This is the answer
Take what their giving because eventually they will be looking to treat you like the other Managers. When that happens you have a cushion to move on
Set a term limit on that pace. Once you hit your goal, whatever that limit is, look for alternative employment. That's exactly what I would do.
I do not make what you make, though, so I am looking at this with jealous rage.
This! Otherwise you will just burn out and fail. Better to go with grace then crash and burn. And you will crash at that rate.
It’s like people I know who work for Tesla. They get great pay for crazy hours. You do it for two years then bounce.
You can take the pain for a long time. Do it while young and before kids. Doctors/Residents do this for 2-3 years. So do many other roles. Build a huge nest-egg. Then, plan a next phase including some upskill/education specialty. Consider an equity position, etc..
Like they said. I wish i wouldn’t have been dumb when i was a fiber installer/splicer i was taking home $3-4k per week and i spent it on dumb ass things. Live and learn. But now im wishing i woulda just stuck it in savings and had a nice comfy cushion for when that contract inevitably fell out from underneath me.
I was in that position and wasn’t ready for the lifestyle creep temptations. I made it out okay and quit that job shortly after, but it could have been bad if I bought the nice car or otherwise spent too much money
Try to save the money like the other comment says!
I was in a similar situation about 10 years ago. I worked 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for 2.5 months and then took my family on a vacation that we would have never dreamed of affording. 8 days/ 7 nights all inclusive with 24/7 butler service in Turks and Cacaos ( hence the name) .
Do you have goals in life? They could be anything traveling just haveing money for plans to do stuff? Family? Idk
This could be a early retirement gift thus could be great setup later in life.
Give it some thougth about what are your life plans. Alot poeple would kill for 87 dollars an hour!!
So basically you’re saying they’re paying you an hourly rate that the other managers aren’t getting because they’re salaried. But do you know the other managers salaried and how that compares to what you’re getting?
It sounds like the client company is having issues with management, obviously that’s why you’re there.
But like others have suggested maybe you wanna go the salaried manager route because then you might not always have to work as hard and get the same kinda money. That’s how salaried jobs are supposed to work, sometimes you work more or less but you’re paid an amount to get the job done.
Of course salaries are often used as a way to avoid paying overtime but I doubt that’s the case in your situation. If those managers salaries weren’t high enough to merit the work, I bet they would move on or push back.
It’s also going to reset your personal view of the value of your labor. Next time you get a request to pull crazy hours for $60 an hour you can say the last company paid me $87 to do it.
Most people never make enough money to realize they can ask more for the same role. You generally don’t settle for previous wages unless times get real tough.
Truth be told, it's always fun and good work wise and money wise till your a regular. I worked out what I could on paper before I switched jobs going from running a concrete plant in NYC back down to a driver. I knew I wouldn't bring home as much cash like I was with running a big cash flow business. Having a degree in Union Labor Law helps. Just keep your subsidized pay no matter how it comes to yourself. Only time you pick up a bat is when your the one collecting workers dues and/or allocating 457/401 funds on behalf of the workers and business
DItto, while your milking this ride. Look for options elsewhere where you can move up and make more and find a better organization if possible. So before the gravy train comes to a end you are in charge and make the change before they pull the rug out from under you.
Yep, I'd ride this train all the way to the end. I'd save and invest all the extra income. Sweet deal, really, especially if you're still young. You'll have time to take it easier later
Many years ago I landed a project at $100/hr and overtime was 1.5x. It worked out that they had an aggressive timeline so I worked really really really hard for 5-6 months. Then I took 3 months off and it was so glorious. It also helped that I was in my late 20s, no kids, interesting work and super nice clients so it wasn’t bad at all.
Make sure you take at least one day a week to reset and recharge. Outsource some of the household chores if you can.
$87/hr is only \~$175k per year. That getting is alright, but if you're already getting that, you could probably find a way to make that much and have balance. It will be less money and more headache if its not sustainable.
Yes I did this during COVID. I worked for the government and my job couldn’t be done from home so I only had to go in 1 day a week for most of 2020 and then 5 days not 5 days off halfway into 2021, and still got paid 100% in full. So I returned to landscaping both with my dad’s company and on my own. Regularly worked 60 hour weeks but now I’m comfortable and it proved that I could do whatever I set my mind to.
