What is a "normal" work week?

[214Chevy]

I'm a firefighter and I work in 24 hour increments. So, I'm easily pushed to or past the 60 hour work week if I work 2-3 days a week. But hey, I got the only job in America where you won't get fired for sleeping on the job. As long as that bell doesn't ring, we are at the station chilling..."sittin on our nuts" as we like to call it.

[Ron in SoCal]

Thank you Marcus for risking your life for others. Please be safe Brother...

[andrew5]

i run a chevy service dept.i'm all in for 55 plus.

[out2kayak]

Originally Posted by Beegs

I am a business owner, no employees....I work until the work gets done. Never have kept track of how many hours a week I work, don't know, don't care.....I am happy and that's all I care about!

This is what my dreams are made of...

This week I did 63 hrs. Last week it was just a little less.

When things go sideways, the company pulls me in to get things back on track (if possible), which makes for long days and significant travel. In many ways, when I show up it's a bit like the grim reaper has just pulled the software engineering groups number.

Last year I ended up closing a ~100 person shop just about Christmas time. Was one of the hardest things I have had to do.

[LSX67]

Originally Posted by Beegs

I am a business owner, no employees....I work until the work gets done. Never have kept track of how many hours a week I work, don't know, don't care.....I am happy and that's all I care about!

Same here

[Bucketlist2012]

Before I retired, during our peak of the season, March through November, I worked whatever it took, 10 to 12 hours, 6 days a week.

Service calls.. you work until you are done. And paperwork before and after the calls are done..Whatever it took..

That is how I retired at the Top...The slackers got fired...I worked until I retired..

30 employee's....I was the first to show up everyday, and one of the last to leave...

[DFRESH]

I've been in my new gig for just over a year now--it's averaged 60 or more hours a week--which includes Saturdays. I've had to create a brand new financial services department from scratch, hire in 16 staff thus far, bring up an entire system to manage 14,000 students, then develop a plan to transition all of those financial services away from the mother ship and into our new system. The next go live date is this coming Tuesday--it will be a push. I am hoping with all my might that the pace will begin to slow up. It really depends upon the stage of the company, type of industry, etc--however, I will say that it seems like most everyone is being asked to do more with less resources. It's quite a challenge for sure. I would vote at least 50 hours a week for most working stiffs like me to be the norm--especially in jobs such as mine where you are responsible and accountable for the money.

Don't major in Accounting if you want an easy job with reasonable hours

Follow in Greg or Charlie's footsteps. (I'm sure both of these boys worked very hard for what they've attained---it typically doesn't come easy) Work smarter and harder than the others--

Dub Wanda

[Vegas69]

Some of you guys need to start reading the Healthy 101 thread.

For the self employed and even some of you in management positions, you have to learn to delegate and make your employees more efficient. On top of that, you need to let them know your expectations from them and that can change by the day.

As the old saying goes, the tortoise wins the race. It's always a work in progress. My two employees have been with me for roughly 2 years. It keeps getting better and better. Karen is my personal assistant and her duties increase constantly. Sal is my team agent and he's taking on my less desirable clients along with working Saturdays so I have the option. To take this a step further, I prepare all my clients from day ONE that they may be service by an associate to improve our service and professionalism. I'm a Real Estate agent and I have set hours and really don't work more than 35-45 hours a week. I could work 7 days a week from bell to bell. Life is to important to me. You must work hard, but you must also work smart.

I didn't wake up one day and this all magically happened. I made small changes over time. The results are that I'm spending more time with my best clients. That's what I get paid to do.

[SLO_Z28]

Originally Posted by Vegas69

Some of you guys need to start reading the Healthy 101 thread.

For the self employed and even some of you in management positions, you have to learn to delegate and make your employees more efficient. On top of that, you need to let them know your expectations from them and that can change by the day.

As the old saying goes, the tortoise wins the race. It's always a work in progress. My two employees have been with me for roughly 2 years. It keeps getting better and better. Karen is my personal assistant and her duties increase constantly. Sal is my team agent and he's taking on my less desirable clients along with working Saturdays so I have the option. To take this a step further, I prepare all my clients from day ONE that they may be service by an associate to improve our service and professionalism. I'm a Real Estate agent and I have set hours and really don't work more than 35-45 hours a week. I could work 7 days a week from bell to bell. Life is to important to me. You must work hard, but you must also work smart.

I didn't wake up one day and this all magically happened. I made small changes over time. The results are that I'm spending more time with my best clients. That's what I get paid to do.

Best post in this thread so far.

I ran a 25 million dollar a year retail operation, and my boss would ask why I didn't fire people if I ended up working more than 45 hours. People are inexpensive and expendable, and you need to delegate responsibilities. Its really not hard to hire people, and you can fire them on a whim, and if you perpetually over staff a location you will have people hungry for work that don't work enough hours to get benefits. Your job as a manager isn't to do all the work, its to make sure it gets done. Even when I worked as a dealership tech, if you're not flagging 60 hours in 30-35 hours a work you need to find a new field.

My current job is salary and I work 40 hours on the dot(not counting a 8 hour a month furlough), its 168-176 hours a month depending on the length of the month. The chances of me getting overtime are zero. I get paid the same whether I'm working my ass off or sitting at my desk reading employee manuals. With the furloughs I get 252 hours of vacation a year and the command allows me the flexibility to go and play around with race cars when I want to.

[toddshotrods]

I voted for more than 60, because that's what's realistic to me. As my ex used to say I , "never stop working - never." Maybe I'm wrong but this 40-hour work week stuff seems to have started with the industrial age because many of the jobs became factory type, do this for eight hours, tasks. Go way back and it was people farming their own land, building stuff one at a time - by hand, etc. People probably also tended to love what they were doing more, and gained a better sense of self-worth, satisfaction, and contentment, from it, so there wasn't so much of a need to get away, rest, and relax. I think the farmer or rancher is the ultimate example because that isn't so much work, as it is life. You wake up and live it; eat-piss-poop, and sleep, to have the energy to do it another day...

I think that's what's so addicting, for me at least, about hot rodding. It's a lifestyle, not a job. You live, eat, sleep, piss, $#!+, and breathe, it. I don't end my week thinking, glad that was over, I need some rest and relaxation - I really never stop, don't want to stop, until there's no air and blood flowing in and out of my body. It's not a money thing either (my wallet and bank account will confirm that), it's passion. I've noticed that when I stop to "relax", I am usually preoccupied with getting back to my "work" (physically, because mentally, I never stopped).