How long can you work 100 hour weeks before it get unhealthy

[manux]

Working as a programmer I seriously can't imagine having anything else I'd rather do for living. Though "problem" I do have is that I have tons of other hobbies I also want to do (biking, photography, reading, ...) and I'd love to e.g have 8h/day, 4 days/week during summer.

You could say "just do those hobbies as work!" but that doesn't really work out that well because then it would likely be that I'm forced to do what the employer wants, not what I want.

Wise words!

It would be pretty bad thing to live only through work, what would happen when you loose the job(that will happen eventually to almost everyone). If all you know and do is work the emptiness and lost friends and time might feel pretty damn bad after getting fired... One doesn't get there overnight, but 5 years of no life should do it handily.

 

[joker454]

I'd argue the converse is unhealthy as well. People who only work 35 hours a week are probably in jobs that they don't enjoy or that aren't interesting. I have never been in that position, so I don't know what its like, but I imagine it must really be challenging on the psyche in the long haul.

I'll have to vehemently disagree with you here, I work about 20 hours/week now with my own business and quite frankly would never go back to a 40 hour work week unless I felt like it, let alone crazy 60+ hour work weeks. The lifestyle change is dramatic, I'm healthier, much more relaxed, and have tons of time to enjoy life and do whatever I want to do. Further, I adore my new business and have an absolute blast with it. I earn far more with my own business than I ever did in games, but honestly even if I only earned 50% of what I used to earn in games I still would bever go back. Being able to go to Zuma beach in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday and plop myself on a beach chair just because I want to is simply priceless.

Regarding long hours, way back when I worked in games and the crazy hours that came with it, I encountered so many people with broken relationships/marriages, all due to them simply not being available to their significant other enough and the inevitable assumed with divorces, cheating, you name it. Not saying that's what will happen to others here, but if you are never there for your significant other how long can one expect them to be loyal?

 

[eastmen]

The summer between highschool and college (i started college in the spring semester so it was a good 8 months stretch of time) I delievered ice and worked 80-100 hour weeks. Of course I was 17-18 so it was diffrent then. I would basicly go to work at 6am get out around 6pm . Sleep till 9 , go out with friends to midnight and then sleep till 5:45am. I'd do that all week long. Sometimes if another person called out or a store lost power i'd get extra hours at random times of the night getting me up to 100 hours .

While I was between jobs I was selling fios door to door. I would drive an 1hr 30 minutes to work and get there at 11am. Then I'd drive to my selling area which was 45 mins away. I'd sell from 1pm to 8pm . Go back to the office and the ndrive home. So my day would start like 8:30 and I'd finish up at 10:30 or so. I'd do that 5 days a week. I was dead after 3 months of doing it. Its a world of diffrence when your 18 vs 30

 

[pascal]

I recomend the following:

- sleep well
- mild exercise 3 times a week http://www.livestrong.com/article/538133-what-is-mild-exercise/
- healthy food http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/
- multivitamins like this excellent one http://www.pharmaton.com/com/com/home.htm
- just relax during work. Pretend you are already fired. :smile:

 

[Gerry]

I recomend the following:

- sleep well
- mild exercise 3 times a week http://www.livestrong.com/article/538133-what-is-mild-exercise/
- healthy food http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/
- multivitamins like this excellent one http://www.pharmaton.com/com/com/home.htm
- just relax during work. Pretend you are already fired. :smile:

To be honest I think if you follow the healthy food advice, popping multivitamins is waste of effort. Can't really argue with the rest.

 

[Mariner]

I recomend the following:

- sleep well
- mild exercise 3 times a week http://www.livestrong.com/article/538133-what-is-mild-exercise/
- healthy food http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/
- multivitamins like this excellent one http://www.pharmaton.com/com/com/home.htm
- just relax during work. Pretend you are already fired. :smile:

I'd add in another:

- get plenty of sex

I'm not sure if this will improve your health or not, but it is certainly worth a try!

 

[Gubbi]

As a scientist, I don't know anyone in my field who works less than 60 hours a week on average. I do however start to notice a precipitous drop in productivity if I work more than 70, so its often a question of forcing yourself to go to sleep or to exercise etc.

I guess it depends on the field, - and of course the person.

