How many hours should a person reasonably work each week?

Depends on what your goals are and what your personal resources are. Also, it depends on the kind of work, whether or not it is physical or just sitting around.

I tend to be lazy, so I'm bad to ask this. I'd say figure out how much money you want to put toward the debts, and then parse out how much to work to get that plus maintaining your lifestyle (namely necessities).

I'd say don't do more than 60 hours unless you really have to.
 
I also agree with around 40 hours. On the other hand, in combination with other obligations (school, children), 40 hours may be excessive. But I also believe it depends greatly on a person's individual stamina or the demands of the job. In my case, I get tired easily so working at a high pressure job for more than 40 hours would be less than ideal for me.
 
I think 35 with full benefits and 6 weeks paid vacation a year would be ideal. We're humans, not machines, and it's a shame that we have, as a norm, become expected to behave as such.
 
bamf said:
I think 35 with full benefits and 6 weeks paid vacation a year would be ideal. We're humans, not machines, and it's a shame that we have, as a norm, become expected to behave as such.
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Yaayyyy! This is why I love France and the French lifestyle. They know how to live. It's work to live, not live to work. Live to work scares me. Work to live is what our style of economy allows so utilize it!
 
I can comfortably do 20-30 hours a week without getting burned out. I only had a 40 hour a week job for a month. I was forced to leave due to other circumstances, but the whole time, I felt as though my life was nothing but work, especially since I only had about 1 1/2 hours of free time on weekdays, after meals, sleeping, and commuting.

If I had a job I loved, I don't think this would matter as much.
 
As for what the average person should work: In modern hunting & gathering societies (which always get that verge-of-starvation misconception) people work (gather resources necessary for survival) for about 19 hours a week. To me, this makes sense. The rest of the time is spent with your children, creating art or whatever you enjoy, and eating perfectly organic food. Of course that is fantasy land for us, and sadly our society has made overworking a requirement for survival! So in my opinion, nobody should have to slave for an extra 20+ hours a week so that we can have imported food. But I am going to get a degree and job and play along too :)

As for what you specified, if you can find something that pays well enough, you can knock down your hours sometimes to be right where you need to be. All that of course depends on many many variables that we don't know, but start with figuring out a basic budget of the bare minimums including debt and what that figure leaves you with. Decide what else you want, add that in, and try to find a job that can compensate you enough to cover you without overworking you. The best thing to do is get creative on how to save money. Maybe a room to rent out or you could move in with someone, etc. to save a few hundred extra that could be going towards debt. Try to think of certifications, advanced degrees, or courses you can complete to give yourself an edge and your employer a reason to pay you more.
 
On average I do 10-11 hour days, (5 days a week, then a 4-5 hour shift every sunday, so I work 6 days outta the week) with about a 1.5 hours of break interspersed.

I hate it, I would LOOVVVEEEEE to get some fancy schmancy scholarships and just chill and do school. That would be epic. But I'm getting an apartment soon, so I need to bring home the bacon. And veggie bacon ain't going to cut it, haha.
 
I have worked 90 hours in a week before. It was insane and kind of dangerous. I can manage to work 60 hours, but would prefer not to do more than 48. No nights though. Nights stuff everything up.
 
bickelz said:
Yaayyyy! This is why I love France and the French lifestyle.
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Speaking of which, has anyone seen Laurent Cantet's 'Human Resources'? It's a great movie. It's a pseudo-documentary (but mostly melodrama) about France's switch to the 30-hour work week.

bickelz said:
They know how to live. It's work to live, not live to work. Live to work scares me. Work to live is what our style of economy allows so utilize it!
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Yeah, there's definitely a point at which you're trying too hard and not getting much for it. While I'm not convinced that anyone can accomplish much of anything in a 30 hour work week, it sure beats a 70 hour one.
 
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Pin said:
At least 72 hours per week to afford a good life in the United States.
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That's insane and shouldn't be celebrated unless you're a big fan of dystopias. Would you say that working 'at least' 72 hours features in any definition of 'a good life'?

This is what I found:
80-100 Hours: Fine for initial bursts of enthusiasm, but unsustainable if you have to commute, cook your own meals or do your own laundry, otherwise you're deliberately cutting into sleep. Not pleasant for me.
60-80 Hours: This will kill you eventually, and you'll be resentful. As a teacher I worked in the 70-80 hour range (since I was a union rep during an industrial dispute I couldn't let anything slide) and basically had no life outside of the job. These are nightmare hours if I'm honest.
50-60 Hours: The limit of what is possible & sustainable, but not nice. I didn't know any teacher who could get away with less than 50 hours a week unless they were fudging something or teaching P.E.
30-50: OK, fine
20-30: This seems to be the sweet spot of productivity & satisfaction, since you hit that 4 hours per day of high-quality creative work (after which you burn out) and feel like you're doing something. I'm probably in this range right now doing my PhD, but the rest of the time I'm thinking about it and processing things.
<20: I'll feel lazy & unproductive. I'll lose enthusiasm for what I'm doing or feel like I'm not making enough progress.
 
Deleted member 16771 said:
That's insane and shouldn't be celebrated unless you're a big fan of dystopias. Would you say that working 'at least' 72 hours features in any definition of 'a good life'?

