What's your preferred work-life balance?

[DeezNuts]

Since I've become a contract employee(used to be salaried), I've become much happier. I can take days off without feeling guilty or looking bad, because if I don't come in or leave early, I don't get paid. I really, really hate "face time".

Working weekends may be the worst ever. Being paid hourly takes a little of the sting away, but not too much, I treasure my weekends.

[4_2_it]

I've been doing 55 hour weeks since I can remember. I find the key is making sure that you have Saturday and Sunday off. I'd much rather work 55 hours Mon-Fri, then 46 hours with a Saturday thrown in.

[By-Tor]

I typically consider my job to be 24/7. If they need me, I'm there...and more times then not, they need me.

My life balance comes in the form of leaving whenever I want to go golfing during the day.

[Aloysius]

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Cappy,

Nothing pisses me off more than meetings like this where people are just wasting time.

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Completely agree, thank you Mute button for conference calls.

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I also firmly believe that there's no reason to work more than 8 hours a day, because people just aren't that efficient. There are days that I get more done in 2 hours than I'll do for 3 days. It's more of a culture thing in consulting, IB, law, etc.

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Have you done IB? This is not true at all in my experience. It's not very efficient but there are deals where you have no choice but to work 80-100 hours a week to get it done.

As for law... explain how to meet 3,000+ billable hours a year (not face time, hours justified / billed to a client) without working crazy hours, just do the math.

-Al

[El Diablo]

Cappy,

"I think a lot of the problem is image as well. The people that stay for 12 hours a day get promoted faster. Other people see this and stay for 12 hours a day as well."

Get your work done faster and better than others in less time and take some actions to let people know it. Maybe sacrifice a bit by being accessible.

So, let's say most people are working 8-8 to get their crap done becasue they suck compared to you. You get more done and leave at 6. Now figure out a good reason to send an email to appropriate folks that mentions the fact that all your stuff is done. Also maybe mention "if anyone needs anything else, feel free to email/call." And then maybe spend ten minutes late at night responding to a couple of emails.

Taking a few actions like this will let you escape that "in the office a lot jsut for appearances sake" stupid race and change the perception of you from "that dude isn't around very much" to "that guy is always super on top of stuff."

[kidcolin]

40-50 hours a week is fine for me. Lately it's been 60-70. Not a big fan.

I think a 6 hour day would be ideal. I used to love when I got out of work at 2:30 in the afternoon, but I had to be there at 6. If I could do an 8-2 or even 8-3 shift it'd be money.

[CappyAA]

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I think a 6 hour day would be ideal. I used to love when I got out of work at 2:30 in the afternoon, but I had to be there at 6. If I could do an 8-2 or even 8-3 shift it'd be money.


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Yeah I used to like the early shifts. I didn't mind putting in the 8 hour shifts getting off early. In high school, I worked at a golf course doing maintenance in the summers. It was great, working outside from 6-2, coming home to take a nap, going back to play 9 holes at like 5:30, then hanging out with friends before getting to bed at like 11. It wasn't bad at all.

It's just depressing getting off work late since the whole day is pretty much wasted.

[DrewDevil]

I would prefer to work about an hour or two a day, 3-4 days a week, just checking on my investments and watching the royalty checks ping my checking account.

[Nate tha\\\' Great]

I really detest the phrase "work-life balance" on a number of levels. For one thing, it implies that there is an inherent tension between the two things. For another, it implies that "life" is just another obstacle for your employer to work around as it tries to manage to its P&L. The best employers establish clear expectations and deadlines, and then give their employees a lot of discretion about how to manage their own lives to meet those.

[mbillie1]

If I didn't need the money I wouldn't work... like if I won the lottery or something. I'm not the sort of person who needs a structured activity like work. I could be perfectly happy traveling, reading, getting drunk with friends, going out to eat, etc. However since I do need to get paid, I guess 40 hours a week of work is fine... that seems fairly necessary to get paid a reasonable amount.