How many hours should a person reasonably work each week?
- Thread starter Seraffa
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How ever much you can handle, it really depends on the person and what their priorities are. Personally I don't keep track of hours but rather projects obviously that type of system won't work for most people. I don't think you can put a set amount of hours everyone should work because everyone is different. For example my father (the ENTJ) is a huge workaholic, he's a full time teacher, a musician, plays 7 different instruments among different groups and plays in the local symphony, and needs constant productive stimulation. On the other hand there's my mother (the INFP) who prefers to work half time and won't take a full time job despite being pushed repeatedly about it at her work. So I guess it all just boils down to what works for you. all I know is that I have productive cycles and unproductive cycles and it's the difference between making 1k a week and making nothing for the month.
How much debt do you have if you don't mind my asking? if it's a lot such as something like a business venture you may want to consider bankruptcy, it will take 7 years to get your affairs back to order but if the debt is insurmountable it may be worth it.
How much debt do you have if you don't mind my asking? if it's a lot such as something like a business venture you may want to consider bankruptcy, it will take 7 years to get your affairs back to order but if the debt is insurmountable it may be worth it.
It depends on:
1. Your priorities.
=> Are there other goals you need or want to devote your time to?
2. Your capabilities.
=> How much are you able to work without it being detrimental to your wellbeing?
3. Your motivation.
=> How strong is your motivation to earn money? How big is your debt?
4. Your discipline.
=> How well can you control your spending and keep on track with payments?
5. Your qualifications.
=> How large can your salary be?
6. Your goals.
=> Do you need to work as much as you do to make what you need to meet your needs? Do you need to spend as much as you do to meet your needs?
All of these factors will have an impact on how much money you should aim to learn and/or on how many hours you can work.
Different people can answer this question differently. It's such a multifaceted question that it would be naive to give you a number.
Agapooka
1. Your priorities.
=> Are there other goals you need or want to devote your time to?
2. Your capabilities.
=> How much are you able to work without it being detrimental to your wellbeing?
3. Your motivation.
=> How strong is your motivation to earn money? How big is your debt?
4. Your discipline.
=> How well can you control your spending and keep on track with payments?
5. Your qualifications.
=> How large can your salary be?
6. Your goals.
=> Do you need to work as much as you do to make what you need to meet your needs? Do you need to spend as much as you do to meet your needs?
All of these factors will have an impact on how much money you should aim to learn and/or on how many hours you can work.
Different people can answer this question differently. It's such a multifaceted question that it would be naive to give you a number.
Agapooka
well I'm going to grad school and the average work week is 12 hours a day mon-fri and a half day on the weekend. This fluxes as projects develop or become interesting and that is an expectation if you have nothing else taking time up that you would work out with you advisor. So yea that's the floor no ceiling but it generally is don't break yourself.
40 hours is about average, isn't it? How much do you think you can handle? Extra work just cuts into the time you have for yourself and others, but if I personally had debts I would want to work more and pay them off quickly.
I'd say reasonable would be, maybe the amount of time you work + 10-20% more time.
I'd say reasonable would be, maybe the amount of time you work + 10-20% more time.
Ideally you love your work. Then you can work 24/7. Or whatever so that you feel fine. Depends on salary.
Not ideally but at least generally you are not in love with your work, so assuming you are an adult, finished education and stuff you work 40 hours a week. Mon to Fri from 9 to 5.
Not ideally but at least generally you are not in love with your work, so assuming you are an adult, finished education and stuff you work 40 hours a week. Mon to Fri from 9 to 5.
The issue here isn't how many hours people can work it's what stress level can you personally handle and how you can personally handle stress.
Focusing on reducing debts is great motivation to suck it up for a while and work your butt off but if you neglect other areas of your life while attempting to fix that area new problems will arise bringing up the stress. More importantly if you're working long hours you need an instant stress relief to kick in when you leave the job, sitting down and watching TV, or sleeping, will not do that, failure to pay appropriate attention to that area will result in health issues, guaranteed. Stress is a physical reaction, not a mental thing and it needs to be counterbalanced by something that turns off that instinctive stress reaction, personally three things work for me: Physical exertion, something relaxing and grounding like Tai Chi or yoga, or reading a book in a cafe (as an extrovert the people surrounding me energise me), know what works for you and you'll know what you can do.
