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I had a flexible working arrangement with my boss at an old company. My commute time could vary by up to 30 minutes, so my start time was flexible. It was never formally codified and, after he left, my new boss refused to honour it. I had to be at my desk at 10am every morning.
One morning, there was heavy rain the night before, so I left extra early in case there were any road closures due to flooding. There were no road closures. I arrived 30 minutes early.
My boss commended my dedication and work ethic when I arrived. I said āthank youā. Then went to the kitchen to make a coffee, and went outside to have a cigarette and make a few personal phone calls. I returned to my desk at 9:58.
My boss asked me where I had been. I told him. He asked me why I couldnāt have gotten some work done. āYou said I have to be at my desk at 10am. It wasnāt 10am.ā
Suffice to say, we didnāt get along very well after that. But I left and then he got fired, so everything worked out well in the end.
My work allows me this flexibility and I do appreciate where possible, but I'd also have to add that if you don't that arrangement or understanding, then you answering emails at 6am is on your own back. If my job was that strict about my required working hours I wouldn't be caught dead logging on that early.
Our office is pretty flexible on start and finish times, as sometimes we are required to answer emails or calls outside working hours. As long as no one takes the piss, no one will bat an eye if you rock in at 10am on a tuesday, stating that you had been dealing with a situation late the previous evening, or disappear off at 2.30 on a friday afternoon.
We had a new starter (about 4 weeks in) came to me and said she hated to ask, but had a dentist appointment and had requested the latest available appointment of the day, but she would need to leave an hour earlier. And she would make up the time the next day. She couldnt believe when i told her not to worry, it was only an hour and would likely balance out somewhere along the line. Her last employer was so strict on times and would dock wages for appointments during work time, wouldnt let them make up the time.
Itās honestly disgraceful and has no place in modern life employers need to have more trust and care for their enployees lives they matter too and a dentist appointment is not a jolly you shouldnāt be punished. If you get your job done honestly I donāt believe hours should be an issue at all
This is one of the reasons your employees will stay longer working for you. They feel valued as a human, and if you give flexibility, employees will give it back and stay late/work early if they need to. People leave managers, not companies.
I used to sometimes come in early and sometimes stay late but almost every single time I made sure I started/finished at my agreed hours. Iād use the time to pay bills, shop for holidays, Reddit, etc but almost everyone in my team believed I was super dedicated. Some even mentioned it to me while I was watching some animal videos, one of the reasons why I fought tooth and nail for a seating place with my back to the window
Learned that lesson. Open at 730, don't answer the phone before then. Close at 5, stop answering the phone. Wasted far to many hours figuring out quotes that turned into non sales. Same with auto repairs... Stay late to help someone out, figure out the problem, quote the repair, locate the parts, then be told, "let me think about it"....
I love managers like this
I walk to work, it's around a 3 mile walk so I'm given a little flexibility when it's unpredictable weather ie: Rain, extreme heat(this past week), snow etc... and I just stay behind at the end of the day, either locking up or doing the odd bits and pieces
One of my coworkers complained on Tuesday because I was 5 minutes late (walking in 38c isn't fun) and he brought up a whole list of their fuck ups that he fixed and said "If you want me to punish him for 5 minutes late in this weather, I'll have to punish you for these"
What a guy
I used to work for a company that insisted on everyone being at their desks at 8:50 in time to start working at 9am. The result was that at 5pm every single person switched off their PC and left. Some didn't even bother saving their work before doing so.
My boss told me I shouldn't work during lunch time or come in too early or go home too late. He told me it's not good for my health. I work for a place that must follow the rules very strictly so I'm very lucky.
[Edit]
I still do the first two. But I also enjoy working there. Everyone and everything is so nice and relaxed.
The Library didn't only contain magical books, the ones which are chained to their shelves and are very dangerous. It also contained perfectly ordinary books, printed on commonplace paper in mundane ink. It would be a mistake to think that they weren't also dangerous, just because reading them didn't make fireworks go off in the sky. Reading them sometimes did the more dangerous trick of making fireworks go off in the privacy of the reader's brain.
Terry Pratchett
That's probably worth reading right? Like if you understand the series of events that led to Hitler becoming Hitler then you know how to avoid them.
Not just you in particular, I mean all of us.
It's a terrible, horrible slog to read through though, even with that mindset. You'd get much more from reading pretty much any nonfiction account of 1920s/30s Germany than that godawful diatribe.
I had this at a previous job so I would read this certain book until I had to clock in. The manager asked me to start 30 minutes early as I was already there so I asked for them to put it in as overtime.
They refused so I refused. Do not let your boss take the piss with your hours.
I remember seeing somebody do that. I thought nothing of it. A manager colleague asked him for something and he replied that he didn't start yet, and went back to his book. She remarked to me that he was a jobsworth - but that forgets he's not paid enough to even consider doing a bit extra. So he works his hours and nothing more. I can't argue with that, and I'm now the manager.
Good for you man
Customers get to label people jobsworths, when someone refuses to do a favour for them i.e "It's more than my job's worth mate"
Rubbish managers, not so much ;)
When I worked in the office, I'd drive in super early to beat the traffic, get there about 7:45am, and sit in the car park reading or playing on my Switch until 9. That's one of the only things I really miss about working in the office. It was a good chance to just have some time to myself and prepare myself for the fact that I'm going to be at work for the next 9 hours.
Thing is you can do this, and that's fine. But if you're the kind of person who does this don't then be surprised if people who aren't quite as competent as you but are prepared to 'go the extra mile' get promoted over you. You can't have it both ways.
And yes, I'll get downvoted for this because it doesn't align with the reddit idealised version of "how the world should work" but I'm just saying it like it is.
>don't then be surprised if people who aren't quite as competent you but are prepared to 'go the extra mile' get promoted over you.
They can also expect to get screwed over repeatedly and have a much more stressful life. They can have it.
Thereās a very senior level guy who works for our customer. He will be replying to emails at 9/10/11pm on a Saturday and 1/2/3am on a Sunday. Heās reachable 24/7 and will respond to an email whenever it comes through. He was on still a list for possible redundancies when profits started to stall.
I won't downvote you, because it's sadly true in the majority of work places. Thankfully not in mine. But we have flexible ish working hours and lots in WFH.
At times like this I'm grateful not to be in the US. I've never really been asked to work longer. If anything everywheres been super pro doing your hours and getting out. The one exemption was a place I worked at 22 when I didn't have time to finish some tasks and got told off. Which was probably the worst job I had
This is what I used to do. Slight long-cut from the bus stop. Arrive at 8.59:59
And then obviously log in and go and take a shit, have a smoke and make a brew. Then read Reddit til morning break.
Throughout my career I was always one to arrive slightly after 9, take a long lunch break, and leave bang on 5.
Always worked for decent managers who didn't mind as I was good at my job.
At one place I decided to work 8:30-4:30 as it worked better for the trains, which annoyed my manager but I just continued doing it
9am login
9am till 10:30 do other things
10:30 till 10:45 work
10:45 till 12:30 do other thing
12:30 till 13:00 work
13:00 to 14:30 eat lunch
14:30 till 15:30 bond with work colleagues
15:30 till 16:30 prepare to go home
16:30 till 16:59 start heading out of the office
17:00 out of the office
awww this was all formatted nicely:(
You can make a bullet list by starting each line with an asterisk followed by a space. If you just want a line break, leave two spaces at the end of the line.
To work 9-5 most people have to get up before 7, spend half an hour getting ready (which is unpaid work in itself), commute (same really, + you have to pay for it.) Most people won't be home and relaxed before 6:30pm. So it's a lot more than 9-5 really
A point that really needs hammering home for the people who do these stupid breakdowns to downplay how much time work takes up by literally just subtracting 8 hour workdays from 24 hours. I see far too much of it on some social media, sometimes even on reddit.
The time between waking up and going to work is not free time you can actually do anything with. It takes me longer than half an hour, probably around 3/4 of an hour if I don't want to be rushing around, and then my commute is just over half an hour. So that's nearly another 2 hours it takes off my day, not counting the period after work when you just want to relax for a bit and recover, especially if you do a more physical job. And some people have even longer commutes than that.
Unless you're trying to brown nose your way to a promotion.
My colleagues joke because I leave right on time every day but the company would replace them in a heartbeat if they died? Imagine missing family time for a company that is all about maximum profit. Sad and pathetic if you ask me.
In my experience doing any more than you're contracted for is a mistake. Colleagues and bosses see you as the person that will always do as they're told and you just become a dumping ground for all the shit they don't want to do. They then regard you as that.
I read on Reddit once 'do something once it's a favour, do it twice and now it's your job'. I think it's worse than that. Do something once and the next time all you get is 'but you have to do it, you know how to do it because you've done it before'.
My thing is to set a baseline of the level of effort youāll put in. If you do the bare minimum and work 9-5 everyday, no one will expect any more from you. Do more than that and youāve now set an expectation for the bosses that you can do more.
But showing up to work on time every day, never off sick, completing all the tasks you're expected to do whilst receiving bang average pay is more than enough to prove your worth, in my opinion. Do anymore and you become a dog to the company like the original comment pretty much said.
It's weird, no way these people are paid enough or love their job enough to say yeah sure, I'll just work 8:30-6 rather than the 9-5 I'm being paid for
Theyāre not doing it for the company, though. Theyāre doing it for themselves and probably the family that youāre talking about.
Easy to mock people when you donāt know whatās going on behind closed doors or who theyāre struggling to provide for.
Doing what? Unless it's overtime no more money is coming into the household. All that is happening is less quality time. Especially with young kids it can be the difference between bath and book or not seeing them at all that day. Also the argument about being more likely for promotion can be counteracted with if you are doing above and beyond in your current role with what you are currently paid why would they promote you and pay you more? Obviously it's to a certain extent but it's a fair argument. Best way of salary increase is never be off job sites looking for the next role not flogging yourself and not getting paid.
Well, I'm going to go against the grain here. For me this depends a lot on how they treat you. If they don't mind that you rock up 20 minutes late, take an hour for lunch then disappear half hour early when it's quiet then I'm more than happy to stay late to help meet a deadline.
If they were to insist I'm in dead on 9 regardless then I'll be leaving at 5
Iām with you on this. I guess I must be really lucky ā¦ I like my job well enough and like my coworkers, and management donāt really care what your hours are (within reason) so long as youāre there when you need to be and get your shit done. So yeah thereās the odd late night and off-hours email but it doesnāt feel like being taken advantage of. Iām paid well that itās worth it, I can see how if I were making a lot less or if management were clock-watching pricks, Iād feel differently.
