QOTD 3/30/06 - 9 to 5 or Evenings and Weekends?

[Hartamophone]

So like many of you I've had my share of jobs to this point in my life. Some of them have been traditional, 9 to 5 types, while others have been of the bartending or retail variety that require work outside of the traditional industrial work week.

At times, I really enjoy being on the "same" schedule as "everyone" else, and knowing that when nighttime or weekend events pop up that I'd like to partake in, work won't conflict.

On the other hand, it's great to have a couple of days off in the middle of the week to travel to a random show or spend some time skiing or hiking when the trails are empty. As I'm putting together employment plans for the next several months, I'm wrestling with what my preference is between these two options. There are pros and cons to both, and I've never been able to declare a clear preference.

So, do you prefer (or currently work) a traditional work week, or do you relish the unconventionality of working some evenings and weekends, and the time off that comes with it?

Edited March 31, 2006 by Guest

[Basher]

I work days M-F. I have worked all sorts of shifts, being in the call centre industry, but I don't think I would take a job that took away my nights and weekends at this point.

[Jaimoe]

I have, to put it bluntly, a fucked-up work schedule... but generally I don't mind it: 2 weeks 7pm-7am then 2 weeks 7am to 7pm. I get every other weekend off: 2 days on - 2 days off, 3 days on - 2 days off, 2 days on - 3 days off.

Other than having to adjust my body clock to a new schedule every two weeks, I like having week days off. I don't want to be off on the same days as the rest of the world.

[AbeLincoln]

i'm working the traditional 9-5 type job (the same one for the last 5 years which, in itself, is quite scary). Its a little less than traditional right now, because the last year and a half of it has been from my home-office in Edmonton with the rest of my colleagues in Kingston.

previous to this job, my employment was even less traditional - exploration geology in the NWT (and a little in Greenland just for shits and giggles). That was 7 days a week for 6 weeks, a couple weeks back in the real world and then another stint of work. did that in the summers and then drank myself to a degree over the colder months.

if I had the choice (with no strings attached and no responsibilities to shirk), i'd be back up north flying in bell 500's, drinking and smoking the evenings away and looking at rocks a few billion years old.

with a lovely wife and son, the current set-up is nearly ideal. 9-5 and home with the family doesn't get much better. working from the home office in a new city, however, is like a social deprivation experiment gone wrong - anyone know any potential friends they could hook me up with in Edmonchuck?

anyway, i guess what my ramble might be leading up to is the work schedule of preference really depends on your current state of affairs. if nothing is really holding you to a set schedule, take whatever comes your way. I don't think I'd ever do shift work though... i'd be a mess.

T

[SevenSeasJim]

If you can pull off 10 hour shifts during the week and take (and randomize) your extra day off during the week all would be well.

[StoneMtn]

I live in a town where almost no one works a "normal work week". I am among the very few who work Monday to Friday, during the day.

Apparently, I am the envy of all my neighbours. Most of them who work weird hours claim to be jealous and want to return to a "normal work week".

[Jaimoe]

Also, if you don't work a normal work week, chance are you'll have more personal time. Take that for what it is.

[AbeLincoln]

I take that as "personal fondling time"

say "Hi" to Palmella Handerson for me....

[Jaimoe]

... meaning, you Yarker hillbilly, everyone needs some days/nights without your signifcant other around.

[AbeLincoln]

... you Yarker hillbilly...

i live in alberta now - redneck would be far more appropriate, you tdot latte-sipper.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

I think Abe's comment still stands (good to see you back, btw!)

I won't, however, mention that one of your highschool nicknames was Thumper there, jaimoe

[whoops, slipped]

but seriously though, 9-5 is better for me all 'round, especially since i'm on a flexible schedule and am able to do a 7-3ish routine

[MamaPink]

I work when I want and take as much time off as I want - The beauty of it is my son is sleeping while I'm working, so i don't have to miss too much. This is the first time in my life where I am completely satisfied with my career... I think other people are pretty satisfied with my career too

www.fantasiahome.ca

[Birdy]

technically speaking i'm a 9-5er, but it's an involved job and comes home with me than i would want.. that and i travel a lot for it. but there's no way i'd give it up for the rando work schedule. i've been there, and when it's all cool on days like today when it's beautiful out and all you want to be doing is sitting on a patio somewhere, it sucks royally on thurs/fri/sat nights when you're serving fries. and the ratio between thurs/fri/sat days to the odd patio day just can't compare. of course this isn't the case when i get a phone call at work from my cousin who's lying on the beach just checking in to see what time it is because she doesn't have a watch on.. then it's kind of a kick in the teeth.

but the more time invested into a salary 9-5'er job, the easier it is to cut out early on a friday to enjoy the nice weather. i think. i hope.

[Deeps]

9-5'n leaves the weekend for music for me.

I find it very convenient to have the 9 to 5 routine going when it comes to my girl. Workin a different schedule then her would really throw a wrench into things.

Deeps

[phorbesie]

if i had to choose, i think i'd choose the M-F or 9-5 or whatever. sure it's great to have a wednesday off and get stuff done, but it's much better to have weekends off. weekends are good. working on weekends...not so good.

[timouse]

So, do you prefer (or currently work) a traditional work week, or do you relish the unconventionality of working some evenings and weekends, and the time off that comes with it?

done both. did evenings and weekends first (food service management minion) and currently do the day thing. i'd have to say that days rule...for years i missed out on a lot of good fun that was being had on weekends, but conversely enjoyed going hiking with a head full of acid on a tuesday afternoon and having the woods to myself

if i really got to choose, i'd definitely choose neither (~)

[Thorgnor]

I work days, nights and weekends... it's great for my headspace.