I work in software development and I generally agree with Fred Brooks' the Mythical Man Month: An average software developer is only productive the first 6 hours a day, hour 8-10 are roughly neutral (forward progress=zero because you create more bugs) and after 10 hours your have negative productivity.

I know I do all my heavy lifting/thinking in the morning, it the late afternoon I attend and set up meetings, do all my email/other communication etc. I guess this mirrors Ostepop's work day.

Now you can push much harder for short time periods, but it is just not sustainable. I'd guess that anyone who have been in software development for a decade or two have experienced the fatigue that comes with continous overtime. The result is loss of motivation (not just for work) and a jaded and cynical approach to work life (Dilbert says Hi!).

Cheers

 

[Mize]

From today's resignation of a high-level Goldman Sachs investment banker:

Today is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.
To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money…It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as “muppets,” sometimes over internal e-mail….These days, the most common question I get from junior analysts about derivatives is, “How much money did we make off the client?”

Classy folk them investment bankers.

 

[pascal]

To be honest I think if you follow the healthy food advice, popping multivitamins is waste of effort. Can't really argue with the rest.

Well, please read the following Harvard page: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vitamins/index.html

Trying to follow all the studies on vitamins and health can make your head swirl. But, when it’s all boiled down, the take–home message is actually pretty simple: A daily multivitamin, and maybe an extra vitamin D supplement, is a good way to make sure you’re getting all the nutrients you need to be healthy. True, a healthy diet should provide nearly all the nutrients you need. But many people don't eat the healthiest of diets. That's why a multivitamin can help fill in the gaps, and may have added health benefits. ...

I skip the extra vitamin D because I live in a sunny place.

 

[pascal]

I'd add in another:

- get plenty of sex

I'm not sure if this will improve your health or not, but it is certainly worth a try!

Yes, turn off the internet, TV, etc.. and go for it :smile:

 

[hoho]

I'd add in another:

- get plenty of sex

That definitely doesn't hurt but I'd say it should be something more than one night stands or hookers and getting that "more" while pulling 100h weeks is pretty much impossible.

 

[green.pixel]

And: I want to find a job abroad because life is much better there..

In what way? And if that's the case why is it ranked much lower than your country on that list?

 

[DuckThor Evil]

In what way? And if that's the case why is it ranked much lower than your country on that list?

I think he was still talking from the Japanese perspective, quoting his friends.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

From today's resignation of a high-level Goldman Sachs investment banker:

Classy folk them investment bankers.

Eyes on the prize!

 

[Tahir2]

Well, please read the following Harvard page: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vitamins/index.html


I skip the extra vitamin D because I live in a sunny place.

And here is the opposite to that view!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7349980.stm

Research has suggested certain vitamin supplements do not extend life and could even lead to a premature death.

Love science ... it's so opinionated

 

[Davros]

and an opposite to "mild exercise 3 times a week"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17177251

A few relatively short bursts of intense exercise, amounting to only a few minutes a week, can deliver many of the health and fitness benefits of hours of conventional exercise, according to new research, says Dr Michael Mosley. But how much benefit you get from either may well depend on your genes.

When I first read studies which suggested that I could make significant and measurable changes to my fitness by doing just three minutes of exercise a week, I was incredulous.

But this apparently outrageous claim is supported by many years of research done in a number of different countries including the UK, so I decided to give it a go.

tv program
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cywtq/Horizon_20112012_The_Truth_About_Exercise/

 

[pascal]

And here is the opposite to that view!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7349980.stm



Love science ... it's so opinionated

But the sugestion of use multivitamins supplement is to relief continuous high level of stress and not life extension in normal situation.

See this link http://www.nutritional-supplements-guide.com/vitamins-for-stress.html

 

[pascal]

and an opposite to "mild exercise 3 times a week"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17177251



tv program
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cywtq/Horizon_20112012_The_Truth_About_Exercise/

High intensity training is probably more complex, need more specialized trainer and doesnt work for everyone. My guess moderate exercise combined with healthy food will work well for most people.

 

[Pope]

100 hrs/week? Is it physically possible? Well, I'd handle 1 week maybe for tons of extra payments i agree with hoho in a way, some work worths it, but human being remains human bein regardless of the work he's doing. Our brains hjave limits...unfortunately

 

[Davros]

100 hrs/week? Is it physically possible?

well, its sitting in front of a computer aka what most people do as a leisure activity so yes