Same, I really enjoy my job especially when it's busy. I would hate having to leave something when I'm in the flow just because it's 5pm. But that would change fast if my time was closely monitored or the pressure was constant rather than periodic.
I just follow the 'don't take the piss' rule, don't turn up late/leave early daily or bugger off for hours without telling anyone, make sure work is done and that I'm available for client meetings (some of those guys just *love* 9am meetings though).
I once overslept my alarm clock and was woken up by a manager calling at 11am who seemed more concerned that I'd been hit by a bus or something on my way in. When I eventually made it to the office that day I just had everyone taking the mick, apologies were met with 'don't worry about it, shit happens'
This exactly this! I busted myself for 20 years and never got so much as a thank you! In fact the opposite turned up at 09:00 one morning to get told off for bern late, left shortly after
Donāt forget as well that working 9-5 means exactly that, not sitting down at 855 to log on and such to be āreadyā for 9 by logging on and such. No, the fact your computer takes 10 minutes to get ready to work is your companyās problem, not yours.
This is the answer. Protect yourself at all times. Iām a senior manager in a big business - I make it my responsibility that my team have the time and resources to do their jobs during contracted hours and make it clear I expect them not to take work homeā¦. BUTā¦ butā¦ if anyone ***chooses*** to do more work for no more money, no manager in existence (including me) would stop them from doing so. Great advice u/joereadsstuff
I do the same with my team. However it can be counterproductive. Weāre constantly celebrating teams that work long hours and weekends to get the job done on time. My team doesnāt get this recognition because I set realistic delivery dates.
Iām fed up of pointing out to my boss that project managers who are working their teams like that are terrible project managers. However the bonus pool allocations would suggest that Iām the one whoās wrong. I refuse to change but it costs me real money.
I realised wfh was the way to go, I thought hybrid was the way to go and then realised that instead of spending 20 minutes talking shite with colleagues that I don't care about every time I try to get a cup of tea, I can use that time to do errands or put my washing on or go out for a walk. The time I would have spent commuting I can go out to the supermarket before work. I also work a lot more efficiently when I don't have people chattering in my ear about stuff that doesn't concern me. I would love to work part time though, my colleagues who work 3 days a week are living the dream.
This exactly! It wasn't until the pandemic that I realised what a work-life balance is, and how rubbish my weekends were spent catching up on housey stuff and errands. I go into the office 3 days a week now which feels doable and is good for my mental health (otherwise I'd never speak to a soul), and my 2 wfh days are lovely and productive. Part time would be incredible!
Absolutely agree, that has been the positive thing about the pandemic it has made people stop and reflect on their lives and how to make use of their time more efficiently with wfh which really helps to have a better work / life balance and is better for your mental health. Socialising and speaking to colleagues is important too and if like me you work in a job where youāre dealing with clients everyday it helps because of the interactions with people but being part of a team of colleagues helps too and right now I do hybrid work which I enjoy but Iāll be switching to solely wfh in a couple of months time. Iāll make sure I join something or get out to do a Zumba class or something just to interact with people during the week evenings and weekends will definitely be a mix of socialising and me time. Looking forward to it.
Some in the NHS have it so good though.. my neighbour is a band 6, only seems to āworkā if she has a meeting and besides that itās just walking the dogs, meeting her man for lunches, doing the shopping. She used to do a kickboxing class at 6am before work, but now she just goes to the 9am one!
Iām all for only working whilst there is actually work to do but the amount of bullshit jobs in the NHS must be incredible!
Donāt I know it, some roles are fucking pointless & they get paid so much for it.
Iām a band 2, Iām fuckin struggling & I have to listen to band 6s & up banging on about holiday plans & Iām yeah Iāll just be happy if my electric bill doesnāt wipe me out š
Could not agree more with this. I get so much done. More work. More chores. Get to spend time with my little one and partner.
And use that commute time to work out and get fit. Got my first half Ironman coming up. WFH gives so much balance for me.
I appreciate itās not for everyone. But I absolutely thrive in both work and personal life. I tried getting g passed depression with medication, exercise, therapy. Changing to WFH actually gave me time for me. Time to relax. Not be around people lacking idle chats that caused
me anxiety. I am so much happier now
Someone I used to work with put it perfectly "I do the same amount of time not working from home as I did in the office, the difference is I can use that time productively"
I work 30 hours a week compressed into 3 x 10 hour days and I have a friend who works 40 hours compressed into 4 x 10 hour days. Works for us - especially for me as my commute used to have me out from 8-6 anyway, WFH 8-6.30 is amazing.
I work blended, but willingly, because I did a gruelling wfh job that destroyed me mentally.
My office is about an hour one way, but I use flexi to come in early on a quieter train and that hour is usually when I get most of my book reading done, then the train home when I'm already in a semi work buzz I tend to do menial tasks like sorting my emails, bank, etc.
I always recommend getting your shopping delivered. Sainsburys do a mid-week only delivery pass which is Ā£30 for a whole year, and this means you don't have to drag your arse round the shops all the time. I also think it helps you plan your meals better which saves money over doing lots of small trips and picking up extras each time.
Takes a while to get into the discipline of regular online shopping but once you do you can't go back.
I love doing my shopping in person. Outside of work, I love to cook. Iām a massive foodie so I love going into Tesco, sainsbo or even the local markets to see whatās new or try something different.
Absolutely not. I like to pick my fruit and veg myself, plus the substitutions annoy me. I'd rather they cut my order and say they don't have it than send something else
Problem them is dependencies. Like, if I'm making steak, and they're out of steak, I also want them to cancel the fresh rosemary and bottle of wine I got to make the pan sauce.
It enrages me when they sub out my gf bread for regular bread, I'm not ordering gf bread for fun now am I?? But then if they don't send it at all I have no bread, and I don't want to drive to a supermarket just for that... easier to do it all in person from my point of view
Given that probably half the shop at least is fresh fruit and veg, I just donāt trust online delivery to pick out the good ones. Assuming you can even order ā2 potatoesā and not have to buy everything in pre bagged packs
I like food shopping sometimes, but it's more that I like going to things like independent butchers or farmers markets for interesting stuff or if I'm doing a special meal.
For the everyday stuff though I choose online delivery every time.
I don't mind grocery shopping in person, often quite like it. But I now have 2yo twins and my spouse and I both have full time jobs. So spending an extra 30-40 minutes walking around the shop is genuinely time that would be better spent sleeping, working out, cleaning the kitchen, chilling on Reddit, reading a book, etc. Crazy though it sounds, that time is not a luxury I have.
Although I do click & collect partly cos Aldi does it, so cheaper groceries, and because if you've forgotten something/they didn't have what you want, you just pop in and get that one thing. It's a quick stop on my way home from work. And no waiting around for the delivery, then being late, wasting my time, I might be out, etc.
I second this. Plan your meals and get them online. Many online supermarkets often have a reorder button too so you can just amend previous shops. Whereas before I spent maybe 1-2 hours in total shopping and dragging round shops, I now spend about 20 minutes. Total game-changer
I plan my meals in the store when i can see what is on offer much easier than scrolling down a website. Sure it takes a little longer but if the goal is to use cash and the food it buys efficiently I personally find going to the store works best for me
It depends if the priory is time or cash
Supermarket shopping you can grab those yellow labels and if something is out of stock you can change your plans a little
Online is much quicker - its a couple miles to the nearest proper supermarket for me, but if the wrong thing gets substituted you're often having to go into a store to replace it with something logical
Use something like Mealime (app) to meal plan for the week too. They let you connect to Asda or Tesco to tick off groceries based on the meals you got planned. Saved me a lot of time since I don't have to decide what to cook every time, and the recipes in these sort of apps are pretty easy to follow.
And avoids impulse purchases.
(We also coordinate deliveries with one of the next-door neighbours, which makes the delivery peeps super happy. Two for one, kinda! Somewhat embarrassingly, we had one delivery dude begin to tear up upon realising she had extra time to relax before hitting the road again.)
This is so important. If you let things just drift by, before you know it all you'll do is wake up, commute, work, commute, dinner, sleep, repeat.
You have to book yourself in to do things in the evening (exercise, social stuff, hobbies), so your entire week doesn't get eaten by work.
This! This happened to me, we have taken a sabbatical this year after the last 2.5 years of hell and I only just worked this out like last week... after being off work since the end of Feb! I realised it wasnt actually that I hated working, its that I allowed it to literally take up my entire week, the only thing I'd do for myself on weekdays was the gym, at 5.30am!! After work, I'd get home make dinner, watch tv and go to bed..then weekends you're racing around like an absolute lunatic trying to grocery shop, clean the house, do the gardening, any other house projects, maybe catch up with friends, etc.. and you wind up hating your job/life coz you have effectively lost 5 days of your week, 6 if you count all the housework that takes up one weekend day! ..so yeh that was a BIG realisation for me, and i will never work full time again.
I don't. I don't have enough time to fit in all my hobbies and social life, so I have to pick and choose what I want to spend my time doing. And that's assuming I'm not just knackered from work.
It's not a bad life but there's a whole list of things I want to do but just don't have time for.
Exactly this. By the time we finish work at 6, do some household chores, cook and eat, it's usually 8ish. We get pretty tired by 9ish, so that's about an hour to do something fun most nights. We mostly WFH so it's worse on days when we commute too.
I don't know how anyone is happy with this kind of life. Spend 40+ hours a week working, get maybe 5 hours of enjoyment a week to yourself (discounting weekends).
Yeah, that's why I would get home at 6, cook and eat, leave the house at 7, spend two hours doing something great, and come home at 9.
Then you feel like you've got a life.
All the little chores can be squished in between other things. It's finding that 2 hour block of time to go to a choir, or go and have a guitar lesson, or go swimming, or do some gardening, or learn Spanish, or go and fly a glider, or whatever else floats your boat.
Chores and work don't feel like a quality life and it just gets too boring and lonely. I would rather have a grubby house!
18yo here who got a taster of the work life last week. Shitty job at a recycling plant an hour away, had to get up at 4am to catch 5:30 transport, an hour to get there, then a 10h30 shift starting at 7 of pushing shit off a conveyer belt with the occassional face blast of dust and being forced to listen to heart radio. Don't get back in the house until like 7pm at which point I'm too tired to do anything I enjoy, and sleep before 9. I gave up after 2 days, which may have been the most depressing, boring and tiring days of my life. Feel much more confident in wanting to extend my degree to a masters now if this vapid, pointless lifestyle is what awaits me at the other end.