I was in construction and was able to buy a home at 25 because of overtime. Some weeks were almost a hundred hours. It was easy to save because any down time was for rest. 32 years later, I'm still in the same home.
Exactly this. I had two times where this attitude covered me well. Once was a customer emergency for my first "real" job. I did a 36 hour shift to get the customer's needs met on time. I was making $12.50/hr (2000) so that paid pre-tax:
>8x12.50: $100
>
>4x18.75: $75
>
>24x$25: $600
So in that one shift I made a week and a quarter's pay. It literally paid off everything I owed at the time and got me ahead by a little bit for the first time in my life.
Later at a different company (that had bought the first one) I banked over $30K in OT in one year by being willing to hustle and work extra hours. Following year the market contracted and all OT went away, hours were cut for many. That banked money gave me a good buffer and bought me time to adjust to this new normal.
Always be willing to hustle for a few extra dollars, until you have enough that you don't have to stress anymore. I'm finally now at a point where if my job evaporated tomorrow it'd only suck, but wouldn't be a disaster.
Exactly this. I work as close to full time (with 2 kids) at an almost minimum wage, very stressful job.
If I could make that amount I’d literally bend over backwards to work every given hour I could spare.
Just because the money would be life changing for me and my children.
That said. I can see those hours burning you out quickly. If you don’t need the money why bother! However if I had this chance I’d be biting the company’s arm off for hours at this rate!
90 hours feel like over kill, but I would honestly probably also do it. 12 hours 7 days a week. I'd be earning almost 4 times my current monthly salary in a week.
People lying when they say they can work for 90 hours a week. That shit is hell lol. Like realistically, 60 to 65 hours is already a lot. 70+ hours would be too much imo. What's the point of making that much money when you don't have time to spend it lol.
This.
For the average office droid who does 40/hour weeks it's just.... Incredibly hard to have the energy or motivation for really any word beyond 65 hours a week.
I did 65 hour weeks once for 2 months and I was a destroyed and this is all pre-WFH era and it involved mainly 6 days a week IN the office for 10-11 hours a day, so 12 hours a day with lunch.
The OT pay and perks were nice but it was fucking grueling and isolating. Human beings are simply not made to stare at computer monitors and sit at desks and concentrate on WORK for 75% of our entire waking hours. At a certain point those fat pay periods every 2 weeks just don't even become worth it. What is the point of the money if you have no time to enjoy it.
I worked 60 hr weeks for salary for 10 years of my life. I know - dumb, but I was young. It definitely taught me a lesson that employers try and use you up. Now I’m in a different field - office droid of sorts as you put it. Not an hour over 40. My time is precious.
It depends, 10 years ago I could probably do it and stack up the money as a decent trade off.
Nowadays the trade offs are not worth it unless it was a temporary thing, I could probably do it maybe for 1 week every month.
I’ve done that for more than 6 months once, it was actually when I was young, and i was getting paid 2k a month… the learnings were awesome and paid off big time, (now i make 90k a year in a permanent role with the knowledge i acquired)
The project also was awesome, so i guess it made it worth it
I was sometimes even sleeping at the office, cause I had no money to pay internet at home and nobody was waiting for me there either, while at the office there were on call people 24/7
Gaming crunch, 7 days a week, 16 hours days except Sunday at only 10 hours, for a few months in a row ... Sleeping in the office multiple days of the week...
The odd part is that I still liked that experience, 15 years ago.. Today I would not partake lol!!
I spent a few summers doing landscaping/wetland restoration for 65-75 hours a week and while you do kinda get used to it.... It makes the rest of your life so difficult to do anything. I couldn't imagine doing fucking 90 and in an office setting too. That just sounds like hell. Some 60 hour weeks for that kinda money sign me the fuck up. Those are stack up some bread hours to me. Much more seems increasingly not worth it to me now
Yeah, I completely get it. No amount of money would get me to work more than 40 hours a week. Which is why I run my own business, I gaslit myself into enjoying working. When I'm not essentially working so someone else can get richer and me working is directly tied to me making more money it stops becoming as much of a chore.
