Americans are working less

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Thinking about this a little more, I also wonder if there's an impact from fewer people having kids (or at least that's my situation). When you don't have a family to provide for, you can get by with a little less.

I don't know how married people with kids who work 50 hours a week have any me time at all. How do they have time for ANY hobby? It is mind boggling to me.

The amount of time I spend on my hobbies is astronomical. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I don't know how married people with kids who work 50 hours a week have any me time at all. How do they have time for ANY hobby? It is mind boggling to me.

The amount of time I spend on my hobbies is astronomical. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

I feel this, too. Unless you love your job to death, how does anyone live a fulfilling life working that much at a job they hate? Providing for your family is one thing, but if thats the only thing, you're effectively throwing yourself into a human meat grinder. In fact, this generation probably saw their parents doing exactly that and the consequences of it, and vowed NEVER to live their life like that.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Bl00dyBizkitz

I feel this, too. Unless you love your job to death, how does anyone live a fulfilling life working that much at a job they hate? Providing for your family is one thing, but if thats the only thing, you're effectively throwing yourself into a human meat grinder. In fact, this generation probably saw their parents doing exactly that and the consequences of it, and vowed NEVER to live their life like that.

I think it's easy to get sucked in, even if you don't love your job or get large raises... if you take a lot of pride in your work, you may view it as a personal failure if you aren't able to complete all of your work (even if the workload is too much for one person)... or if people rely on you to get shit done so they can do their job, you don't want to let coworkers down or to be the bottleneck, which also points towards not wanting to be a target for layoffs and thinking working lots of hours means job security.

A lot of people work far out of scope of their normal responsibilities, too, especially if you've been promoted and people still ask you questions or have issues you can fix that were related to your previous position... so then if you'd a people pleaser, it never really crosses your mind to ignore those emails and requests, even if it makes you disgruntled.

Almost all of that comes down to open communication with leadership and a lot of people suck at that, too.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I think it's easy to get sucked in, even if you don't love your job or get large raises... if you take a lot of pride in your work, you may view it as a personal failure if you aren't able to complete all of your work (even if the workload is too much for one person)... or if people rely on you to get shit done so they can do their job, you don't want to let coworkers down or to be the bottleneck, which also points towards not wanting to be a target for layoffs and thinking working lots of hours means job security.

A lot of people work far out of scope of their normal responsibilities, too, especially if you've been promoted and people still ask you questions or have issues you can fix that were related to your previous position... so then if you'd a people pleaser, it never really crosses your mind to ignore those emails and requests, even if it makes you disgruntled.

Almost all of that comes down to open communication with leadership and a lot of people suck at that, too.

Yeah, I was guilty of all that at a job site. Not because I wanted to stay employed but the way I'm wired when I was working. Tons of time would be devoted to fixing something because I could but my other duties for which I was hired still need to be done too,

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Yeah, I was guilty of all that at a job site. Not because I wanted to stay employed but the way I'm wired when I was working. Tons of time would be devoted to fixing something because I could but my other duties for which I was hired still need to be done too,

I'll always struggle to stay within scope because I want to help and don't like pushing off work or ignoring people... yet as I'm sure you're well aware of in IT, those small requests are endless and even one "simple" thing can end up taking 5 times longer than expected.... and when you have 6 or 8 hours of meetings in a day, even 15 minutes is a good chunk of your free time.

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I think it's easy to get sucked in, even if you don't love your job or get large raises... if you take a lot of pride in your work, you may view it as a personal failure if you aren't able to complete all of your work (even if the workload is too much for one person)... or if people rely on you to get shit done so they can do their job, you don't want to let coworkers down or to be the bottleneck, which also points towards not wanting to be a target for layoffs and thinking working lots of hours means job security.

A lot of people work far out of scope of their normal responsibilities, too, especially if you've been promoted and people still ask you questions or have issues you can fix that were related to your previous position... so then if you'd a people pleaser, it never really crosses your mind to ignore those emails and requests, even if it makes you disgruntled.

Almost all of that comes down to open communication with leadership and a lot of people suck at that, too.

Lol I relate to this, too.

Probably the most fun I had at a job was fast food. I just happened to be working with other really cool people I could talk to and joke around with. We'd close and then hang out in the parking lot for 30 minutes just talking about random shit.

It was tough, stressful work and I knew the pay was bad, but I busted my ass for the other people around me because they did the same for me and I didn't want to let them down. I took pride in it and definitely went the extra mile despite how looked down upon the job is.

I dont hate work, but I probably have different goals and values in life compared to a lot of you guys, and those things just don't align with busting my ass for Corpo when I know for a fact they will stab in the back at a moments notice despite my best efforts.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Bl00dyBizkitz

when I know for a fact they will stab in the back at a moments notice despite my best efforts.

I think that's a two way street though.... yeah, they can fire you tomorrow or may not deliver on raises/promotions, but you can also quit today or maybe your productivity drops post-raise/promotion for whatever reason.

Hiring and training are expensive and I've been annoyed before when I spend significant time training up someone just for them to job hop in a year or two (especially if it takes 18 months to get up to speed).

Of course, the flip side is similar to how a new customer gets more benefits for signing up than existing customers get for sticking around.... if you don't treat your existing employees well, they have every incentive to job hop.

[wazu]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I don't know how married people with kids who work 50 hours a week have any me time at all. How do they have time for ANY hobby? It is mind boggling to me.

The amount of time I spend on my hobbies is astronomical. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Kids become the main hobby, for sure. As mine were growing up I coached their sports and was a boy scout leader. Personally that was good for me, and definitely the most meaningful era of my life. I still had other hobbies, just spent less time on them. Now that my kids are grown I have more time for other things, and I'm enjoying this part as well.

[George Liquor]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I don't know how married people with kids who work 50 hours a week have any me time at all. How do they have time for ANY hobby? It is mind boggling to me.

The amount of time I spend on my hobbies is astronomical. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

You find a way to make it work. For me, it's just less time for my degenerate behavior (poker and drinking)

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I don't know how married people with kids who work 50 hours a week have any me time at all. How do they have time for ANY hobby? It is mind boggling to me.

The amount of time I spend on my hobbies is astronomical. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

My joy came from spending time with my kids when I got home from work...even when I worked OT.

I made my kids a priority.....because it also provided the greatest joy in my life.

It's that simple......I don't get why people see kids as a burden.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

My joy came from spending time with my kids when I got home from work...even when I worked OT.

I made my kids a priority.....because it also provided the greatest joy in my life.

It's that simple......I don't get why people see kids as a burden.

Exactly, and it just keeps growing as there are grandkids and great grandkids.

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Exactly, and it just keeps growing as there are grandkids and great grandkids.

The real question will be how it affects the population over the next few decades....

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

The real question will be how it affects the population over the next few decades....

Yeah, I have been trying my best to keep this out of D.C.

Spoiler!

but yes, as the population decreases we will have less workers supporting the retired.

China is experiencing this problem as well due to their government mandated birth restrictions for years.

[WilliamTheIrish]

A whole “extra” two weeks off?

they should get that and more.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

My joy came from spending time with my kids when I got home from work...even when I worked OT.

I made my kids a priority.....because it also provided the greatest joy in my life.

It's that simple......I don't get why people see kids as a burden.

I would love to have kids if I could only see them every other weekend lol