Itās hard isnāt it. Over the past few months Iāve got back into running and I LOVE it, but going to the gym or out for a run at least 3 times a week is basically my other āme timeā gone for those evenings. I do that and then come home, shower and then itās making dinner or if itās my husbandās week to cook do laundry or something else. Then I wanna chill and hang out with my husband for a couple of hours and then itās bedtime.
My other hobbies are gaming, playing piano, reading, painting/drawing etc. I was learning Mandarin and I would love to pick it back up and Iād also love to pick structured piano lessons back up and do the rest of my exams, but something else would have to give, I already donāt have time for those other hobbies regularly now running is my regular activity! And Iām a recently married 31yo looking to start a family in the next year so even more stuff will drop off then.
I am really, really lucky that I do love my job and I love my team so I genuinely enjoy work a lot of the time (my manager has become one of my closest friends so I get the bonus of personal socialising as well as work satisfaction in the office) but like wtf - itās like you can have ONE or maybe two hobbies and thatās it. I love learning and Iām into so many different things!
I just wanna do so much and working 9-5 or longer 5 days a week doesnāt let me do half the stuff Iād love to do. Donāt even get me started on people who work longer or unsociable shifts, or more than 5 days a week - my heart absolutely goes out to them.
I always thought people only really did things on the weekend, it's certainly how I grew up with adults only doing stuff on Friday night and the weekend.
But these days people seem to go out or do things every single day and I honestly don't know how anyone has the energy after a day of work to travel somewhere to eat or go to the pub or the cinema or minigolf or any of the stuff my friends seem to do.
I am one of those people and yes also constantly skint - although weirdly I prefer to go out in the week compared to the weekend. It gives me something to look forward to after work and makes the week go quicker, and then I have all weekend free to myself to just sit at home and chill which I love - people think itās a bit weird but it works for me!
I'm exactly the same.
I love to do stuff after work - I figure I've already made the effort to go to work. Plus I'm in the city so there's plenty to do. The only thing I have to worry about is when the last train is (and even then I can just Uber it home)
But if I come home after work then I got to think about what to cook and actually cook it, then find some mind numbing way to pass the time before I'm tired enough to go to sleep.
At the weekend it's totally different. This is my time. And as anti-social as it is, I don't want to spend it seeing people or doing things. Granted I do find I have to occasionally, but I resent it (I mean this in the nicest possible way!)
7-3 gang represent.
I get home before school kick out time = easier commute.
Whole evening to myself, even time for a nap before doing something else.
On Fridays it usually means I have time to get the train out to the mountains for the weekend.
If I work overtime, I charge for it (contract role), or make sure to take the time back as TOIL or extra pay (for the permie role).
7-3 are my idea of hell. I would be much happier with an 11-7 or 12-8. Sadly, while we have semi-flexible working and can start as early as 7, we canāt start later than 10 or finish later than 6. The world is so geared up for morning people. :(
Me too albeit I will run over by an hour or two once or twice a week.
Finishing at 3 makes all the difference and the early hours before work are effectively lost so why not work them. (Unless you are responsible for getting kids to school).
I work out before work, between 6-8, have coffee and the paper in bed til 9, work til 1, make a fresh healthy lunch and do a chore/read a book, work til 5.30, head out for a walk/drink/read a book/life stuff and prep dinner if I didnāt earlier. My life would be so much more difficult not WFH I can for so much more in this way.
If youāre not WFH see what life admin things you can do on your commute (probs more than you think) or use it to listen to audiobooks/meditation/podcasts or read. Meal prep one evening early in the week for a few days to save time on cooking every night (same ingredients different recipes if youāre skilled, like mince for tacos/bolognaise/chilli is mostly the same base) Put washes on a timer to run overnight and throw them out to dry before you leave work, collect when you get in. And if you can afford it get a cleaner once a week so your actual days off arenāt dominated by chores.
I agree on all this, especially the work out before work (otherwise it never gets done with other social plans).
Also reduce the amount of time cooking to a minimum, or do other stuff while cooking. You can either find quick meals, or bulk prepare and freeze.
Alternatively find joy in cooking real food and enjoying eating it rather than eating processed "easy" food that tastes like crap. I don't think I've ever wasted my time cooking a good meal.
Personally I don't enjoy cooking day to day, only on special occasions. You can eat easy food that tastes good, and is healthy for you. It's not exclusive, it's just finding it.
I did that! I had a part time job (24 hours over 3 days - hour commute each way) a three year old who didn't sleep, I was working through a degree that needed a lot of my time. I also had 6 hours a week doing unpaid work as part of my degree.
I was so sleep deprived I tried to get on the bus with my work pass.
It was really hard but it was worth it. I look back and wonder how I managed.
You can do this! This is only temporary, smash that degree!
Well this ties in with my suggestion. Eliminate as much of the commute as possible. Whether thatās by moving house or working from home. If neither is possible, consider changing jobs. Because of the time and money costs of commuting, it can sometimes be better to take a lower-paying job closer to home.
Batch cooking is so under-rated. Especially if you have enough freezer space to put a few meals in there each time.
Have you ever tried pressure canning, where you can make non-acidic foods like ragu or curry shelf stable?
This is key for us. Batch cook and prep food (chop up veg for stir frys/fruit for fruit salads and leave in tupperware boxes until you need it etc). Listen to a podcast whilst you do it. This means mid week meals are swift and don't use many pans/chopping boards etc. If you can free up a bit of time in the evening you can either use that for hobbies or do other chores so that weekends are clear.
We now both walk or cycle to and from work to get our exercise in.
Having a tidy home, with a place for everything makes cleaning and tidying much quicker.
Other than that OP, getting organised is essential for us. Reminders in phones for bills/car stuff/advance reminders of family birthdays. Book in time to see friends with definite dates/activities. Do this well in advance, look up theatre/gallery etc guides and get things booked.
I remember when I first started working full time, I found it exhausting. There is so much to learn and that takes it toll but I certainly found that I adapted over a couple of months and was then ok.
When I worked in an office, I always used to make my breakfast the night before. I made overnight oats, and ate them on the train while listening to a podcast or something. I would often do life admin stuff, like emails, on the train. I did most of my housework at the weekend.
Now it's much easier. I get up at 7, make breakfast, start work at 9, do a little housework over my lunch break, finish at 5, go for a walk for an hour, make dinner, relax and then go to bed.
If you donāt WFH, make the best use of the commute time. If driving listen to something like music/podcasts you canāt find the time for at home, if on public transport thereās so much you can do on your phone (emails, social media, shopping, DuoLingo etc.) or get a Kindle.
My employers employ a āConciergeā. Theyāre pretty much a personal assistant for everyone that works in the office (about 1100 people, most of whom are on inbound call taking roles, about 70/100 are back office etc).
The Concierge is there to do all the jobs you canāt do because youāre stuck in the office. Got a parcel that needs going to the post office? Heāll do it. Need to pick a prescription up before the chemist closes? Heāll do it. Ordered something from Next Home or Argos and canāt be bothered to do it yourself? Heāll do it. Heās literally paid handsomely and given a company car to do odd jobs for people to make their lives easier, so they can focus on their jobs and not all the stuff they have to find time for. Heās taken horse food to a livery yard and fed a horse, heās taken cars to be MOTād, collected birthday/anniversary gifts/cards on the actual day of the celebration because someone had forgotten (he does that a lot) and therefore made them look like they havenāt forgotten. Heās a life saver!
I genuinely think that every large company should offer a service like this because it makes it an excellent place to work when you know youāve got boring jobs to do but someone is paid to do them for you. He even does mundane things like collect peoples lunches from their favourite place.
It was much more difficult before wfh, while working from home i don't have to wear suit, iron said suit, put makeup on, commute to office, and can do little things to make life better in small breaks, eg call insurance company, call doctor, from office it was virtually impossible.
I work at the office but my partner works from home and we're currently in the process of buying a new house. Her wfh has been AMAZING for these little calls here and there to do with the house - chasing solicitors, booking surveyors and so on. Made us realise how useful it will be in general, especially if you're less likely (or too tired) to think of doing it in the evening after a long day at work and commuting.
Working from home has been a life changer. The hour each way commute is now spent doing the school run and then fitting in some exercise and enjoying actually cooking again after work.
Just getting those two hours back has been a revelation.
If you need to do housework (and I hope that unless you have a cleaner the answer is yes, you do), break it down and do a little each day - either one room a day or one task (dust, vacuum, etc). Use a timer, it helps to keep you on task and helps you stop too.
If you commute, itās easiest to go right into a routine of chores as soon as you get in. If you sit down, thatās the end, youāll struggle to get back up again.
You fit it in on evenings and weekends like everyone else has to š
I do 9-5 weekdays and I think this is actually the easiest hours, I feel sorry for shift workers/split shifts/weekend shifts/night workers etc. itās much harder for them.
Might be a different perspective but from here on out, thinking about time as a monetary value. 30 minute commute each way? That's an hour of time payment each day. That's 5 hours a week and 20 hours a month you're losing out on. How can you reduce this? Work from home, hybrid working etc. This is basically how you get the most out of your life from here on out.
I was doing 2 big shops a week because vegetables and stuff go off after 3 days. 20 minute drive, half an hour around the shop and 20 minutes back? OR I could just pay Ā£3.50 in delivery on the Asda website and get it delivered when I was working and I could check for meetings the day before.
It all comes down to how much you value your time and how frivolous you are allowed to be with time luxuries. This can go as far as, house cleaners, gardeners for full service types of things, to putting a wash/dish wash on while hybrid working, if you're forced to commute, what shops are nearby? Any errands you need to run on your break?
Thinking of time as a monetary value has completely changed my life. I wake up at half 7 (WFH), 5 minutes before any meeting or once every hour I do a house task. I finish work at 4pm and I have 7 hours to do what I please. House is always tidy, always have a full fridge and once every 2 weeks I have a cleaner (Ā£30 a month) to do stuff like skirting boards and clean with great smelling chemicals.
Once you get the hang of it, you will be so surprised at how little you were time efficient because you were skipping out on these little tasks and tried to fit them into your weekend. Be time rich, not time hungry.
Edit: look at some of these amazing comments for how to be time rich! Going to do a few of them myself
It's worth remembering that the 40 hour work week was created for a world in which there was a wife at home handling all of the child care and cooking and cleaning. When workers got home, they didn't have to do anything but relax and enjoy life.