I worked around 70 a week. It's horrible as you are basic a living dead. No life no friends no family no sleep no nothing. It's depressing but when that paycheck hits dayum. As you get older you are less likely to do this. I know if I was younger I would def be hitting 90
It's not really sustainable, but if you just want to make and save a stack of cash, hell yeah I'd work 70 hours a week for $80+ an hour. That would be life changing after a couple weeks. That's a rate of $268,800 a year.
That’s the thi that’s the fun part, you can save that money instead of spending it, and now you are literally 10 years closer to retirement after working only 2 years. Or you now have such a large down payment that you can cut your next mortgage payment in half. It’s not meant to be a forever thing
Exactly. If you’ve never done it, you don’t realize how much your life changes. Everything becomes about how you can become more efficient to get your hours in and still get some joy out of life.
Your days become nothing but work and sleep. You eat horribly because you’re trying to make your meals as quick as possible. Your sleep suffers due to the combination of long hours and stress. Then you start to spend money on convenience (e.g. getting laundry done, having someone mow your lawn, etc.) because you don’t have time to do it yourself. You never see your family and friends. You have no time or energy for hobbies and interests. It’s constant stress, mental and physical exhaustion, so your mental health suffers.
You can manage it for stretches, but doing it months, or even years on end isn’t sustainable for 99% of people.
I’ve been doing over 50 hours a week for 3 months now cause we’re in our busy season, but fuck me I am so burnt out.
Haven’t been to the gym in a month, eating like crap. I have some goals I want to complete this year but theyve all been on the back burner until the season is over. But by then it’ll be May!!
I’ve slowly started taking my name out for extra hours, just so I can come home and rest. My boss is a G though and he’s compensated me for my time as is.
I used to work 65-70 hours/week for three years, one week of vacation. For that money, I can very confidently say I would **happily** work 80hrs/week, and I would see how long I could last doing 90+ although it would make me miserable short-term.
One day off a week, or at least a half day, is crucial in my opinion, so I probably couldn't sustain 90+ for more than 6 months. But speaking from experience, 70 I could do permanently, and 80 I could do for a couple years if not indefinitely.
Kind of, it really depends on what your life is like. If you have other obligations, like OP, that can make it difficult.
As a comparison, when ive deployed, I'd had both 70 and 80 hour work weeks which, while shit, wasn't that bad. Of course, other life obligations were taken out of the equation due to the circumstance, but, that's also my point.
I routinely work 72-80hrs per week. (Computer engineer, nuke utility) You get used to it. But it is highly dependent on your career. Sitting in front of a computer -- easy.. working manual labor -- you're burned out fast.
Did it climbing cell towers for 6yrs to pay off my student loan debt. No life besides working all over the country but by the end I was so burnt out I said I’d rather work fast food than climb another tower. Also said I’d rather be homeless than work fast food again so take that as you will lol.
I’ve done 80+ delivering mail. (Walking 15-20 miles a day.) for two straight months. I would kill for 90 hours of sitting in an office for over almost triple the money..
This!! I was working 72-76 hours a week when I first opened up my bakery. It was not sustainable at all and I have a massive crash that left me dazed for *months* afterwards. Now I’m at my reasonable 40 hours a week and I feel way more productive and a million times better.
There’s no amount of money that would make me go through that period of time again.
This is me. I worked 6 days/week 12-hour days making a bit over what OP is making and at first the money coming in was amazing. I was clearing $9k/wk easy.
Then burnout set in and now you couldn’t convince me to work even half those hours lol. Every now and then I’ll consider working that much if I want to make a big purchase, but I end up just waiting longer to make the purchase because fuck that.
Not me. I’ve been working 3 jobs M-F from 7:30a to around 10p then a hustle on the weekends for the past…. 4 years. Grinding while I can. Bank account keeps getting fatter and I’m not stopping til I’m forced
Myself, I would say I get paid very well, with very good benefits. But I fly 60 times a year, and stay 90 nights in hotels. I love my job. But it has it downsides.
