I’ve just finished my first week at a new job. I like the job, but it’s the first time in several years that I’ve had relatively standard 8 hours a day, 5 days a week as my schedule. The last time I did was in 2019 or so, and then I went and got back into graduate school for the interim.
Now that I’m back to standard hours, the commitment of time and energy seems to be quite a lot, more than I remember from prior ft experience(It could well be that this job is actually mentally demanding, whereas my prior full-time job was pretty brainless) and I’m not sure how I will make room in my life for anything else.
I like the job I’m doing, and I don’t feel as if I’m being unreasonably pressured at work (Boss even said to go out of our way not to work overtime, and it’s a salaried position so I know they’re not trying to skimp on hourly pay), so I guess I’m mainly wanting to ask how the rest of you full-timers do it.
And does it get easier to manage as you start to get used to it and make a routine?
Maybe it feels like quite a basic or rudimentary to ask… But these are things I’ve forgotten in the interim since last working 40-hour weeks.
A few things help me.
Short commute, so no extra time spent getting to and from the office, and an electric bike that I enjoy commuting on.
Coffee and breakfast at my desk at work, not before going in.
Help at home - husband cleans after supper, and we have a biweekly cleaning lady so I’m not spending all weekend just catching up, can have at least a day to actually relax.
The people I work with are amazing, I like them so much and they like me and each other, it’s a good group.
Taking all my PTO. I do a lot of Fridays off, and usually one solid week off at some point but using them to make short weeks/long weekends feels best to me.
If you really can’t adjust maybe ask about doing the 40 as 4x 10hours not 5x 8?
Life is hard, and then you die.
And does it get easier to manage as you start to get used to it and make a routine?
European here. I worked many years for 40h/week and I never got used to it, really. There was not enough spare time in my life to enjoy it (especially, since commuting to work took off even more useful time). I neglected cleaning my room, postponed important appointments as much as possible and I was often too tired to do the things I love.
Since 2024, I now work 30h/week, completely from home. I have every Friday off and Thursday is a short day. My life has improved drastically. I am longer tired all the time, I’m more motivated at work and I am actually capable of going to concerts, parties, cinema. It’s amazing.
Every human is built different. I realized I absolutely cannot function having a 9to5 job from Monday to Friday.
Building a routine, and sticking with it helps a lot, as well as eating clean and exercising (which I need to get back into, lol). When you can nail a morning routine and carry that momentum through work, you’ll be tired, but should have time to decompress after work every day and still get most of your chores done.
The key for me has been finding a job I don’t hate, and I don’t have to take home with me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t LOVE my job, it’s not what I’d like to do for the rest of my life or anything, but it’s decently manageable most days and I don’t have any outside of hours responsibilities.
As an added bonus, I’ve always been a second shift person ever since highschool and it still works in my life right now. This allows me to spend the hours I have the most energy at home doing what I actually enjoy like my hobbies and such.
I’ve been jobless for a year and recently found a job again as well. After my first day I was so exhausted, it was unbelievable. I literally came home after work, made and had some food, chilled on discord with a friend for an hour and was already too tired, so I went to bed after being awake for about 12h.
Starting a new job, a new chapter of your life is exhausting. You learn a lot of new things, you get a lot of new impressions. All this requires the gray matter in your skull to work pretty hard.
Now, even with mentally demanding jobs, you’ll form routines that make things easier. Not just stuff like a morning routine or your route to work, but also work processes become easier after you get into the groove. On top of that, with time there are less new things you need to remember, like names of your coworkers, your offices layout, or what bus to take.
It gets easier with time. Hang in there.
now imagine having a girlfriend / boyfriends plus 3 little ones?
Luckily i dont yet that going on but i feel your pain sometimes. I tend to go to bed around 11pm and get up at 5am. Naturally without any alarms. So i have 2 hours in the morning, i tend to do smaller home duties and then after work, study for 1 hour (no more no less), eat and then chill on the couch. On the weekend, get all of your cleaning, errands do as soon as possible which will allow the rest of the day to hang out with friends, or whatever
My biggest advice that I wish more people would is to go to bed on Friday / Saturday / Sunday at the same time you would throughout the week. Dont extend your waking hours and be sluggish come Monday.
Also enjoy your life. It goes quick
Once you fall into a routine it will get easier.
First week is tough because you’re learning the job, plus learning the best ways to travel, where to buy stuff, etc.
The first week at any job is always exhausting. There’s a lot to take in, and a lot of active decision-making to do. It gets better fast when a lot of small things start going on autopilot.
Long commutes add to the suck.
That’s the neat part, you don’t.
Have you considered embracing homelessness? I wish i wasnt being serious but it is an option that if planned for instead of being forced into, is somewhat freeing. The van dweller community is growing extremely fast right now.
I’m curious how that works for health insurance and saving for retirement. Presumably van dwelling requires some amount of working to fund food, gas, and repairs. So I’m guessing Obamacare or maybe Medicaid for health insurance if your income is low enough. But how does planning for the future work?
Others have offered fantastic advice, I’m not going to add anything from personal experience. I will share this link: https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/
Reading this isn’t going to change your life, but I find it very helpful to reframe how you think about life. It deals more with the long term impact of having a full time job, outside of work in a way that worked for my brain. Hopefully you find it helpful but it’s not a single solution.
i was on a similar situation recently, except boss wasnt so keen on curbing overtime (or paying us for it for that matter)
been working from home for almost 10 years, but in the post-pandemic world they refuse to let it happen now.
it gets easier to deal with as time goes on, but like, unionize. fuck giving our entire life to these leeches. also you don’t need to work as hard as they demand you to. save yourself energy to do a bit of stuff for yourself.
Everybody’s working for the
weekendoligarchs!Great song
Imagine having children
And childcare eats 20%+ of your income
And your local government has made it illegal to terminate pregnancies
Nor will they support you after the baby is born
Grab your bootstraps youngin!