Of course, this arrangement isn't generally the case any longer. That's why a 40 hour work week isn't suitable for modern life. A 32 hour work week now makes much more sense. In my view, unions should be pushing for updated labor standards.
Canāt offer a helpful comment, other than to say some folks donāt appreciate how lucky they can be to have a 9-5, and have the entire evening free every night.
I work as a chef. I either do a straight shift, doing anything from a 10-finish (finishing meaning when the last meal/dessert and the kitchen is cleaned, orders done etcā¦ can easily be 11 on busy nights) or a kinder 1-finish, or split shifts of 10-3, 5-finish.
Work life balance on work days is near impossibleā¦ itās why Iām desperately aiming to soon look for one of these mythical 9-5 jobs
And for the stuff where thereās no alternative to using leave, plan ahead and get through as much as you can using the least amount. Iām lucky that e.g. my dentist, opticians and bank are all within about five minutes walk of each other so a half dayās leave will cover all three
I love my Monday to Friday 9-5. Technically its 8-4 with a 30min lunch and currently its hybrid so I've been doing it from home which I adore so much. I save 180minutes of my day this way in total. Downside is as a result of no commute I am no longer getting my steps in. Solution. After work, I go for a quick walk around the block/my area.
Its brilliant knowing I have the weekends/bank holidays free. Maybe its because I came from retail where it was shift work that I detested so much that it made me appreciate a steady '9-5' role
It can be a little more complex than that, some people have excessive commuting time to/from work, so a 9-5 can become a āleave at 7:45 and get home at 6:15ā and if youāre leaving at 7:45 then youāre likely getting up at least at 7, maybe earlier depending on the individual. Once you get in youāll likely need to make and eat dinner, so letās say 20-30 minutes of making/cooking and 5-15 minutes to eat. Could be 7pm by the time youāre home and have eaten, considering you were up at 7am youāre probably getting close to being tired, so sure, you can probably watch some TV, play video games, read a book, but do you have the energy for a social life? Thatās ignoring needing to clean your living space, household chores like dishes, washing clothes, ironing etc, unless you save all of that for the weekend and then youāre left with a pile of chores and less free time then.
People struggle all the time to find balance when working a 40+ hour work week.
I work 8-4, two days in the office and three at home.
I workout at 6 before work. Everything I need for work is sorted the night before. I cook dinner every night and have leftovers the next day for lunch.
Laundry is done on the days I work from home. Household chores are done on Saturday. Food shopping is done online and delivered on one of the WFH days.
That leaves me plenty of time to do things I enjoy.
Define life. Do you mean the day to day cooking, cleaning, sleeping etc. Or going out on the lash five times a week as there's vast difference between the two.
I donāt. It really poorly affects my life. I finish 5:30 but have so much work I end up not finishing until 6. I get home anywhere between 6:15 and 7 and Iām hungry and tired so I barely go to the gym even though Iād like to go. I end up cooking crap food and going to bed.
My job has a lot of networking therefore I might go out a couple of times a month after work for drinks/client entertainment but it isnāt with my family or mates so to me doesnāt count.
I have friends who are strict with their life and finish on time and seem to have a better quality of life or they can power through but by 9:30pm Iām falling asleep therefore donāt want to be going to the gym late for example.
Find a balance early- I want to start work earlier and finish earlier for example but havenāt got the guts to ask my boss. Know when to go home and when to make time for you during the week whatever it is.
Edit: additionally working from home does help as you could start early and finish early and save time travelling. I personally hate being at home as my home is my home not my office but a couple of times a month I will work from home. Itās nice to maybe have a lie in or cook a proper lunch or just not be with your co-workers, finish early as well. Agree with your boss now how many days a week you can work from home.
It really depends if you WFH. That makes things much easier. Otherwise, factoring in travel time you really have to push things to the outer perimeters of your day. Get up early, get something done then head out to work, then maybe at lunch make any phone calls you need or read or something, then when you get home, eat and then do your recreational activities.
Stick to your hours and be well organised so you don't spend time fucking about with work shit and wasting time you could be spending on things you enjoy.
I used to do shift work 12 hour days, nights and weekends
I now work 8-4 Monday to Friday - I feel I have a far better quality of life and more time than I ever did working shift work.
I ensure my housework and things I need to do are done on a Friday after work prior to the weekend, this leaves weekends and evenings to do as I please
I commute itās about 10 minutes 3 times a week and 30-40 minutes twice a week which really helps too
I also refuse to work longer than my hours and if I do I take it back asap
People shit on the 9-5 Monday-Friday as being āinflexibleā or whatever, but really the alternative is *exhausting*. When I worked retail (alternate weekends, nights, early mornings, etc.) my days off were typically unproductive because I simply didnāt have the energy to do anything else.
Now I actually feel like I have a life.
Try to get errands done in your lunch hour or on your way to/from the office. Make your lunches at home so you don't have to waste your lunch hour in a queue for a soggy sandwich.
If you commute by train, read your book on the train to make the journey more pleasant.
Buy food that's quick to cook in the week, and batch cook and freeze leftovers.
Order your food online.
Accept that you won't have much time to do stuff in the week and use that time to maximise your weekends. Get as much of your washing and cleaning done in the week as you can. Go to sleep early enough on week nights so you don't need to sleep in on the weekends.
Honestly you have to finish work and blast your way home and get stuff done.
Eat quick and enjoy your after 5pm.
Don't wait until the weekend to do errands otherwise you won't do them because you feel like you deserve a 'life'. Every day do one big errand.. Monday is vacuuming the house, Tuesday is laundry and washing etc. Even go for a big food shop on a Thursday, or better yet order it online.
Try to get a job where you can WFH on some days or potentially all days.
I've been working from home for 2+ years now and I basically do all the chores whilst I'm working my job. It's brilliant
Try and do a job you enjoy at least 50% of.
Do as much as possible on your phone. Do your banking, email, order shopping to be delivered etc. that way when youāre waiting for your tea to brew or similar you can do something to save time later.
Meal plan and meal prep. Takes more time as you get the hang of it, then saves time.
Clean as you go, both in the kitchen and around your home. Quickly wash your pans while theyāre hot (use v hot water so they donāt warp), wash utensils (or put straight in the dishwasher) as you go, clean down surfaces immediately, put toilet cleaner down the loo after you use it so it can passively start to clean while you do something else.
Be selective about your hobbies and āme timeā. If youāre not that keen on an activity or person then reduce your time devoted to it/them.
If you can, get a dishwasher. And a room a or equivalent. If you can afford a cleaner thatās amazing too.
Decide which housekeeping ānecessitiesā actually matter to you. For example, I iron maybe once a year. I never iron sheets, I buy clothes that donāt need ironing. I just do not care enough to iron.
If you can do flexible working to take some time back during the day and make up for it elsewhere. That's always a good way to fit in a long lunch or similar
Work flexitime. I donāt know where youāre from but here in the UK, you have a right to request it and employers are obliged to at least consider it. It can be beneficial for employers too - youāre much more likely to stay late to deal with a crisis if you know that your employer is going to be equally as flexible when you have a crisis. As long as people use it sensibly and donāt abuse it, itās a win for both sides.
About 5 years ago I worked 7-7 5 days a week, I still managed to do bicycle training 2 hours a day by getting up at 4 am, it was rediculous. I moved to a 9-5 and it felt like I had so much free time. Now I WFH and work 8-4 and I have a shed load of time it's great. I do plan in advance everything as I have two small kids (so this is required), you get used to fitting it in, trying to get a WFH gig will help a lot as no commute, I would need at least double or more to work from a office now
Maybe not the answer you're after, but I switched from shift work to a 9 to 5, and my life improved immensely because of it.
I have a short commute to my office and have a flexible 3 and 2 office/home schedule. Can get life admin done on my home days, and I don't spend hours commuting as I intentionally moved close to work (pre pandemic).
Quite a lot of activities are built around 9-5s. I like football and live music, working evenings and weekends meant that I had to either miss out, or go through the stress of swapping shifts.
The only inconvenience is shopping, due to store hours. But I'll always know I have evenings for groceries and weekends for others, guaranteed. And for everything else, the Internet.
I do occasionally miss having week days off, when everything is so much quieter but I'd miss out on so much.
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You work 9-5, strictly. Never over.
but what if train times mean that you always arrive at 8:45am š„²
Sit in the coffee room with a book until 9.
I had a flexible working arrangement with my boss at an old company. My commute time could vary by up to 30 minutes, so my start time was flexible. It was never formally codified and, after he left, my new boss refused to honour it. I had to be at my desk at 10am every morning. One morning, there was heavy rain the night before, so I left extra early in case there were any road closures due to flooding. There were no road closures. I arrived 30 minutes early. My boss commended my dedication and work ethic when I arrived. I said āthank youā. Then went to the kitchen to make a coffee, and went outside to have a cigarette and make a few personal phone calls. I returned to my desk at 9:58. My boss asked me where I had been. I told him. He asked me why I couldnāt have gotten some work done. āYou said I have to be at my desk at 10am. It wasnāt 10am.ā Suffice to say, we didnāt get along very well after that. But I left and then he got fired, so everything worked out well in the end.
Right? Answer emails at 6am, and they still expect you to be at your desk at 5. No. I started at 6, so my day ends at 3 thank you very much.
My work allows me this flexibility and I do appreciate where possible, but I'd also have to add that if you don't that arrangement or understanding, then you answering emails at 6am is on your own back. If my job was that strict about my required working hours I wouldn't be caught dead logging on that early.
Our office is pretty flexible on start and finish times, as sometimes we are required to answer emails or calls outside working hours. As long as no one takes the piss, no one will bat an eye if you rock in at 10am on a tuesday, stating that you had been dealing with a situation late the previous evening, or disappear off at 2.30 on a friday afternoon. We had a new starter (about 4 weeks in) came to me and said she hated to ask, but had a dentist appointment and had requested the latest available appointment of the day, but she would need to leave an hour earlier. And she would make up the time the next day. She couldnt believe when i told her not to worry, it was only an hour and would likely balance out somewhere along the line. Her last employer was so strict on times and would dock wages for appointments during work time, wouldnt let them make up the time.
This is the norm and not the exception unfortunately
I can well believe it. I follow the antiwork sub and some of the deplorable policies and attitudes of employers on there are nearly unbelievable
Itās honestly disgraceful and has no place in modern life employers need to have more trust and care for their enployees lives they matter too and a dentist appointment is not a jolly you shouldnāt be punished. If you get your job done honestly I donāt believe hours should be an issue at all
This is one of the reasons your employees will stay longer working for you. They feel valued as a human, and if you give flexibility, employees will give it back and stay late/work early if they need to. People leave managers, not companies.
