How Many Hours A Week Do You Work?

[Bear Up North]

This Bear has always been one (1) of those work geeks who spends a lot of time at the office. I have been this way forever and a day. When I was working part-time at a local lumberyard and going to college, I would climb the fence in the middle of the night to go work extra hours. For about five (5) straight years at my distribution center I would arrive around 4:00 AM and leave around 5:30 PM.

Of course, for health reasons, my hours changed in a most substantial way. When I returned to work after my bone marrow transplant I worked some 4-5 hour days, 4-5 days a week. By mid-June I was back to nearly 45 hours a week. Now I am cruising in the 55 hour a week range. (Same old Bear.)

My wife, Katie, threatens to skin me alive if I don't cut back the hours. That wouldn't be a pretty sight.

I know that there are a lot of people just like me......we get a certain rush at work, perhaps because we like it (imagine that!) or we are good at it....or both. It is just our nature.

But.....most of you are in the public sector and will probably ask the question, "Why?". What say you? How many hours do you work in a week?
Are you a work geek......aka workaholic?

Bear

[Richmond Jake]

I have the feeling that it's not how many hours you are at the office but how productive you are when you are there. In other words, do your freakin' job!

(Then go home early and jump in the pool.)

[JNA]

I am paid for 40 hours, however .....

[psylo]

I'm supposed to be in for 20

[AubieTurtle]

We get paid for half an hour of lunch so I work 37.5 hours per week.

[donk]

I am paid for 35 hours a week @ 7 hours a day, now for how much work I actually do.... not going to post self incriminating evidence. I actually feel better and get more done when there is a quantity of valuable work to do that exceeds 7 hours a day.

I also do another 3-5 hours a week of non work related unpaid volunteer work.(well unpaid except for travel perks)

[Zoning Goddess]

I am pretty much on 40-hour weeks now, but for 15 years before that I put in massive hours of (unpaid) overtime, like going to work at 8 a.m. and going home after public hearings at midnite or 2 a.m. and back to work at 8. No more. That sucked so big-time.

[Richmond Jake]

I am pretty much on 40-hour weeks now.....

Does that include the 20-hours per week you spend in your desk fort sitting in your beach chair, reading a novel, drinking Diet Mt. Dew, and eating donuts and hot fudge? Don't encourage me to post that last desk fort picture. (Will somebody pleezzze encourage me.....)

[Zoning Goddess]

Does that include the 20-hours per week you spend in your desk fort sitting in your beach chair, reading a novel, drinking Diet Mt. Dew, and eating donuts and hot fudge? Don't encourage me to post that last desk fort picture. (Will somebody pleezzze encourage me.....)

I know how to DIS-courage you...
Hey, I put in my time...

[Richmond Jake]

I know how to DIS-courage you...
Hey, I put in my time...

I get the not so subtle hint.

[Michele Zone]

Y'all know I don't "work". Do I really have to EXPLAIN?

[Queen B]

It is really hard for me to say how many hours I actually work. I would say that I spend 15-20 hours per week at the office. I always have the cell phone. Like this afternoon I spent a bit of time on the phone making phone calls but din't get answers until I got out to Wal Mart where my phone rang all the time. So was I working or not?

That is the whole thing about the job I do doesn't take an incredible # of hours in the office. One of the resons I chose it.

[ABS]

I would be categories as other because I don't have a planning job yet. At the moment I'm a retail casual doing about 15 hours per week.

[jsk1983]

I work in retail and am part time you need a good deal of seniority to be granted full time, and have been averagiing 35-40 hours a week. This week Im have a full 40 split over six days. With shifts starting in the middle of the day it seems like I'm always at work.

[NHPlanner]

40 hours of daytime work, night meetings vary, and I get administrative (comp) time for those. So I average about 45 - 50 in a busy week.

[noottamevas]

I've had jobs that require a lot more then 40 hours per week. I specifically took this one to only work the standard 40. Some things are more important then work.

[Gedunker]

40 hours of daytime work, night meetings vary, and I get administrative (comp) time for those. So I average about 45 - 50 in a busy week.

What NHP said, except the part about comp time...

[mendelman]

37.5 hrs/week, with about an additional 1-2 hours of night meeting time per month.

If I lived closer to work, I would probably come in earlier in the monrings to do stuff before "they" start calling.

[nerudite]

36 hours per week on average. We have one day off every other week, so one week will be 40 hours and the other week we work 32 hours. Quite nice!

[Jaxspra]

I work 40 hours during the day, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more...and have 4 nightly meetings each month (standard) that are around 2-3 hours each and any additional meetings that may come up...
So about 43 on an average week, 35 on a good and 50 on a busy...oh yeah and then comes the "real" work...home to the boys on my own

[mileage2762004]

10 hours per day in the office, at least two evening meetings per week, 4-6 hr. each, home research on the internet, (linked to office computer) 1-2 hr per day.

68 to 82 hours per week.

[SkeLeton]

I "work" around 10 hours a week... if by work you understand slacking here... In reality I should be studying... but that doesn't happen that often..

[zman]

40 hours of daytime work, night meetings vary, and I get administrative (comp) time for those. So I average about 45 - 50 in a busy week.

I do pretty much the same. Being the low guy on the totem pole here, I do get to choose between overtime or comp time. I usually opt for the cash. I don't take vacations for weeks at a time, maybe a day off here and there.

[plankton]

Very standard 40 hours per week plus, on average, one night meeting per month.

Previous job was about 45-50 hours per week plus, on average, one to two night meetings per week.

I like my new job. So does my wife

When I worked for the BLM, I used to work four 10's per week. That rocked.

We are hard working fools in the USA. I was shocked to see the comparisons for average weekly worker hours and vacation days per country in the '05 Almanac. I think it used to be a relatively good thing for our society when we acutally manufactured stuff, but now that people are pushing 50+ hours doing retail/service jobs, that sucks.

[MD Planner]

40 hour week plus night meetings, usually at least one a week. When I first started in this business I used to stay very late a lot because I felt I was so behind but after seeing how much I did compared to others I worked with I cut back to a standard 40 plus the meetings. Although I'm still not one of those people who start packing up 20 minutes before quitting time and rush out the door at 4:30.

I've also come to the realization that work isn't everything and sometimes I remind myself that no one on their deathbed ever said "gee, I wish I'd spent more time at the office."