Now fuck off.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I'm in teaching, which is a pretty weird (in the fullest sense of the word) profession. I don't think I have anything like a useful answer here. Given the variety of jobs that I get (ESL, university, college, and now FSL), I find it rare that I have anything approximating a regular or consistent schedule, at least for anything longer than four months at a time. I suppose it could come down to the choice between being able to plan for your future and having correspondingly more freedom to react spontaneously to what comes your way. It certainly has its stresses, but no doubt its rewards, too, once you find your feet and can work with what you have to deal with.

That said, if anyone hears of a position where all that's required of me is singing and playing my heart out over the course of a bunch of nights every week, and getting enough from it to live on, please let me know .

[Velvet]

It's been years and years since I've worked regular working hours and I gotta say I love working alternative hours. It makes all the regular-life stuff (laundry, shopping, snowboarding, doctors appointments) so much easier.

Though I did just bump up to five days a week, so I'm a Monday-to-Fridayer now, but I've promised myself that by June I'll reabolish the five day work week.

[questcequecest?]

kind of related, this story was in the newspaper today (kw record, therecord.com). not a very exciting article.

Working 9 to 5? That makes you an endangered species

TORONTO (Mar 30, 2006)

Dolly Parton may have bemoaned the fact that working 9 to 5 was a heck of a way to make a living, but it seems that for most Canadians, having such regular hours would be a luxury.

In fact, a five-year survey by Statistics Canada suggests that only one in three Canadians aged 25 to 54 have jobs that fall into the category of "standard'' full-time work.

For all the rest -- those who were underemployed, overworked or fluctuated from one extreme to the other -- having abnormal on-the-job hours led to many singing the blues about high stress and poor health.

"We found that just one-third of workers are between 1,750 and 2,400 hours every year in all of the five years,'' said survey co-author Sebastien Larochelle-Cote. "If you're working between these two you're working between about 34 and 46 hours a week, 52 weeks a year.

"That is the standard . . . the thing that everybody thinks that everybody does,'' he said. "But that's not necessarily the case.''

The 1997-2001 survey found that 15 per cent of Canadians surveyed worked a short work year: under 1,750 hours, or the equivalent of fewer than 34 hours a week.

Over the five-year period, about one in five workers were on the job for more than 2,400 hours during any given year, or 46-plus hours a week.

"But only one per cent of workers consistently work above the 46-hour, 52-weeks-a-year mark in all five years,'' said Larochelle-Cote of the stress-inducing schedule.

"That means that being overworked on a consistent basis is extremely rare, even though many people experience that situation at least once.''

Then there are those whose work hours fluctuate from year to year, whom Larochelle-Cote calls the "high-low people.''

"These are the people who had a significant amount of work in one year and then shifted to a much smaller category of work hours the year after. If you take the average number of hours per year that these people worked, they work as many hours on average over the five years as a standard individual working the same hours all of the years.

"So they put in the same work effort, but it comes with a cost, because these people reported feeling more stressed and had a higher incidence of bad health than people working always the same hours.''

The survey found that Canadians with unstable work hours tend to have non-unionized, lower-paying and less-satisfying jobs without retirement pension plans.

These jobs also tend to occur in small companies rather than large firms.

"People being able to count on paid work that is consistent and standard are the people who are the least likely to experience stress or health problems and a greater quality of life,'' said Doug Saunders, a clinical psychologist at the University of Toronto.

But those who can't find a well-paying, full-time job often feel emotionally overwhelmed because they are unable to plan for the future.

"Financially, it has a huge impact on them because from year to year they don't know what kind of income they can count on in terms of things like RRSPs, educational savings plans, buying homes or (putting) down payments on cars,'' Saunders said.

"It can play havoc with those kind of things, all of which are part of what people see as being an important part of security, of progress and overall life satisfaction.''

Not having the 9-to-5 job and the stability that goes with it can lead to a wide range of psychological and physical health problems, from anxiety and depression to sleep disorders and digestive problems, he said. It can also lead in some cases to marital and family conflict as well as substance abuse.

Half of those considered high-low workers in the survey of 8,000 Canadians described themselves as "being very stressed'' and 20 per cent reported that their health had suffered, Larochelle-Cote said.

That compares with adverse health reports from 16 per cent of workers with standard hours and 21 per cent with too short hours per year (the underemployed).

"That means that it's not only the number of hours that matter for stress, but also whether we are able to secure a stable number of hours year after year,'' he said.

"People in the high-low situation share the bad health characteristics of the underemployed and the stress characteristics of the overworked.''

[mattm]

The job I'm at is the first time I've had a 9-5 with weekends off and it rocks. I hate waking up early but having weekends off makes it worth it. My whole thing is road trips or parties, etc. My buddies could all do them with their regular work hour jobs but I always had to work weekends and missed a lot.

Right now, though, it's beautiful outside and I'm hating having to be at work knowing it will most likely rain all weekend but it's all good, it will only get warmer and nicer.

[backbacon]

I'm an 8 - 4:30 er and I like it. I don't mind getting up early but I'm all about staying up pretty late so it results in a lot of sleepy draggy days and after work naps, which feel so good... except when I don't wake up until work time the next day and am mad because I didn't get anything done like I had planned.

[boiler]

I'm in construction work. Work a few months take a week or two off. Work a lot of months, take a lot of months off. Last year I worked pretty much all year. I just finished my first full week back to work (after a sweet 4 month break). I've worked basically every hour in the day/night, everything from 4 hour shifts to 18hr shifts. If life is shortened by inconsistent work shifts, I should be dead already. At least I'm grateful.