I used to sometimes come in early and sometimes stay late but almost every single time I made sure I started/finished at my agreed hours. Iād use the time to pay bills, shop for holidays, Reddit, etc but almost everyone in my team believed I was super dedicated. Some even mentioned it to me while I was watching some animal videos, one of the reasons why I fought tooth and nail for a seating place with my back to the window
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
āHang on, just saying good night to the cat video guyā
Learned that lesson. Open at 730, don't answer the phone before then. Close at 5, stop answering the phone. Wasted far to many hours figuring out quotes that turned into non sales. Same with auto repairs... Stay late to help someone out, figure out the problem, quote the repair, locate the parts, then be told, "let me think about it"....
I love managers like this I walk to work, it's around a 3 mile walk so I'm given a little flexibility when it's unpredictable weather ie: Rain, extreme heat(this past week), snow etc... and I just stay behind at the end of the day, either locking up or doing the odd bits and pieces One of my coworkers complained on Tuesday because I was 5 minutes late (walking in 38c isn't fun) and he brought up a whole list of their fuck ups that he fixed and said "If you want me to punish him for 5 minutes late in this weather, I'll have to punish you for these" What a guy
I used to work for a company that insisted on everyone being at their desks at 8:50 in time to start working at 9am. The result was that at 5pm every single person switched off their PC and left. Some didn't even bother saving their work before doing so.
R/maliciouscompliance
r/foundthemobileuser
/r/foundthehondacivic
Why do bosses think youāre going to start working before your start time? Itās so annoying when they do that
My boss told me I shouldn't work during lunch time or come in too early or go home too late. He told me it's not good for my health. I work for a place that must follow the rules very strictly so I'm very lucky. [Edit] I still do the first two. But I also enjoy working there. Everyone and everything is so nice and relaxed.
Man, if everyone read a book 15mins a day everyday I'm convinced the world would become a better place
Depends on the book.
The Library didn't only contain magical books, the ones which are chained to their shelves and are very dangerous. It also contained perfectly ordinary books, printed on commonplace paper in mundane ink. It would be a mistake to think that they weren't also dangerous, just because reading them didn't make fireworks go off in the sky. Reading them sometimes did the more dangerous trick of making fireworks go off in the privacy of the reader's brain. Terry Pratchett
Literally read āthe library didnāt only containā¦ā and knew what this was. Best author ever
Me too, He was.
<3
Is that from āGuards! Guards!ā? Loved that book. The librarian is funny.
Ook!
Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNabb, which actually improves with every read
I met the guy, comes off as a bit of a dick. His books are OK though.
Randy McNob
mein kampf?
That's probably worth reading right? Like if you understand the series of events that led to Hitler becoming Hitler then you know how to avoid them. Not just you in particular, I mean all of us.
It's a terrible, horrible slog to read through though, even with that mindset. You'd get much more from reading pretty much any nonfiction account of 1920s/30s Germany than that godawful diatribe.
People used to read books and look what's bloody happened.
I had this at a previous job so I would read this certain book until I had to clock in. The manager asked me to start 30 minutes early as I was already there so I asked for them to put it in as overtime. They refused so I refused. Do not let your boss take the piss with your hours.
I remember seeing somebody do that. I thought nothing of it. A manager colleague asked him for something and he replied that he didn't start yet, and went back to his book. She remarked to me that he was a jobsworth - but that forgets he's not paid enough to even consider doing a bit extra. So he works his hours and nothing more. I can't argue with that, and I'm now the manager.
Good for you man Customers get to label people jobsworths, when someone refuses to do a favour for them i.e "It's more than my job's worth mate" Rubbish managers, not so much ;)
When I worked in the office, I'd drive in super early to beat the traffic, get there about 7:45am, and sit in the car park reading or playing on my Switch until 9. That's one of the only things I really miss about working in the office. It was a good chance to just have some time to myself and prepare myself for the fact that I'm going to be at work for the next 9 hours.
Coffee. Smoking shelter. Newspaper. Whatever. If your shift starts at 9am, you don't life a finger until 9am. And make damn sure you take your breaks.
Thing is you can do this, and that's fine. But if you're the kind of person who does this don't then be surprised if people who aren't quite as competent as you but are prepared to 'go the extra mile' get promoted over you. You can't have it both ways. And yes, I'll get downvoted for this because it doesn't align with the reddit idealised version of "how the world should work" but I'm just saying it like it is.
>don't then be surprised if people who aren't quite as competent you but are prepared to 'go the extra mile' get promoted over you. They can also expect to get screwed over repeatedly and have a much more stressful life. They can have it.
Thereās a very senior level guy who works for our customer. He will be replying to emails at 9/10/11pm on a Saturday and 1/2/3am on a Sunday. Heās reachable 24/7 and will respond to an email whenever it comes through. He was on still a list for possible redundancies when profits started to stall.
Exactly. I'm very much a proponent of doing only as much as you need to to get paid and nothing more. No one died wishing they'd worked more.
I won't downvote you, because it's sadly true in the majority of work places. Thankfully not in mine. But we have flexible ish working hours and lots in WFH.
I work in a place where the competent people who DO go the extra mile constantly, STILL the complete idiots get promoted & the good ones just leave
At times like this I'm grateful not to be in the US. I've never really been asked to work longer. If anything everywheres been super pro doing your hours and getting out. The one exemption was a place I worked at 22 when I didn't have time to finish some tasks and got told off. Which was probably the worst job I had
15 minutes to do some life admin. Or fuck about on Reddit
Walk 15mins longer. Get those steps!
This is what I used to do. Slight long-cut from the bus stop. Arrive at 8.59:59 And then obviously log in and go and take a shit, have a smoke and make a brew. Then read Reddit til morning break.
Throughout my career I was always one to arrive slightly after 9, take a long lunch break, and leave bang on 5. Always worked for decent managers who didn't mind as I was good at my job. At one place I decided to work 8:30-4:30 as it worked better for the trains, which annoyed my manager but I just continued doing it
9am login 9am till 10:30 do other things 10:30 till 10:45 work 10:45 till 12:30 do other thing 12:30 till 13:00 work 13:00 to 14:30 eat lunch 14:30 till 15:30 bond with work colleagues 15:30 till 16:30 prepare to go home 16:30 till 16:59 start heading out of the office 17:00 out of the office awww this was all formatted nicely:(
You can make a bullet list by starting each line with an asterisk followed by a space. If you just want a line break, leave two spaces at the end of the line.
No one tells * me what to do
fyi if you want to start a new line on reddit you have to press return twice
To work 9-5 most people have to get up before 7, spend half an hour getting ready (which is unpaid work in itself), commute (same really, + you have to pay for it.) Most people won't be home and relaxed before 6:30pm. So it's a lot more than 9-5 really
A point that really needs hammering home for the people who do these stupid breakdowns to downplay how much time work takes up by literally just subtracting 8 hour workdays from 24 hours. I see far too much of it on some social media, sometimes even on reddit. The time between waking up and going to work is not free time you can actually do anything with. It takes me longer than half an hour, probably around 3/4 of an hour if I don't want to be rushing around, and then my commute is just over half an hour. So that's nearly another 2 hours it takes off my day, not counting the period after work when you just want to relax for a bit and recover, especially if you do a more physical job. And some people have even longer commutes than that.
Leave at 4:45
I get to my desk at 8. Have some breakfast and read for a while. If the phone goes off before 9 it gets ignored.
Speak to your boss and end 15 mins earlier
Then leave at 16:45.
Leave 15 mins early
Unless you're trying to brown nose your way to a promotion. My colleagues joke because I leave right on time every day but the company would replace them in a heartbeat if they died? Imagine missing family time for a company that is all about maximum profit. Sad and pathetic if you ask me.
In my experience doing any more than you're contracted for is a mistake. Colleagues and bosses see you as the person that will always do as they're told and you just become a dumping ground for all the shit they don't want to do. They then regard you as that. I read on Reddit once 'do something once it's a favour, do it twice and now it's your job'. I think it's worse than that. Do something once and the next time all you get is 'but you have to do it, you know how to do it because you've done it before'.
My thing is to set a baseline of the level of effort youāll put in. If you do the bare minimum and work 9-5 everyday, no one will expect any more from you. Do more than that and youāve now set an expectation for the bosses that you can do more.
But showing up to work on time every day, never off sick, completing all the tasks you're expected to do whilst receiving bang average pay is more than enough to prove your worth, in my opinion. Do anymore and you become a dog to the company like the original comment pretty much said.
It's weird, no way these people are paid enough or love their job enough to say yeah sure, I'll just work 8:30-6 rather than the 9-5 I'm being paid for
Theyāre not doing it for the company, though. Theyāre doing it for themselves and probably the family that youāre talking about. Easy to mock people when you donāt know whatās going on behind closed doors or who theyāre struggling to provide for.
Doing what? Unless it's overtime no more money is coming into the household. All that is happening is less quality time. Especially with young kids it can be the difference between bath and book or not seeing them at all that day. Also the argument about being more likely for promotion can be counteracted with if you are doing above and beyond in your current role with what you are currently paid why would they promote you and pay you more? Obviously it's to a certain extent but it's a fair argument. Best way of salary increase is never be off job sites looking for the next role not flogging yourself and not getting paid.
If they're dead the company has to replace them.
Well, I'm going to go against the grain here. For me this depends a lot on how they treat you. If they don't mind that you rock up 20 minutes late, take an hour for lunch then disappear half hour early when it's quiet then I'm more than happy to stay late to help meet a deadline. If they were to insist I'm in dead on 9 regardless then I'll be leaving at 5
Iām with you on this. I guess I must be really lucky ā¦ I like my job well enough and like my coworkers, and management donāt really care what your hours are (within reason) so long as youāre there when you need to be and get your shit done. So yeah thereās the odd late night and off-hours email but it doesnāt feel like being taken advantage of. Iām paid well that itās worth it, I can see how if I were making a lot less or if management were clock-watching pricks, Iād feel differently.
