on them

also 40 hours is such an arbitrary number for workers, i bet so many of them would work so much harder/efficiently if they were give the option of a 6-7 hour day

 

[ksteezy]

I have a coworker that holds 3 full time jobs bros, she only gets 8 hours off on Tuesdays after 3pm and she starts back off continuously without rest again Wednesday 7am....she's been doing this for 10 years, missed out on racing her kids, sometimes I wish I had a little bit of that mental strength to do that for just 1-2 years, all my debt would be paid and I could prolly buy a nice house cash money....but chill...I work 1 full time and a perdiem and I ENJOYYYY each and every minute I'm off at home with the wife...,I seriously donor comprehend how she sacrificed it all for that grind...her kids are good tho, little to no debt and in good universities, paid for in cash every semester, nice whips no jobs....I couldn't see myself doing that to my mom, but watevs, fortunate kids, but I feel she has paid the ultimate price for this....at the end..

Time >>>>>>>>> MONEY.

 

[Rootin4EverybodyBlack]

 
teleworking it nice but can get old after a few days. its nice to have some variety and get to the office a few days a week...

...i do think that if that was option for a lot of American workers, itd make life much easier on them

also 40 hours is such an arbitrary number for workers, i bet so many of them would work so much harder/efficiently if they were give the option of a 6-7 hour day

I feel that.

My reason for telework is the commute tho. I live in the DC area and take the metro (subway), in total I spend 2 hrs every day in transit, even though my job is only 10 miles from my house. Plus it costs 10 bucks a day to get there & back. I'd drive, but traffic is horrible and parking in my building is 17 bucks a day :x

The amount of money and time I'd save from teleworking is worth whatever tradeoff of it "getting old" to me.

Plus my entire job literally could be done from my couch, being in the office serves NO purpose.

I do agree about the 6-7 hour work day part. Most of us spend a hour or 2 at work zoned out anyways

 

[danikerhino]

Yall are going to be worn out.

 

[tay1]

Yeah work can be fun when it involves **** you actually like to do but when you're doing something else, it can be miserable.

 

[blackwallst]

I have a coworker that holds 3 full time jobs bros, she only gets 8 hours off on Tuesdays after 3pm and she starts back off continuously without rest again Wednesday 7am....she's been doing this for 10 years, missed out on racing her kids, sometimes I wish I had a little bit of that mental strength to do that for just 1-2 years, all my debt would be paid and I could prolly buy a nice house cash money....but chill...I work 1 full time and a perdiem and I ENJOYYYY each and every minute I'm off at home with the wife...,I seriously donor comprehend how she sacrificed it all for that grind...her kids are good tho, little to no debt and in good universities, paid for in cash every semester, nice whips no jobs....I couldn't see myself doing that to my mom, but watevs, fortunate kids, but I feel she has paid the ultimate price for this....at the end..

Time >>>>>>>>> MONEY.

Some people just love what they do and love the ability to help their family. My mom is at her desk at 7:30 am and typically leaves around 6:00 pm but she is extremely passionate about what she does (home health care). She is just as passionate about her family too though and never takes our time together for granted. She gives her mother an allowance every two weeks now 

, paid for my sister and I's college education, food, rent at school and during internships, study abroads, etc and she employs a lot of our family members. I can't say she regrets one bit of the time that she spent away from us.

 

[ksteezy]

Some people just love what they do and love the ability to help their family. My mom is at her desk at 7:30 am and typically leaves around 6:00 pm but she is extremely passionate about what she does (home health care). She is just as passionate about her family too though and never takes our time together for granted. She gives her mother an allowance every two weeks now  , paid for my sister and I's college education, food, rent at school and during internships, study abroads, etc and she employs a lot of our family members. I can't say she regrets one bit of the time that she spent away from us.

I don't think you understood what I said, your mom has a long workday, this woman goes from one job to the next and out of all the hours in the week is only technically off 8 hours, it's seriously crazy but she brings in GUAP.

 

[blackwallst]

I don't think you understood what I said, your mom has a long workday, this woman goes from one job to the next and out of all the hours in the week is only technically off 8 hours, it's seriously crazy but she brings in GUAP.

For some people that's still a small price to pay to ensure your kids are successful and have more than they did growing up, though (a lot of successful minorities seem to have this mindset). 

My mom didn't work quite as much as your coworker but still worked a lot. Just trying to give you some perspective on why some people are such workaholics though. My mom grew up in a blue collar home in Detroit so for her working 80-90 hours building her business and 50-60 or so now was worth it to be able to see both of her kids grow up in a safe, nice area, attend college debt-free and obtain their dream jobs in an economy where most kids leave school with a mountain of debt and no job (or are underemployed). It must be an incredible feeling for her to know how instrumental she was. Now her and my dad have Obama money and are having a lot of fun spending and having the satisfaction of knowing they were great parents.

A lot of people chase demanding jobs out of insecurity too. Our society is so materialistic and treats money as life's scoreboard. I think part of the reason that I've always worked so hard personally is because I've always wanted to be able to look out for my relatives like my mother and also because I've always had a chip on my shoulder and something to prove.

 

[al audi]

i love work and i work very hard...never been without a job since i was 15 (started busing tables at a restaurant), ill be 26 next week. I been at my career for about 3 years now and i love it. i work in healthcare and i work crazy odd hours. I have to be available from 5pm-7am Mon-Fri, thats 70hrs/week of possible work hours, although i only average about 36-40+. the money is great and i enjoy what i do. but lately i have been thinking that its getting a little extreme. i dont even care about money no more, its TIME > MONEY.
real talk
but i figure im young, i work for a great facility and i might as well grind it out while i still have the energy to do so.