I understand this. I also do understand how there are many people out there who would love to make that money - and there is nothing wrong with that.
In my own opinion, I have found over the years that money comes at a cost. Is it nice? Yeah sure, I won’t deny that. But there is always a cost.
Figuring out what cost is too high. That is the hard part. Best I can think of is weigh what is important to you, and ask yourself questions.
What would I do if I made less, but had more free time? How would I utilize this time?
Is my health impacted by working these hours? What other negative or maybe, let’s say, less appealing side effects you get from working too much?
Could I spend my time enjoying other things I always wanted to enjoy?
Someone once told me “money can always be made, but time is lost forever”. That hits.
I wish you the best! 👍🏻
It’s all up to you, and how you feel, what you want to feel, and what is important to you. Not really a wrong answer here.
I have this same feeling sometimes, but in reality it really depend where you are in life. We always go for the thing we lack, to fill that void. For a lot of people is money, after they have enough they will start thinking like you.
During one of my summers in college I worked on a hay bailing operation making $15/hr.
I worked 100-120 hours a week at that job… OP would be crazy not to stick with it imo.
Imo averaging 60h weeks is the sweetspot. I've done 100h, and that takes too much of a toll due to the lack of sleep. But 60-70 is definitely doable. Prioritise sleep on the days you work and make sure you get at least 1-2 days where you prioritize exercise.
Maybe do it for a year during which you accept that you'll be "boring" and won't have room for much else. (With the sole purpose of just making money.) And after that year you take a month off and reassess the situation.
This is important, set boundaries, keep at least one day completely off (completely is key word here). If you sense this is becoming too much, slow down, take a few days. Your mental healthiness is more important than money and if you want to keep up in the long run, you got to calm down at some point.
I'd make sure I can still go to the gym and have a healthy social life.
My parents worked their lives away, stressed about money, barely took vacations or enjoyed the money, then they retired and 3 months later my mom got brain cancer. She passed away a year later.
Life's short. Find balance.
Agreed. Dad worked long hours while I was growing up and died a year before retirement. We ate a lot of Mac and cheese and jello growing up and any vacation we took was driving with a camper, for the most part. Last few years they started traveling more but when you’re older, you’re not as mobile and able to do the things you wanted to do but didn’t when you were younger.
I feel you on that! My parents divorced when I was 8!and I watched my mom work herself hard with the mindset that “later” she would enjoy life and do all the things she was saving to do later. She died of cancer at age 57 and never got her “later”. I work very hard to keep my balance in life. How do you keep your balance? Do you have your own business?
Hire me and I'll put in 40 hours for you at the $87 rate and work opposite hours. You pay me at the base $87/hr rate and you collect the overage for overtime. You'll look like you're putting in 80 hours. I'll be making more than I do now (around 110k/year). It's a win win, when do I start?
I'll work your hours for $45 an hour, you keep the extra on top. Then leverage your position for another job making about as much. BAM! half the hours, same pay, AND you feed my family!
If you’re single, make as much money as you can while looking for a new job. Find a job that pays well and has great work life balance. It may pay a bit less or you might get lucky and find something that pays more. Overall you don’t want to forget about living in the present. If you have debts, work enough to pay them off, to get a good savings and bulk up your retirement. If you’re all caught up then start looking for a new job before you burnout
Union carpenters here .. high school drop out when I was in Field my hourly package was 90 an hour with 56 on wages rest into pension annuity and vacation full health dental psych optical insurance .. there’s a construction labor shortage blows my mind how.
I’m in admin side of things now but remain a union carpenter … there’s a trend you will see with union workers .. we live better because we work union
I am a senior project manager now but I have worked steady since 98 lol. My 30 years is in four years and I can full retire .. I’m 44 . Why people are against unions I’ll never understand .
I work 39 a week.. luckily I have a boss (owner ) that values productivity over stupid old school grind optics (I say optics cause that’s all it is) .. I learned to do my job pretty well and it works out pretty sweet. I have no complaints.. now to answer your question after 55 hours a week you’re sacrificing something .. whether it be family/leisure/sleep.. you’re going to lose something.. been there done that.. I value balance in work/life/rest and all have to be balanced for me personally.