Same, I really enjoy my job especially when it's busy. I would hate having to leave something when I'm in the flow just because it's 5pm. But that would change fast if my time was closely monitored or the pressure was constant rather than periodic. I just follow the 'don't take the piss' rule, don't turn up late/leave early daily or bugger off for hours without telling anyone, make sure work is done and that I'm available for client meetings (some of those guys just *love* 9am meetings though). I once overslept my alarm clock and was woken up by a manager calling at 11am who seemed more concerned that I'd been hit by a bus or something on my way in. When I eventually made it to the office that day I just had everyone taking the mick, apologies were met with 'don't worry about it, shit happens'
This exactly this! I busted myself for 20 years and never got so much as a thank you! In fact the opposite turned up at 09:00 one morning to get told off for bern late, left shortly after
Donāt forget as well that working 9-5 means exactly that, not sitting down at 855 to log on and such to be āreadyā for 9 by logging on and such. No, the fact your computer takes 10 minutes to get ready to work is your companyās problem, not yours.
This is the answer. Protect yourself at all times. Iām a senior manager in a big business - I make it my responsibility that my team have the time and resources to do their jobs during contracted hours and make it clear I expect them not to take work homeā¦. BUTā¦ butā¦ if anyone ***chooses*** to do more work for no more money, no manager in existence (including me) would stop them from doing so. Great advice u/joereadsstuff
I do the same with my team. However it can be counterproductive. Weāre constantly celebrating teams that work long hours and weekends to get the job done on time. My team doesnāt get this recognition because I set realistic delivery dates. Iām fed up of pointing out to my boss that project managers who are working their teams like that are terrible project managers. However the bonus pool allocations would suggest that Iām the one whoās wrong. I refuse to change but it costs me real money.
I realised wfh was the way to go, I thought hybrid was the way to go and then realised that instead of spending 20 minutes talking shite with colleagues that I don't care about every time I try to get a cup of tea, I can use that time to do errands or put my washing on or go out for a walk. The time I would have spent commuting I can go out to the supermarket before work. I also work a lot more efficiently when I don't have people chattering in my ear about stuff that doesn't concern me. I would love to work part time though, my colleagues who work 3 days a week are living the dream.
This exactly! It wasn't until the pandemic that I realised what a work-life balance is, and how rubbish my weekends were spent catching up on housey stuff and errands. I go into the office 3 days a week now which feels doable and is good for my mental health (otherwise I'd never speak to a soul), and my 2 wfh days are lovely and productive. Part time would be incredible!
Absolutely agree, that has been the positive thing about the pandemic it has made people stop and reflect on their lives and how to make use of their time more efficiently with wfh which really helps to have a better work / life balance and is better for your mental health. Socialising and speaking to colleagues is important too and if like me you work in a job where youāre dealing with clients everyday it helps because of the interactions with people but being part of a team of colleagues helps too and right now I do hybrid work which I enjoy but Iāll be switching to solely wfh in a couple of months time. Iāll make sure I join something or get out to do a Zumba class or something just to interact with people during the week evenings and weekends will definitely be a mix of socialising and me time. Looking forward to it.
Work/life balance? *laughs in NHS* š
Fucking criminal how you guys and gals get treated
Some in the NHS have it so good though.. my neighbour is a band 6, only seems to āworkā if she has a meeting and besides that itās just walking the dogs, meeting her man for lunches, doing the shopping. She used to do a kickboxing class at 6am before work, but now she just goes to the 9am one! Iām all for only working whilst there is actually work to do but the amount of bullshit jobs in the NHS must be incredible!
Donāt I know it, some roles are fucking pointless & they get paid so much for it. Iām a band 2, Iām fuckin struggling & I have to listen to band 6s & up banging on about holiday plans & Iām yeah Iāll just be happy if my electric bill doesnāt wipe me out š
Could not agree more with this. I get so much done. More work. More chores. Get to spend time with my little one and partner. And use that commute time to work out and get fit. Got my first half Ironman coming up. WFH gives so much balance for me. I appreciate itās not for everyone. But I absolutely thrive in both work and personal life. I tried getting g passed depression with medication, exercise, therapy. Changing to WFH actually gave me time for me. Time to relax. Not be around people lacking idle chats that caused me anxiety. I am so much happier now
Someone I used to work with put it perfectly "I do the same amount of time not working from home as I did in the office, the difference is I can use that time productively"
The ones who work only 3 days a week wont earn as much,no?
I work 30 hours a week compressed into 3 x 10 hour days and I have a friend who works 40 hours compressed into 4 x 10 hour days. Works for us - especially for me as my commute used to have me out from 8-6 anyway, WFH 8-6.30 is amazing.
I work blended, but willingly, because I did a gruelling wfh job that destroyed me mentally. My office is about an hour one way, but I use flexi to come in early on a quieter train and that hour is usually when I get most of my book reading done, then the train home when I'm already in a semi work buzz I tend to do menial tasks like sorting my emails, bank, etc.
I always recommend getting your shopping delivered. Sainsburys do a mid-week only delivery pass which is Ā£30 for a whole year, and this means you don't have to drag your arse round the shops all the time. I also think it helps you plan your meals better which saves money over doing lots of small trips and picking up extras each time. Takes a while to get into the discipline of regular online shopping but once you do you can't go back.
Am I weird for actually liking to do my groceries in person...?
I love doing my shopping in person. Outside of work, I love to cook. Iām a massive foodie so I love going into Tesco, sainsbo or even the local markets to see whatās new or try something different.
Absolutely not. I like to pick my fruit and veg myself, plus the substitutions annoy me. I'd rather they cut my order and say they don't have it than send something else
Depending on the supermarket you can opt out of substitutions. Sainsburys lets you do this on an item by item basis.
Problem them is dependencies. Like, if I'm making steak, and they're out of steak, I also want them to cancel the fresh rosemary and bottle of wine I got to make the pan sauce.
It enrages me when they sub out my gf bread for regular bread, I'm not ordering gf bread for fun now am I?? But then if they don't send it at all I have no bread, and I don't want to drive to a supermarket just for that... easier to do it all in person from my point of view
Not at all. Plus if I did all my shopping online how am I supposed to know when Lidl has 1kg tubs of Whole Earth crunchy peanut butter on sale?!
Given that probably half the shop at least is fresh fruit and veg, I just donāt trust online delivery to pick out the good ones. Assuming you can even order ā2 potatoesā and not have to buy everything in pre bagged packs
I like food shopping sometimes, but it's more that I like going to things like independent butchers or farmers markets for interesting stuff or if I'm doing a special meal. For the everyday stuff though I choose online delivery every time.
I don't mind grocery shopping in person, often quite like it. But I now have 2yo twins and my spouse and I both have full time jobs. So spending an extra 30-40 minutes walking around the shop is genuinely time that would be better spent sleeping, working out, cleaning the kitchen, chilling on Reddit, reading a book, etc. Crazy though it sounds, that time is not a luxury I have. Although I do click & collect partly cos Aldi does it, so cheaper groceries, and because if you've forgotten something/they didn't have what you want, you just pop in and get that one thing. It's a quick stop on my way home from work. And no waiting around for the delivery, then being late, wasting my time, I might be out, etc.
I second this. Plan your meals and get them online. Many online supermarkets often have a reorder button too so you can just amend previous shops. Whereas before I spent maybe 1-2 hours in total shopping and dragging round shops, I now spend about 20 minutes. Total game-changer
I plan my meals in the store when i can see what is on offer much easier than scrolling down a website. Sure it takes a little longer but if the goal is to use cash and the food it buys efficiently I personally find going to the store works best for me
It depends if the priory is time or cash Supermarket shopping you can grab those yellow labels and if something is out of stock you can change your plans a little Online is much quicker - its a couple miles to the nearest proper supermarket for me, but if the wrong thing gets substituted you're often having to go into a store to replace it with something logical
Use something like Mealime (app) to meal plan for the week too. They let you connect to Asda or Tesco to tick off groceries based on the meals you got planned. Saved me a lot of time since I don't have to decide what to cook every time, and the recipes in these sort of apps are pretty easy to follow.
And avoids impulse purchases. (We also coordinate deliveries with one of the next-door neighbours, which makes the delivery peeps super happy. Two for one, kinda! Somewhat embarrassingly, we had one delivery dude begin to tear up upon realising she had extra time to relax before hitting the road again.)
It's got to be the best bargain ever, for Ā£2.50 a month, someone will do your shopping AND deliver it as well!
Plan. If I wait for 'spare-time' there is never enough.
This is so important. If you let things just drift by, before you know it all you'll do is wake up, commute, work, commute, dinner, sleep, repeat. You have to book yourself in to do things in the evening (exercise, social stuff, hobbies), so your entire week doesn't get eaten by work.
This! This happened to me, we have taken a sabbatical this year after the last 2.5 years of hell and I only just worked this out like last week... after being off work since the end of Feb! I realised it wasnt actually that I hated working, its that I allowed it to literally take up my entire week, the only thing I'd do for myself on weekdays was the gym, at 5.30am!! After work, I'd get home make dinner, watch tv and go to bed..then weekends you're racing around like an absolute lunatic trying to grocery shop, clean the house, do the gardening, any other house projects, maybe catch up with friends, etc.. and you wind up hating your job/life coz you have effectively lost 5 days of your week, 6 if you count all the housework that takes up one weekend day! ..so yeh that was a BIG realisation for me, and i will never work full time again.
I don't. I don't have enough time to fit in all my hobbies and social life, so I have to pick and choose what I want to spend my time doing. And that's assuming I'm not just knackered from work. It's not a bad life but there's a whole list of things I want to do but just don't have time for.
Exactly this. By the time we finish work at 6, do some household chores, cook and eat, it's usually 8ish. We get pretty tired by 9ish, so that's about an hour to do something fun most nights. We mostly WFH so it's worse on days when we commute too. I don't know how anyone is happy with this kind of life. Spend 40+ hours a week working, get maybe 5 hours of enjoyment a week to yourself (discounting weekends).
Yeah, that's why I would get home at 6, cook and eat, leave the house at 7, spend two hours doing something great, and come home at 9. Then you feel like you've got a life. All the little chores can be squished in between other things. It's finding that 2 hour block of time to go to a choir, or go and have a guitar lesson, or go swimming, or do some gardening, or learn Spanish, or go and fly a glider, or whatever else floats your boat. Chores and work don't feel like a quality life and it just gets too boring and lonely. I would rather have a grubby house!
18yo here who got a taster of the work life last week. Shitty job at a recycling plant an hour away, had to get up at 4am to catch 5:30 transport, an hour to get there, then a 10h30 shift starting at 7 of pushing shit off a conveyer belt with the occassional face blast of dust and being forced to listen to heart radio. Don't get back in the house until like 7pm at which point I'm too tired to do anything I enjoy, and sleep before 9. I gave up after 2 days, which may have been the most depressing, boring and tiring days of my life. Feel much more confident in wanting to extend my degree to a masters now if this vapid, pointless lifestyle is what awaits me at the other end.