Mmmhmmm
True

 

[justjenius84]

I work in academia so my hours are "flexible" but I put in about 50-80 hours a week. I sometimes wish I had weekends but I'm used to the hours and like my job overall,

 

[Mark Antony]

Sometimes older men stay at work or "stay at work" a lot to stay away from home.

As the next generation, we have to makesure no to inherit all the bs rhetoric and self righteousness from the generations before.

People don't take into account with technology being so present, you are more than likely on the job doing the workload of four employees 20 years ago.

This too, that putting in extra and coming on snow days looks like great work ethic, but sometimes it's just to duck the family. Oh schools out and the wife's office is closed? I gotta go in, big day today.

 

[am1x90xnike]

History is littered with men who dared to be great. The road was hard, but they worked past it to achieve immortality; many will whisper about greatness...greatness will whisper about few.

 

[zapatohead408]

I feel my generation hates working a lot of hours or the 9-5 because it's not the "cool thing" to do. I mean hell, I'd much rather be a rapper too.

I recently got hired at Wells Fargo as a part time 30 hours a week employee but since I got hired in late August I have put in NO less than 32 hours a week. most weeks it's between 36-42. I got 46 hour weeks from now till late January and I'm happy as hell. hope I get even more Overtime.
I enjoy myself on Sundays and on the days I use PTO.

It might just be the way I was raised but I looked up to my father who always put in at least 40 hrs a week and OT to finish a job, plus side jobs on the weekend. Same with uncle putting in 60 hrs weeks and doing things on the side for more cash.

I honestly never saw much of another option.

 

[yallayalla]

i just started working at this IT company.. 3 months in.

i work usually an 8-6 schedule :x 5 days a week and get paid around $1k a month

not sure if its worth it cause i used to do photography for 2 yrs and i loved that. but didn't get enough out of it tho

sometimes you just have to set your priorities and think of the future

 

[zapatohead408]

i just started working at this IT company.. 3 months in.

i work usually an 8-6 schedule :x 5 days a week and get paid around $1k a month

not sure if its worth it cause i used to do photography for 2 yrs and i loved that. but didn't get enough out of it tho

sometimes you just have to set your priorities and think of the future

bruh, where you from?

 

[yallayalla]

Oman.. place in the middle east where you cant buy anything.. this place is nothing compared to Dubai or Qatar

 

[mr marcus]

^ damn son

 

[wr]

Oman.. place in the middle east where you cant buy anything.. this place is nothing compared to Dubai or Qatar

Where do you fit in economically over there if you don't mind ?

 

[Betonblck]

I feel my generation hates working a lot of hours or the 9-5 because it's not the "cool thing" to do. I mean hell, I'd much rather be a rapper too.

I think it is the overall change in the corporate value system that has occurred because our parent's generation, and you are just seeing the response by our generation.

There is no company loyalty these days so putting in OT or even giving your all to a company isn't even worth it, especially if it comes at a sacrifice to your family life. I remember hearing even an Exec at my old job, one of the largest corporations in the US, tell a group of us that she has had over 20 jobs in her career so don't worry about being let go.

Corporations have first decided to treat employees as disposable cogs and all you are seeing is the reaction by the employees.

 

[moderndarwin]

I agree that it is overrated. Good post OP. The general problem though is that most of young Americans already have a pretty awful sense of habits when it comes to everything except work. We don't know how to travel, how to relax, how to do basic cooking, how to keep our homes clean. In general, we are viewed by what our accomplishment is through our profession. I dig this though.

We are basically the first generation that has minimal problems and a true sense of being able to accomplish anything. We are at a very unique point in history where our success is determined by the effort of our labors, rather than where we were born (to a realistic degree).

I just finished 2013 and have gotten straight A's for the whole year in my master's program. I have a 3.98 GPA. It's an amazing feeling to feel the accomplishment of the work I've put in this year.

I have a job offer that starts in June. I have between now and June to either a) relax and do nothing or b) go through with my startup idea and give it all a chance.

I finished finals on the 6th and for the last 9 days I've put about 13 hours of work in a day (designing the site, developing the marketing material, talking to developers, researching etc etc) to get my startup off the ground. I wake up energized and excited because of the way I feel about "work". It's sad to me that some people never feel this drive. Even though I'm putting in mad hours I'm still able to hit the gym, see friends, and have a gf. Some people live an "energetic" lilfe and some people get tired at the thought of life. Nice to see another person that enjoys what others call the grind.

 

[Chiron]

I think it is the overall change in the corporate value system that has occurred because our parent's generation, and you are just seeing the response by our generation.

There is no company loyalty these days so putting in OT or even giving your all to a company isn't even worth it, especially if it comes at a sacrifice to your family life. I remember hearing even an Exec at my old job, one of the largest corporations in the US, tell a group of us that she has had over 20 jobs in her career so don't worry about being let go.

Corporations have first decided to treat employees as disposable cogs and all you are seeing is the reaction by the employees.

Bingo. 
Working 60+ hours faithfully and diligently.. Always on time.. Solving problems. Those things used to get noticed. You could ask for that promotion that was coming up and the boss would say "sure you're my best guy". Now staffing is done in HR departments. Managers don't have the pull to promote anyone because the company is downsizing or old people in the higher positions refuse to retire after 20+ years. And when something does open up people slide in their homies above you. It's not how hard you work anymore. Who you know is 2/3rds of the battle, working hard just let's you keep the job.

So if you're killing a lot of time at one place, you're not going to be able to network to slide in somewhere better.

 

[Mark Antony]

Yeah the world is different now. I was looking at some of my VPs LinkedIn profiles and none have more than a bachelors, some from some highly obscure schools. They're the last from a world where dudes could make CEO with no degree.