How do people accept the fact they'll work 40 hours a week for 40 years...?

wageslave4life wrote:

It just boggles me. I'm a 22 year old university student currently enrolled in a co-op position at a bank, and I just can't imagine having to spend the next 40 years of my life doing monotonous work for a lousy paycheck.

Is this what life is all about? Work, go home, watch some tv, sleep, and repeat? There's got to be more.

Apparently your parents and teachers lied to you.

Life is hard. Deal with it.

No, that is not what life is about. I work far in excess of 40 hours per week, workout, spend time with my wife and kids, and still find time to read. It is called being an adult. Work does not have to be drudgery. Your issue is that you have not found your purpose in life. My purpose in life is not work, but work plays a role in that purpose.

wageslave4life wrote:

It just boggles me.

All the stuff you get access to as a result of working those 40 hour weeks for 40 years definitely softens the blow.

I never work over 40. And then there are 8 holidays you have off. And then 17 PTO days at the moment, the more experience the more you get. Could eventually have 25+ PTO days. So with 25+ PTO days and 8 holidays, that's 2 days off every 3 weeks, plus the weekends. It's really not that bad. And you go home, you have no homework.

Just find a job that doesn't suck the life out of you and demand overtime.

You sound woke to the reality, wageslave. We are all slaves in the wage market. Some get better treatment than others, but all-in-all no more than is necessary to keep them from becoming someone else's slave. Even business owners are enslaved in the business market. The trick is to side-step the markets. Find opportunities to take advantage of zero competition, or weak rules or laws. Or, throw all scruples aside and use strong arm tactics with hired guns, like wealthy people do.

Nobody is forcing you to work.

Why do you think Americans suffer from so much depression and substance abuse? It's nice to live in a society that's generally safe and secure, but unfortunately, it's not always the most fulfilling lifestyle. Just pop your pills and accept it, man.

wageslave4life wrote:

Is this what life is all about? Work, go home, watch some tv, sleep, and repeat? There's got to be more.

No. Work is not what life is all about. I always tell my employees that they should spend time developing themselves outside of work as much as they are developing themselves for/at work. And I put my money where my mouth is: extremely generous PTO (4 weeks off the bat, unlimited roll over, unlimited sick/personal time) where everyone is required to take one entire week off each fiscal year (Monday to Friday), not allowed to have work email on phones and no emails after 6p or before 7a during the week and no emails allowed on the weekends, and one month fully paid sabbatical after 5 years, two months after 10 years, etc.

We have seen productivity and staff morale jump through the roof. Since I've implemented these changes, we have had zero staff turn over (just over 5 years), have added 5 FT positions and 3 PT positions, and have increased revenue by 151% (I work in the non-profit world, so revenue is the key figure, not the net gain...although that has increased exponentially since FY15 as well).

I say all that to say that life is not about work. Life is about friends, family, having healthy relationships (with people, with yourself, with your body, with the planet), and being able to explore your interests and passions.

You can find a high paying job, grind away for 70+ hours a week for a decade or two and then retire.

You can find a job that you love and happily work for 40 years.

You can find a job that isn't necessarily your passion, but enables you to live a fulfilled live and explore your passions.

Or you can find a job you hate, be grumpy for 40 years, and then retire grumpy.

We try to be a mix of the second and third options: for some people this is their passion and we want to set them up for success; for others it is a career, but not necessarily a passion, and we want to enable them to live a complete, fulfilled life so that their career does not become a burden.

That's just the world in which we live. Sure, I'd love to go off the grid and live in a log cabin in Vermont or northern Idaho or some thick forest in British Columbia, grow my own weed, and spend my whole life in nature, reading books, and toking my own home grown...but that's not realistic (not sure my wife and three kids would enjoy that same scenario!).

But I do love my job, not necessarily because I'm passionate about it, but because I'm passionate about what it enables me to do: have a steady paycheck, spend time with my friends and family, and develop in both my professional life and my personal life.

wageslave4life wrote:

It just boggles me. I'm a 22 year old university student currently enrolled in a co-op position at a bank, and I just can't imagine having to spend the next 40 years of my life doing monotonous work for a lousy paycheck.

Is this what life is all about? Work, go home, watch some tv, sleep, and repeat? There's got to be more.

Being able to have that thought is a privilege. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Get married. 40 hours working will start to look pretty good.

Compare yourself to the slaves that made your cell phone.

Yeah just dont let your job define you. Unless you're a pro athlete or perhaps working for yourself as an entrepreneur. Many people have kids or a pet because their life is boring without that. They need to spice it up or give it some additional perceived meaning. But if you dont want kids, that's great. You'll have more money to spend elsewhere and perhaps could volunteer or help other kids with your added free time. In reality, life is entirely meaningless. We just need to find ways to convince ourselves that is is meaningful. When I was in college I could not imagine working 40hrs a week and now that I do for most of the year I dont mind. Once you start doing it for a few months it becomes acceptable and routine.

wageslave4life wrote:I just can't imagine having to spend the next 40 years of my life doing monotonous work

Find a job you like.

Not that every minute will be fun, there are unpleasant parts of any job, but do something that you like overall.

I love my job and miss it when I take a day off.

Not working also has it's boring parts. Still gotta clean the house and cook and fix things. Life isn't all fun and games.

Life isn't all about work and work is what you make it. My great uncle worked over 60 years in a foundry and loved it. Sounded boring to me, but he'd say "every day is different".

And lots of people have happy, fulfilling lives putting in their monotonous hours and then living their life with family and friends outside of work. I realize you're likely superior to those pathetic wage slaves, but they make it work for them.

In 1900 the average American died at 47, so they only had to work for less than 30 years. They had it easy. Although they didn’t have tv

The 40 hours part is so antiquated, the paradigm needs to shift to embrace automation and institute a basic income (more than $1k, it needs to cover food, housing and clothing) to ensure the gains are spread among the people. Then people can "work" like 20 hour weeks which will boost productivity as it's easier to be more productive for shorter periods and we will still be able to maintain the current output.

Can I please work for you? Hoping all new managers/bosses realize this.

Sincerely,

4 days PTO, 3 sick days, every other Saturday work, and coworkers filled with negativity and hate towards the company

I agree that 40 hours is antiquated.

A lot of the same could be done in 20-30 hours with large breaks. Productivity slows down as the day goes.

It's especially bad for companies paying time and a half for working over 40 hours.

The extra hours are less productive the first 40 but cost more to the company.

Retail jobs do need coverage. Someone has to be there while the store is open.

But a lot of jobs are about producing work, not covering a shift.

There's no reason you have to work 40 years if you save a large % of your pay.

Save 50% of what you make in low-cost index funds and you can retire in your early 40's and live off of your investments for the rest of your life.

Not from around here wrote:

Not so long ago, even in the western world, people worked six days a week from dawn till dusk just to secure roof over their heads and barely enough food to last the winter. At 22 they would be good 10 years into productive age and go on until they died. In some parts of the world it may still be the case.

So I guess the fact that you only need to work 40 hours a week for only 40 years even if just to support basic needs, should be accepted with profound gratitude and joy.

There was meaning in living to survive as opposed to staring at screens all day sitting in a chair that's killing you. No wonder so many people suffer mental illness.