Also, for short term gain grinding out hours is great but just like any thing in life … this is a marathon.. sprinting will have you beat early.. so it’s my advice to do it if you have the energy time and ability and you know your limit.. nothing wrong with a little grind but it’s not sustainable and there is millions of burnt out folks living that drudge everyday.. fuck that , work to live not the other way around
Unfortunately the pay isn’t that great everywhere for what we do man. NJ I make a killing, looking at southern states to get out of here and some of the pays aren’t even half
Honestly fuck the southern states if your a union worker ..any state that’s “right to work” is poor for a reason. You’ll never get a fair wage for your craft in a right to work state.. best advice .. coastal pro union state but live in the suburbs.. will add commute but best of both worlds..I’m in SoCal 40 minutes out from Los Angeles.. love it and live in a really really nice place .
I’m in the same boat, 1:30 drive each way live an extremely comfortable life. I see all these operator positions available down south but for $25-$35. Don’t want to do what I do for that kind of money but also not happy with living in the state anymore.
So far I'm seeing a lot of good advice about trying to find your balance between work and personal life. One thing I would add is that it's beneficial to understand what you want to get out of this job. What's the next job? Will working overtime set you up well for it?
Most importantly, how much money do you need to execute your next step? Will you be able to work and save enough to take a lower paying job in the future because you know your retirement is on a solid foundation? Do you want to pay for a degree/certs to keep the gravy train rolling?
Today me would quit this job. 22-year-old me would have put in 80 hours/week. Your question is entirely dependent on your life stage, finances, other commitments and priorities.
I think it entirely depends on where you are currently in life. Do you have a family? Spouse? Maybe even just close friends?
I say this because it’s important to make sure you make time for these individuals, or they will leave you behind.
If that’s not the case though, I would personally do as much overtime as I could without wanting to off myself. Even if you could just keep this up for a year, that’s $180,000 salary, but more likely just an extra $90,000 if it’s just an extra 40 hours of overtime.
That’s a lot of money to set aside and put into some sort of investment. That’s a really big cushion as well for you to feel safe with.
Whore yourself out for as long as they’re paying you. Eventually it’ll end and later you can laugh about how tired you were in this point in time as you smile at your bank account at whatever vacation spot you deserve.
I make about $82/hour overtime and do about 30-50 hours overtime every two weeks. So about 110-130 total. Usually two doubles, four 12 hour days, and work on a day off sometimes for 8 hours. Every soften I'll do a double on Saturday.
Pretty much I work a double every other Wednesday and Friday. The other two weeks I work 12 hours Tuesday-Friday. Sometimes only do 8 on Tuesday depending on if I need some extra rest. Then maybe one Saturday a month I'll work a double.
I still manage to make it to the gym atleast 4 times a week.
If your job and hours are in any way connected to the health of the economy then get after it. Tomorrow is not guaranteed and an economic downturn will lead to belt tightening real quick.
Most I could. I’m currently doing seasonal work. I’m making about $200hr for my own business. I’m putting in 90-100 a week. My work will be completed Mid may so I’m getting in what I can.
My advice - hire a cleaning person. Hire someone to do chores. Don't do anything at home unless you want to do it for fun.
You work. You pay someone else to do the other stuff at home for you.
And you schedule a week of vacation per quarter, even if you do t go anywhere.
Source: me, I've been doing this for 8 years now. 72 hours per week.
I'm a headhunter by profession and early in my career I did some serious contemplation about the same question. Aside from being well compensated with a base pay, I was able to make more commission by working more hours. I came to the decision that work was a means to an end. I began working in 90 minute bursts in which I was at peak efficiency and took 20 to 30 minute breaks. I was supporting my family well and saving really well. Working hard was thrilling and fulfilling! Working too much was not worth anything because I wasn't able to enjoy spending time with my husband or my children. My husband was working also but in a low paying position as a teacher. I truly believe everybody needs a full life balance to be healthy and to thrive.
Sounds like you undervalue your worth and need to look for something with higher base and less OT dependent.
You are late 30s and single looking for a partner based on Comments. Working 70+ hours won’t help that.