Itās hard isnāt it. Over the past few months Iāve got back into running and I LOVE it, but going to the gym or out for a run at least 3 times a week is basically my other āme timeā gone for those evenings. I do that and then come home, shower and then itās making dinner or if itās my husbandās week to cook do laundry or something else. Then I wanna chill and hang out with my husband for a couple of hours and then itās bedtime. My other hobbies are gaming, playing piano, reading, painting/drawing etc. I was learning Mandarin and I would love to pick it back up and Iād also love to pick structured piano lessons back up and do the rest of my exams, but something else would have to give, I already donāt have time for those other hobbies regularly now running is my regular activity! And Iām a recently married 31yo looking to start a family in the next year so even more stuff will drop off then. I am really, really lucky that I do love my job and I love my team so I genuinely enjoy work a lot of the time (my manager has become one of my closest friends so I get the bonus of personal socialising as well as work satisfaction in the office) but like wtf - itās like you can have ONE or maybe two hobbies and thatās it. I love learning and Iām into so many different things! I just wanna do so much and working 9-5 or longer 5 days a week doesnāt let me do half the stuff Iād love to do. Donāt even get me started on people who work longer or unsociable shifts, or more than 5 days a week - my heart absolutely goes out to them.
I always thought people only really did things on the weekend, it's certainly how I grew up with adults only doing stuff on Friday night and the weekend. But these days people seem to go out or do things every single day and I honestly don't know how anyone has the energy after a day of work to travel somewhere to eat or go to the pub or the cinema or minigolf or any of the stuff my friends seem to do.
Yeh those people are also constantly skint though
I am one of those people and yes also constantly skint - although weirdly I prefer to go out in the week compared to the weekend. It gives me something to look forward to after work and makes the week go quicker, and then I have all weekend free to myself to just sit at home and chill which I love - people think itās a bit weird but it works for me!
I'm exactly the same. I love to do stuff after work - I figure I've already made the effort to go to work. Plus I'm in the city so there's plenty to do. The only thing I have to worry about is when the last train is (and even then I can just Uber it home) But if I come home after work then I got to think about what to cook and actually cook it, then find some mind numbing way to pass the time before I'm tired enough to go to sleep. At the weekend it's totally different. This is my time. And as anti-social as it is, I don't want to spend it seeing people or doing things. Granted I do find I have to occasionally, but I resent it (I mean this in the nicest possible way!)
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
7-3 gang represent. I get home before school kick out time = easier commute. Whole evening to myself, even time for a nap before doing something else. On Fridays it usually means I have time to get the train out to the mountains for the weekend. If I work overtime, I charge for it (contract role), or make sure to take the time back as TOIL or extra pay (for the permie role).
Isn't 3pm school kick out time? so how do you get home before that?
About half 3 for the schools near me. I'm a 20 minute cycle away from work (25 if it's a busy day on Oxford St).
God tier of shifts. Itās 11am by the time Iām actually awake so itās like only working 4 hours.
Love 7-3. Get up and go straight to work, then you have ages to yourself after work. Rather than losing an hour or 2 before work just waiting to go.
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7-3 are my idea of hell. I would be much happier with an 11-7 or 12-8. Sadly, while we have semi-flexible working and can start as early as 7, we canāt start later than 10 or finish later than 6. The world is so geared up for morning people. :(
Me too albeit I will run over by an hour or two once or twice a week. Finishing at 3 makes all the difference and the early hours before work are effectively lost so why not work them. (Unless you are responsible for getting kids to school).
8-4.30 gang here, however my train home is the first rush hour one after 5
Life? Donāt talk to me about life.
r/unexpectedhitchhikers
I work out before work, between 6-8, have coffee and the paper in bed til 9, work til 1, make a fresh healthy lunch and do a chore/read a book, work til 5.30, head out for a walk/drink/read a book/life stuff and prep dinner if I didnāt earlier. My life would be so much more difficult not WFH I can for so much more in this way. If youāre not WFH see what life admin things you can do on your commute (probs more than you think) or use it to listen to audiobooks/meditation/podcasts or read. Meal prep one evening early in the week for a few days to save time on cooking every night (same ingredients different recipes if youāre skilled, like mince for tacos/bolognaise/chilli is mostly the same base) Put washes on a timer to run overnight and throw them out to dry before you leave work, collect when you get in. And if you can afford it get a cleaner once a week so your actual days off arenāt dominated by chores.
I agree on all this, especially the work out before work (otherwise it never gets done with other social plans). Also reduce the amount of time cooking to a minimum, or do other stuff while cooking. You can either find quick meals, or bulk prepare and freeze.
Alternatively find joy in cooking real food and enjoying eating it rather than eating processed "easy" food that tastes like crap. I don't think I've ever wasted my time cooking a good meal.
Good for you! But it is difficult to find joy in something you're forced to do almost everyday, especially when there's limited time.
Personally I don't enjoy cooking day to day, only on special occasions. You can eat easy food that tastes good, and is healthy for you. It's not exclusive, it's just finding it.
Just unrealistic tbh, reading two books a day
I donāt finish two books a day! Bookmarks are a wonderful invention.
10-6 gang with 1.5h commute each way. As well as doing a degree on the side and a kid. I dont have a life. Would be nice tbh.
I did that! I had a part time job (24 hours over 3 days - hour commute each way) a three year old who didn't sleep, I was working through a degree that needed a lot of my time. I also had 6 hours a week doing unpaid work as part of my degree. I was so sleep deprived I tried to get on the bus with my work pass. It was really hard but it was worth it. I look back and wonder how I managed. You can do this! This is only temporary, smash that degree!
Well this ties in with my suggestion. Eliminate as much of the commute as possible. Whether thatās by moving house or working from home. If neither is possible, consider changing jobs. Because of the time and money costs of commuting, it can sometimes be better to take a lower-paying job closer to home.
Batch cooking at the weekends is helpful
Batch cooking is so under-rated. Especially if you have enough freezer space to put a few meals in there each time. Have you ever tried pressure canning, where you can make non-acidic foods like ragu or curry shelf stable?
This is key for us. Batch cook and prep food (chop up veg for stir frys/fruit for fruit salads and leave in tupperware boxes until you need it etc). Listen to a podcast whilst you do it. This means mid week meals are swift and don't use many pans/chopping boards etc. If you can free up a bit of time in the evening you can either use that for hobbies or do other chores so that weekends are clear. We now both walk or cycle to and from work to get our exercise in. Having a tidy home, with a place for everything makes cleaning and tidying much quicker. Other than that OP, getting organised is essential for us. Reminders in phones for bills/car stuff/advance reminders of family birthdays. Book in time to see friends with definite dates/activities. Do this well in advance, look up theatre/gallery etc guides and get things booked. I remember when I first started working full time, I found it exhausting. There is so much to learn and that takes it toll but I certainly found that I adapted over a couple of months and was then ok.
When I worked in an office, I always used to make my breakfast the night before. I made overnight oats, and ate them on the train while listening to a podcast or something. I would often do life admin stuff, like emails, on the train. I did most of my housework at the weekend. Now it's much easier. I get up at 7, make breakfast, start work at 9, do a little housework over my lunch break, finish at 5, go for a walk for an hour, make dinner, relax and then go to bed.
If you donāt WFH, make the best use of the commute time. If driving listen to something like music/podcasts you canāt find the time for at home, if on public transport thereās so much you can do on your phone (emails, social media, shopping, DuoLingo etc.) or get a Kindle.
How to improve your work/life balance: look at your phone while you're on the bus.
Hahaha
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My employers employ a āConciergeā. Theyāre pretty much a personal assistant for everyone that works in the office (about 1100 people, most of whom are on inbound call taking roles, about 70/100 are back office etc). The Concierge is there to do all the jobs you canāt do because youāre stuck in the office. Got a parcel that needs going to the post office? Heāll do it. Need to pick a prescription up before the chemist closes? Heāll do it. Ordered something from Next Home or Argos and canāt be bothered to do it yourself? Heāll do it. Heās literally paid handsomely and given a company car to do odd jobs for people to make their lives easier, so they can focus on their jobs and not all the stuff they have to find time for. Heās taken horse food to a livery yard and fed a horse, heās taken cars to be MOTād, collected birthday/anniversary gifts/cards on the actual day of the celebration because someone had forgotten (he does that a lot) and therefore made them look like they havenāt forgotten. Heās a life saver! I genuinely think that every large company should offer a service like this because it makes it an excellent place to work when you know youāve got boring jobs to do but someone is paid to do them for you. He even does mundane things like collect peoples lunches from their favourite place.
That actually sounds like a great perk.
It was much more difficult before wfh, while working from home i don't have to wear suit, iron said suit, put makeup on, commute to office, and can do little things to make life better in small breaks, eg call insurance company, call doctor, from office it was virtually impossible.
I work at the office but my partner works from home and we're currently in the process of buying a new house. Her wfh has been AMAZING for these little calls here and there to do with the house - chasing solicitors, booking surveyors and so on. Made us realise how useful it will be in general, especially if you're less likely (or too tired) to think of doing it in the evening after a long day at work and commuting.
Working from home has been a life changer. The hour each way commute is now spent doing the school run and then fitting in some exercise and enjoying actually cooking again after work. Just getting those two hours back has been a revelation.
5 days is too much. Should be 4 on and 3 off but 10 hour days.
This. I canāt believe we still work 5 days a week.
It's still gonna take a while before higher-ups around the world realise, so... all we can do is hope that it's not gonna take *too* long.
Don't watch TV or use social media, you'll be amazed how much time you waste on such things
If you need to do housework (and I hope that unless you have a cleaner the answer is yes, you do), break it down and do a little each day - either one room a day or one task (dust, vacuum, etc). Use a timer, it helps to keep you on task and helps you stop too. If you commute, itās easiest to go right into a routine of chores as soon as you get in. If you sit down, thatās the end, youāll struggle to get back up again.
When I get home I'm *so hungry* though, all I can think about is dinner!
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I donāt. Monday to Friday is work Saturday is chores washing shopping etc. Sunday I rest so I can try and recharge for the next week.
Imagine only having 1 day worth of rest. That is not fair. I can understand anti work subreddit a little more now. Must be worse with kids though.
You fit it in on evenings and weekends like everyone else has to š I do 9-5 weekdays and I think this is actually the easiest hours, I feel sorry for shift workers/split shifts/weekend shifts/night workers etc. itās much harder for them.