Focusing on reducing debts is great motivation to suck it up for a while and work your butt off but if you neglect other areas of your life while attempting to fix that area new problems will arise bringing up the stress. More importantly if you're working long hours you need an instant stress relief to kick in when you leave the job, sitting down and watching TV, or sleeping, will not do that, failure to pay appropriate attention to that area will result in health issues, guaranteed. Stress is a physical reaction, not a mental thing and it needs to be counterbalanced by something that turns off that instinctive stress reaction, personally three things work for me: Physical exertion, something relaxing and grounding like Tai Chi or yoga, or reading a book in a cafe (as an extrovert the people surrounding me energise me), know what works for you and you'll know what you can do.
Hmm yes, I would agree it's what you can handle, and what your willing to do.
During the summers I worked in an Onion packaging company. The hours there tend to be long (sometimes from 8 a.m.-3a.m.). I think the most hours I've made in a week was 82.
No more than 40 hours. I couldn't do 12-18 hour days. As some people I know have. I would simply not have the engery.
I can handle 10 hour days 6 days a week no problem. Or at least I used to be able to. Ideally I would like to work only 30 hours a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all 10 hour shifts) but unfortunately that just doesn't pay enough money for me to live comfortably.
at one time in my life i used to do 65 hours, it was a nightmare. i would not ever want to do more than 40 now. i don't believe you can be a full human being outside work if you do more than that. if your work is something that you are completely dedicated to and passionate about, and you don't expect more from life, and it makes you a complete human being to exist solely through your work, then that's fine, i don't think there's a problem with that. you have to be aware of what you're trading though.
i think you should work as much as you possibly can.
I myself work 80 hour bi weekly periods of normal hours, with generally 15-16 hours of overtime along with that. I'm also full time college. It's important to find a job you enjoy, then you're able to work more. I hate my job, but it pays so much and I love the people there, and there's some nice eye candy. Candy always makes the job go faster, especially the eye kind.
I myself work 80 hour bi weekly periods of normal hours, with generally 15-16 hours of overtime along with that. I'm also full time college. It's important to find a job you enjoy, then you're able to work more. I hate my job, but it pays so much and I love the people there, and there's some nice eye candy. Candy always makes the job go faster, especially the eye kind.
It all depends on the person. I love working and hate sitting around doing nothing. I always have to have projects to get done even when relaxing. So I am taking 17 credit hours and working 40 hours a week. I wouldn't suggest this to anybody else but I enjoy it. My dad also did something similar in college and my mom works about 90 hours a week because she is also a workaholic but actually really doesn't need the money. She just does it because she can't stand to not work. Both have found tremendous amounts of success and are happy at times. My siblings though are all the exact opposite and don't like to do much. They are all into get rich quick schemes and such instead of hard work. So it's all up to you.
Time is relative.
If you hate what you're doing, time drags. If you're under a lot of pressure and have looming deadlines, time tends to speed by.
But, if you truly love and are completely involved with what you're doing, time ceases to exist.
That said, you do what you have to in order to keep up with the costs of living. Sometimes, that means plugging away at something you hate until you find a better opportunity. The fact that different jobs pay different wages and are more suited to some personalities than others makes this question more difficult.
It's a very individual, personal decision that I don't think has a definitive answer, but necessitates a continual reevaluation of our priorities.
If you hate what you're doing, time drags. If you're under a lot of pressure and have looming deadlines, time tends to speed by.
But, if you truly love and are completely involved with what you're doing, time ceases to exist.
That said, you do what you have to in order to keep up with the costs of living. Sometimes, that means plugging away at something you hate until you find a better opportunity. The fact that different jobs pay different wages and are more suited to some personalities than others makes this question more difficult.
It's a very individual, personal decision that I don't think has a definitive answer, but necessitates a continual reevaluation of our priorities.