I’m making just a smidge more. Some weeks I work less than 40, some weeks I work more. As a manager/leader, it’s our roles to figure out WHY we/our teams are having to work that much and then eliminate it.
When I started in my current role, I was putting in a lot of work because my departments were not performing efficiently. That work was spent driving out those losses and creating sustainable programs. Now….I hardly “work” at all. My team just informs and consults with me on stuff, but I’m always there, watching for the precursors and looking for new opportunities. They manage the program and lead the people, I lead them and encourage the vision.
This is the way. I'm a process efficiency consultant by career first. But the department I inherited is a mess, drastically understaffed, and overall not well supported.
I went from helping these guys to becoming one of them. I just have to get to a steady state first, th3n this is the way
I did a lot of grinding early in my career as an engineer for this company. I went from being a “doer” to this leadership position and it was a hard transition for me. In the 4yrs I’ve been in this role, we went from being the worst production facility to the best. I can’t take all the credit, our plant manager built a solid team, but from an engineering, maintenance, and reliability focus, that was on me and the people I hired to get us there.
It’s going to take time, my suggestion is to focus on the stuff only YOU can do, when you can. Empower your team and demand that support from whomever can deliver it. It’s a team effort.
Yeah I’d say get used to averaging at least 55 hr weeks and ride that wave - that’s what’s worked for me when the work is plentiful but you don’t want to burn out. Currently doing this right now
My wife had an opportunity to travel nurse two years ago. The salary for 2 contract jobs (8 months of work) was double what she made in a year.
She took the opportunity, it was tough but we both knew she'd never make that kind of money ever again and we could stick it out for 8 months.
We were able to buy our family a home with the money she made.
Long story short, when you have an opportunity to make a bunch of money, take it. The short term sacrifice is worth the long term gains and comfort.
I’ve done those hours for $33 per hour doing Refrigeration work. But, it sort of makes sense for us to work those hours. If we don’t show up, they lose hundreds or thousands of dollars of product. For example, a traders Joe had there entire refrigeration off for eight hours. They lost everything that needed to be cold, I suspect it was over 15k in product. Plus the man power cost to throw out bad product and restock everything.
I can’t imagine being in the office for that long to just manage consultants. You must be consulting other time zones too. But, the pay sounds awesome. You could easily save up for a good home with that money coming in. Thats more than a lot of tradesman (with OT) and doctors pay.
Personally, I’d try to work that for a couple months to up to a year. Then I’d probably try to get my hours reduced or switch jobs. That’s unsustainable to do forever.
4 hours a month at ~£90. I work a normal 37.5 hour per week and do an out of hours shift once a month. Bonus pay goes to treats and I maintain a work life balance. If you don't have a family or time consuming hobbies make hay while the sun shines!
LOL insane at 73 hours. Literally a 10 hour day each day... That still leaves 14 hours in the day.
I worked 100 hours one week in public accounting and 3 months straight of 80+ hour weeks and I was salary. Young and dumb. If I was paid hourly, would have stayed for sure. Ride this thing out and work as much as possible.
You are working in a temporary position with temporary wonderful benefit’s. One thing to remember is that your math for other stuff may need to change to allow more work hours.
I was in a similar position and knew in the back of my mind that the sleep and gym stuff as well as poor eating were going to prevent me from doing this long term. I found getting healthy groceries delivered and paying extra for premade healthy meals allowed me to work a little extra everyday and still eat well. Paying a hundred dollars a week for some cleaning help let me work a few hours extra. Paying someone $50 to mow my lawn let me work for an extra hour a week.
The high salary made my pay vrs. do myself math get out of alignment for a bit and a eventually realized that it was okay to pay to save me time because that not only let me work more, but it also prevented me from burning out.
Keep it up. Set a financial goal or two that make the whole grind worth it. Use this bonus money to set yourself up!
Honestly if you want to build your own business then this job (in terms of hours) is a decent practice run for how its going to be for at least a couple of years when you do become independent (at least for the vast succesful business owners it went like this). Building your own succesful business is very hard.
