Working Long Hours

Due to a number of reasons, I had an extremely long, stressful week last week and will likely be having another one next week and possibly the week after.

This week involved waking up at 6am, getting to work around 7:30, working until 6:30, and getting home around 8 or so. One night I didn't get home until 11:30 due to a dinner I had to attend after work. We went to one of the fanciest restaurants in Manhattan with one of our business partners. The bill came out to over $400 a person (I did not have to pay). Unfortunately, at 2am that night I vomited up about $350 worth of the food, but that was probably a good thing.

And I was busy all day at work. I didn't have a chance to catch my breath, and I actually fell behind on a couple of things.

I don't love my work. I like the field I work in, but my current job is definitely not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. I spent about 65 hours either working or commuting to work this week.

On the local NYC news last night, they were interviewing guys who worked outside. It has been bitter cold this week, with temperatures falling below 0 degrees farenheit. The reporter asked a construction worker "Are you working outside the whole day today?"

He replied "Yep! All day! I'll be out here seven hours!"

I can't imagine what it would be like to work seven hour days. I know a few people who work construction and they leave at the same time as me in the morning, but they are often home from work at 3:00 or 3:30 in the afternoon. This gives them a good 4 hours of extra free time EVERY DAY compared to what I get. This means they actually see daylight in the winter, when it is always dark before I leave work. It means, assuming they go to bed at 10 or 11 pm like I do, that they have seven or eight hours of free time every day, where I only end up with three or four. And during those three or four hours, I usually have some chores to take care of. So I really only get 2 hours to myself every day.

Of course, I am a lot more physically comfortable in a heated office all day, so that's one of the tradeoffs. I don't mean to say those guys have it easy. I worked in construction for a while. It is a tough job. The hours, though, are fantastic.

I don't plan on doing this my entire life. For one, I hope to move someday and cut down my commute to work. For another, I'm going to try to go someplace that offers a more flexible work schedule. For another, I am going to refuse to work the long hours.

For now though, I have a decent enough plan. I'm young, I can work , and hopefully I will be able to save up enough to put down a decent down payment on a house so my monthly payment isn't a noose around my neck.