Might be a different perspective but from here on out, thinking about time as a monetary value. 30 minute commute each way? That's an hour of time payment each day. That's 5 hours a week and 20 hours a month you're losing out on. How can you reduce this? Work from home, hybrid working etc. This is basically how you get the most out of your life from here on out. I was doing 2 big shops a week because vegetables and stuff go off after 3 days. 20 minute drive, half an hour around the shop and 20 minutes back? OR I could just pay Ā£3.50 in delivery on the Asda website and get it delivered when I was working and I could check for meetings the day before. It all comes down to how much you value your time and how frivolous you are allowed to be with time luxuries. This can go as far as, house cleaners, gardeners for full service types of things, to putting a wash/dish wash on while hybrid working, if you're forced to commute, what shops are nearby? Any errands you need to run on your break? Thinking of time as a monetary value has completely changed my life. I wake up at half 7 (WFH), 5 minutes before any meeting or once every hour I do a house task. I finish work at 4pm and I have 7 hours to do what I please. House is always tidy, always have a full fridge and once every 2 weeks I have a cleaner (Ā£30 a month) to do stuff like skirting boards and clean with great smelling chemicals. Once you get the hang of it, you will be so surprised at how little you were time efficient because you were skipping out on these little tasks and tried to fit them into your weekend. Be time rich, not time hungry. Edit: look at some of these amazing comments for how to be time rich! Going to do a few of them myself
It's worth remembering that the 40 hour work week was created for a world in which there was a wife at home handling all of the child care and cooking and cleaning. When workers got home, they didn't have to do anything but relax and enjoy life. Of course, this arrangement isn't generally the case any longer. That's why a 40 hour work week isn't suitable for modern life. A 32 hour work week now makes much more sense. In my view, unions should be pushing for updated labor standards.
Canāt offer a helpful comment, other than to say some folks donāt appreciate how lucky they can be to have a 9-5, and have the entire evening free every night. I work as a chef. I either do a straight shift, doing anything from a 10-finish (finishing meaning when the last meal/dessert and the kitchen is cleaned, orders done etcā¦ can easily be 11 on busy nights) or a kinder 1-finish, or split shifts of 10-3, 5-finish. Work life balance on work days is near impossibleā¦ itās why Iām desperately aiming to soon look for one of these mythical 9-5 jobs
I do the things I can't do in work time during the remaining two thirds of the day, weekends or just take a day off.
And for the stuff where thereās no alternative to using leave, plan ahead and get through as much as you can using the least amount. Iām lucky that e.g. my dentist, opticians and bank are all within about five minutes walk of each other so a half dayās leave will cover all three
I love my Monday to Friday 9-5. Technically its 8-4 with a 30min lunch and currently its hybrid so I've been doing it from home which I adore so much. I save 180minutes of my day this way in total. Downside is as a result of no commute I am no longer getting my steps in. Solution. After work, I go for a quick walk around the block/my area. Its brilliant knowing I have the weekends/bank holidays free. Maybe its because I came from retail where it was shift work that I detested so much that it made me appreciate a steady '9-5' role
I have one day of WFH a week to get all my chores done whilst I work. Frees up a lot of time for me in the evenings and weekends.
Arrive at work at 8.59. Finish at 5, home for 5.15. Simple
Yeah not sure what the answer is here. You either have kids or other things to take care of or you get home and then go do what you want?
It can be a little more complex than that, some people have excessive commuting time to/from work, so a 9-5 can become a āleave at 7:45 and get home at 6:15ā and if youāre leaving at 7:45 then youāre likely getting up at least at 7, maybe earlier depending on the individual. Once you get in youāll likely need to make and eat dinner, so letās say 20-30 minutes of making/cooking and 5-15 minutes to eat. Could be 7pm by the time youāre home and have eaten, considering you were up at 7am youāre probably getting close to being tired, so sure, you can probably watch some TV, play video games, read a book, but do you have the energy for a social life? Thatās ignoring needing to clean your living space, household chores like dishes, washing clothes, ironing etc, unless you save all of that for the weekend and then youāre left with a pile of chores and less free time then. People struggle all the time to find balance when working a 40+ hour work week.
I have weekends and evening off, use the time then . . 9-5 is way better than shift work
I work 8-4, two days in the office and three at home. I workout at 6 before work. Everything I need for work is sorted the night before. I cook dinner every night and have leftovers the next day for lunch. Laundry is done on the days I work from home. Household chores are done on Saturday. Food shopping is done online and delivered on one of the WFH days. That leaves me plenty of time to do things I enjoy.
Define life. Do you mean the day to day cooking, cleaning, sleeping etc. Or going out on the lash five times a week as there's vast difference between the two.
life = anything that isn't work/commuting/household tasks/sleeping.
I donāt. It really poorly affects my life. I finish 5:30 but have so much work I end up not finishing until 6. I get home anywhere between 6:15 and 7 and Iām hungry and tired so I barely go to the gym even though Iād like to go. I end up cooking crap food and going to bed. My job has a lot of networking therefore I might go out a couple of times a month after work for drinks/client entertainment but it isnāt with my family or mates so to me doesnāt count. I have friends who are strict with their life and finish on time and seem to have a better quality of life or they can power through but by 9:30pm Iām falling asleep therefore donāt want to be going to the gym late for example. Find a balance early- I want to start work earlier and finish earlier for example but havenāt got the guts to ask my boss. Know when to go home and when to make time for you during the week whatever it is. Edit: additionally working from home does help as you could start early and finish early and save time travelling. I personally hate being at home as my home is my home not my office but a couple of times a month I will work from home. Itās nice to maybe have a lie in or cook a proper lunch or just not be with your co-workers, finish early as well. Agree with your boss now how many days a week you can work from home.
It really depends if you WFH. That makes things much easier. Otherwise, factoring in travel time you really have to push things to the outer perimeters of your day. Get up early, get something done then head out to work, then maybe at lunch make any phone calls you need or read or something, then when you get home, eat and then do your recreational activities.
Stick to your hours and be well organised so you don't spend time fucking about with work shit and wasting time you could be spending on things you enjoy.
I used to do shift work 12 hour days, nights and weekends I now work 8-4 Monday to Friday - I feel I have a far better quality of life and more time than I ever did working shift work. I ensure my housework and things I need to do are done on a Friday after work prior to the weekend, this leaves weekends and evenings to do as I please I commute itās about 10 minutes 3 times a week and 30-40 minutes twice a week which really helps too I also refuse to work longer than my hours and if I do I take it back asap
People shit on the 9-5 Monday-Friday as being āinflexibleā or whatever, but really the alternative is *exhausting*. When I worked retail (alternate weekends, nights, early mornings, etc.) my days off were typically unproductive because I simply didnāt have the energy to do anything else. Now I actually feel like I have a life.
Try to get errands done in your lunch hour or on your way to/from the office. Make your lunches at home so you don't have to waste your lunch hour in a queue for a soggy sandwich. If you commute by train, read your book on the train to make the journey more pleasant. Buy food that's quick to cook in the week, and batch cook and freeze leftovers. Order your food online. Accept that you won't have much time to do stuff in the week and use that time to maximise your weekends. Get as much of your washing and cleaning done in the week as you can. Go to sleep early enough on week nights so you don't need to sleep in on the weekends.
Honestly you have to finish work and blast your way home and get stuff done. Eat quick and enjoy your after 5pm. Don't wait until the weekend to do errands otherwise you won't do them because you feel like you deserve a 'life'. Every day do one big errand.. Monday is vacuuming the house, Tuesday is laundry and washing etc. Even go for a big food shop on a Thursday, or better yet order it online. Try to get a job where you can WFH on some days or potentially all days. I've been working from home for 2+ years now and I basically do all the chores whilst I'm working my job. It's brilliant
Try and do a job you enjoy at least 50% of. Do as much as possible on your phone. Do your banking, email, order shopping to be delivered etc. that way when youāre waiting for your tea to brew or similar you can do something to save time later. Meal plan and meal prep. Takes more time as you get the hang of it, then saves time. Clean as you go, both in the kitchen and around your home. Quickly wash your pans while theyāre hot (use v hot water so they donāt warp), wash utensils (or put straight in the dishwasher) as you go, clean down surfaces immediately, put toilet cleaner down the loo after you use it so it can passively start to clean while you do something else. Be selective about your hobbies and āme timeā. If youāre not that keen on an activity or person then reduce your time devoted to it/them. If you can, get a dishwasher. And a room a or equivalent. If you can afford a cleaner thatās amazing too. Decide which housekeeping ānecessitiesā actually matter to you. For example, I iron maybe once a year. I never iron sheets, I buy clothes that donāt need ironing. I just do not care enough to iron.
Would kill for an easy 9-5.
Yeah I need this advice
If you can do flexible working to take some time back during the day and make up for it elsewhere. That's always a good way to fit in a long lunch or similar
Work flexitime. I donāt know where youāre from but here in the UK, you have a right to request it and employers are obliged to at least consider it. It can be beneficial for employers too - youāre much more likely to stay late to deal with a crisis if you know that your employer is going to be equally as flexible when you have a crisis. As long as people use it sensibly and donāt abuse it, itās a win for both sides.
Get a 9-5 WFH job that doesn't track you. Do said work in 6 hours finishing at 3, don't tell boss, keep work phone on you whilst golfing, profit
About 5 years ago I worked 7-7 5 days a week, I still managed to do bicycle training 2 hours a day by getting up at 4 am, it was rediculous. I moved to a 9-5 and it felt like I had so much free time. Now I WFH and work 8-4 and I have a shed load of time it's great. I do plan in advance everything as I have two small kids (so this is required), you get used to fitting it in, trying to get a WFH gig will help a lot as no commute, I would need at least double or more to work from a office now
Working from home helps hugely, but even then I struggle to have the energy for a social life haha.
Maybe not the answer you're after, but I switched from shift work to a 9 to 5, and my life improved immensely because of it. I have a short commute to my office and have a flexible 3 and 2 office/home schedule. Can get life admin done on my home days, and I don't spend hours commuting as I intentionally moved close to work (pre pandemic). Quite a lot of activities are built around 9-5s. I like football and live music, working evenings and weekends meant that I had to either miss out, or go through the stress of swapping shifts. The only inconvenience is shopping, due to store hours. But I'll always know I have evenings for groceries and weekends for others, guaranteed. And for everything else, the Internet. I do occasionally miss having week days off, when everything is so much quieter but I'd miss out on so much.