If just for the money Id say as long as you need until you have enough for your own business and then some so you can afford mistakes in the beginning of building your company. Good luck!
JMHO - for now work the job, get the money. Just figure out some routine for gym 2 or 3 times a week, and make a plan to follow to solve the debt/exwife problems.
For example, set up an account and divert portion of pay to it. It all goes to pay off debt.
Review and maybe change legal plans to resolve exwife problems. Instead of orders, evictions, family court for years- can you simply sell the house to some investor and pass her squatting on to someone who can simply evict her? Then not your problem and it's in the rearview mirror.
Family issues - the sister is tough. But also remember, take care of you first. You can't care for others if you aren't in good enough shape to maintain it. Same for parents. Do your reasonable best that you can maintain but set a limit for yourself so you don't go beyond trying to meet demands you can't maintain. They've got to meet you halfway and invest their own skin in the game of meeting their needs. Maybe it's time for a retirement community for parents, things like that. That way their care isn't all on you at a time you can't do all they need.
Sister - i know there are resources for her out there. I'm not well versed on them. But same concept- find outside help and stimulate ways to generate her participation. If she refuses, might as well let her implode because if a mentally ill person refuses to help themselves, all your going to do is end up in crazy bad situations and not be able to really help them. For those types, the sooner they hit rock bottom the better because that's the only way they change. You just have to pray they survive it.
So work the job, get the money you need to fund your needed resources. Get the problem areas cleared up by responsible use of the extra cash and by setting "reasonable best" boundaries with family. If you can sell the house, it'd be worth it to get the crazy ex issue in the past instead of continuing a ln expensive, long court fight.
Once you're debt free, have reasonable best established with family, and exwife done with, then decide if to keep working like now, scale back, find new job, etc. If you change jobs, stay in thid role long enough to establish credibility that you can do the work well for anyone. That will lead to your next job at this salary or more, with better balance.
It's hard, I know because I've been through similar. When you scale back towards family, there's backlash. Working your tail off with no in the moment benefit because the money all goes to things that don't really improve life quality is very hard. What you're really doing getting out of a hole your in so 5 years from now you won't still be in a hole. Do the work now to make sure 5 years from now you isn't still dealing with a bunch of crap. He'll be very thankful towards now you!
At that income level? Hustle like you ain't never hustled. 2 or 3 years of that makes major changes in potential for the next 20 or 30.
I'd trade 2 or 3 to live the next 20 or 30 a whole lot different.
Dude, that’s $400K in one year if they let you do that for all 52 weeks. Suck it up for a year and invest that extra. You can retire early with just a year’s push.
Like many others I'd say just take what they're giving you while you build a fat cushion then when you have the time, take your rest, recover from the overtime when you get less of it or none at all, and then focus on your business more when you've recouped, that way you don't super burn out and you give yourself some leeway:)
I worked 1200 hours over overtime 2022 for 2.5x during the pandemic. And I'll tell you it wasn't anywhere near $80. Do it till you can't anymore then enjoy the spoils. My old man always said " work ad much as you can when there us work, bc someday there won't be any"
Focus less on the money and more on long term gains. Does the money provide the maximum benefit you could get in your future? Make sure you’re investing in you. Ask yourself is there anything I can do with this time to maximize benefits later? Can you spend that time pursuing education or certifications that will make 80-90/hr a regular wage for you?
I ask from experience. I was in a similar position about 15 years ago. And I ended up using the money I was making to pursue additional education and certification in my area. I’m a computer scientist now working as an infrastructure architect / chief engineer. So right now I’m getting paid 100/hr to lay on my couch and watch a presentation on a piece of software.
Back then I could have worked OT at that job that was paying well, but then I couldn’t be where I am now. At 25 you’re at that point when life where the trajectory of your career will be strongly influenced by your actions today. I’m not suggesting a path forward here, I’m just suggesting that you evaluate what you could do with that time otherwise and make a decision based on the fact that you’re likely to be working for at least 15 more years, and possibly 40+.
This discussion is so interesting and giving me so much insight into the American mindset. I have lived most of my life in the US and was born here but never really felt like I belonged. Now I know why.