This is what I found:
80-100 Hours: Fine for initial bursts of enthusiasm, but unsustainable if you have to commute, cook your own meals or do your own laundry, otherwise you're deliberately cutting into sleep. Not pleasant for me.
60-80 Hours: This will kill you eventually, and you'll be resentful. As a teacher I worked in the 70-80 hour range (since I was a union rep during an industrial dispute I couldn't let anything slide) and basically had no life outside of the job. These are nightmare hours if I'm honest.
50-60 Hours: The limit of what is possible & sustainable, but not nice. I didn't know any teacher who could get away with less than 50 hours a week unless they were fudging something or teaching P.E.
30-50: OK, fine
20-30: This seems to be the sweet spot of productivity & satisfaction, since you hit that 4 hours per day of high-quality creative work (after which you burn out) and feel like you're doing something. I'm probably in this range right now doing my PhD, but the rest of the time I'm thinking about it and processing things.
<20: I'll feel lazy & unproductive. I'll lose enthusiasm for what I'm doing or feel like I'm not making enough progress.
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In the United States of America things are cutthroat. When I say that we're brutal here, I mean it.

A working class person (without family or wealth to rely on) who is not working at least 72 hours a week is practically condemning themselves to poverty.

That's the American way.
 
@Pin may be right. My SO and I lived on about $12/hour each for years full-time and we made it work nicely though we didn't have a child then, either. But $12/hour as a single person would be very difficult to get by. Then you consider that minimum wage is actually still $7.25 and it's impossible on 40 hours. Though it's good to see big employers like Amazon and Target raising wages to $15. Makes everyone else compete.

Now, I work in a salary position that is full-time but it's flexible and from home. So I can get my work done in about 30 hours per week most of the time. I think more companies should go this route where they could. Saves on cost of rent/real estate and makes for happier employees. This is ideal for me because I have a child and home to take care of. Doing it on 40/hr work week would be very difficult!

Ideally, something between 30-40 hours with PTO and sick time.
 
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Seraffa said:
I've been pondering over this. What actually is reasonable? I have tons of debt to pay (well, in my opinion, there are tons.) These are secured debts that can't really go away with the help of a debt settlement program.
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Reasonable?

If it’s 9-5, then it’s 9-5. 5 days a week. But it’s more 8-6 nowadays as I’ve experienced this. Longer hours, overtime, and overworked. The hours should suit you based on your skills and what you can offer. While also depending on the level of position you’re in. Of course being in s higher position does not necessarily mean less hours or less workload. If you’re working more than you can handle, then it’s time to start asking yourself if it’s truly worth against your health, mentality, and personal life.


In debt?

Now you have to decide whether do you want to pay it off steadily or maybe even change in career or field or even asking for a raise. If it’s school loans, ask or search for student debt relief.


My own experience?

I use to work 70-80 hours a week. Was losing my mind through overload of tasks even when organized and prioritized. Where bosses will keep throwing jobs that wasn’t in the job description or even pertained to the position.
 
Willenstarke said:
If it’s 9-5, then it’s 9-5. 5 days a week. But it’s more 8-6 nowadays as I’ve experienced this. Longer hours, overtime, and overworked. The hours should suit you based on your skills and what you can offer. While also depending on the level of position you’re in. Of course being in s higher position does not necessarily mean less hours or less workload. If you’re working more than you can handle, then it’s time to start asking yourself if it’s truly worth against your health, mentality, and personal life.
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This. If you can handle and enjoy it, you can do more hours. If it works against your work/life balance, it's not worth it. That's why I stopped being a consultant (with a list of other reasons). The hours after work that they "presumed" was necessary for the job without getting paid + the amount of time and stress spend on work just wasn't worth the hassle. Other people may enjoy that kind of life.

Altruistic Muse said:
I have worked 90 hours in a week before. It was insane and kind of dangerous. I can manage to work 60 hours, but would prefer not to do more than 48. No nights though. Nights stuff everything up.
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Pin said:
A working class person (without family or wealth to rely on) who is not working at least 72 hours a week is practically condemning themselves to poverty.
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Willenstarke said:
I use to work 70-80 hours a week. Was losing my mind through overload of tasks even when organized and prioritized. Where bosses will keep throwing jobs that wasn’t in the job description or even pertained to the position.
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What the hell, those hours are just ridiculous. Like seriously ridiculous, I get doing overtime but almost going double over a 9/5?! That works against the social/health benefit of the population, shame on your governments to allow such bs.
 
dragulagu said:
This. If you can handle and enjoy it, you can do more hours. If it works against your work/life balance, it's not worth it. That's why I stopped being a consultant (with a list of other reasons). The hours after work that they "presumed" was necessary for the job without getting paid + the amount of time and stress spend on work just wasn't worth the hassle. Other people may enjoy that kind of life.




What the hell, those hours are just ridiculous. Like seriously ridiculous, I get doing overtime but almost going double over a 9/5?! That works against the social/health benefit of the population, shame on your governments to allow such bs.
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As it stands today, we don't give an iota of a damn about the well-being of our citizens. And frankly, the citizens don't give a damn about one another. Our failure as a nation encompasses our entire society, from the common man to the elites. Seriously, we're dealing with a top-down morass of shit.

Fortunately, we're not going to be a loser country for much longer. We're going to change for the better. We have to change for the better.

Edit: getting off my Bernie Sanders-esque soapbox for the evening.
 
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I find my 40 hours plus about 11-12 hours commuting to be just about manageable.

Do I think this is what we as humans should feel obliged to have to do? Most definitely not... it upsets me the lack of freedom we have.

I earn a very very respectable wage for my age and so I can’t complain about that tbh and I could probably still live comfortably if I cut my hours down to 20 hours per week.

However, the most important thing is that you can at least find some enjoyment in your work. Spending 40+ hours a week on something that gives you no enjoyment or satisfaction becomes fucking rough very quickly. I would not work a job that makes me miserable just for a bigger paycheck, fuck that!

I really enjoy what I do for a job but I wouldn’t say I love it and that it’s my ultimate dream job. People who can say that are extremely lucky! I am grateful that I find enjoyment and that I feel challenged intellectually.

So yeah my final words would be: “Find a job that sustains you and that you can enjoy or at least put up with and you are doing better than a lot of people”
 
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