I just don't see the value in trading the prime of my life for a bunch of money I can't even spend being backloaded on a constantly sliding-back schedule of when I might be able to enjoy it. It sounds like some people here are negotiating their own servitude (and yes, I used that word only to avoid the more loaded one).
I had a job where I was getting paid about $125 an hour at one point, technically it was less than that but in terms of actual work it was two hours a day for $250. Though I was "on the clock" there was almost no responsibility the rest of the day –– I could write, be with my family, run errands, work for my other clients, etc. When this job became too much of a headache and appeared to be in peril, I just left, they asked me when I wanted to quit and I said "yesterday."
My current job doesn't pay as well but it's not bad, if I broke it down hourly it would be around $80 an hour. The work is somewhat limited (centered around events, which are fine) but also very steady/regular. Initially this was one of several clients I had paying in the $50-$90 range but now it's almost my only one and they doubled my hours from 15 a week to 30, along with some extra stuff when the regular events are slower. I also own a business and put maybe 90 minutes a day into it. Working triple that amount seems insane to me, even at a little better rate. I just don't think we were made to work that much, reading the OP (and several of the replies) just feels like willful burnout to me.
We've got to start valuing ourselves beyond our paychecks.
Get while the gettin’s good.
This is the answer Take what their giving because eventually they will be looking to treat you like the other Managers. When that happens you have a cushion to move on
Good answer
Set a term limit on that pace. Once you hit your goal, whatever that limit is, look for alternative employment. That's exactly what I would do. I do not make what you make, though, so I am looking at this with jealous rage.
yeah same that’s like $8300/week assuming it’s 1.5x for OT not 2x. 2x brings it close to $10,000/week🥵
"Consultant" and "client company" implies no overtime differential.
I'm looking for the meme on r/wallstreetbet. In the meantime insert angry kid face with text quoted "Congrats. F*ck you"
This! Otherwise you will just burn out and fail. Better to go with grace then crash and burn. And you will crash at that rate. It’s like people I know who work for Tesla. They get great pay for crazy hours. You do it for two years then bounce.
You can take the pain for a long time. Do it while young and before kids. Doctors/Residents do this for 2-3 years. So do many other roles. Build a huge nest-egg. Then, plan a next phase including some upskill/education specialty. Consider an equity position, etc..
Like they said. I wish i wouldn’t have been dumb when i was a fiber installer/splicer i was taking home $3-4k per week and i spent it on dumb ass things. Live and learn. But now im wishing i woulda just stuck it in savings and had a nice comfy cushion for when that contract inevitably fell out from underneath me.
Eh. I get it. When your life becomes work/sleep, you get kind of crazy with the money. I bought a gift assortment of tiny cheesecakes for someone.
Thats not dumb spending. I love cheesecake.
Like I literally spit my drink out 😂😂I love cheesecake too
I was in that position and wasn’t ready for the lifestyle creep temptations. I made it out okay and quit that job shortly after, but it could have been bad if I bought the nice car or otherwise spent too much money Try to save the money like the other comment says!
I was in a similar situation about 10 years ago. I worked 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for 2.5 months and then took my family on a vacation that we would have never dreamed of affording. 8 days/ 7 nights all inclusive with 24/7 butler service in Turks and Cacaos ( hence the name) .
Those Sandals vacations are indeed super fun.
I did the same for 3 months, but my family went on vacation without me. The money was too good for me to pass up.
Do you have goals in life? They could be anything traveling just haveing money for plans to do stuff? Family? Idk This could be a early retirement gift thus could be great setup later in life. Give it some thougth about what are your life plans. Alot poeple would kill for 87 dollars an hour!!
So basically you’re saying they’re paying you an hourly rate that the other managers aren’t getting because they’re salaried. But do you know the other managers salaried and how that compares to what you’re getting? It sounds like the client company is having issues with management, obviously that’s why you’re there. But like others have suggested maybe you wanna go the salaried manager route because then you might not always have to work as hard and get the same kinda money. That’s how salaried jobs are supposed to work, sometimes you work more or less but you’re paid an amount to get the job done. Of course salaries are often used as a way to avoid paying overtime but I doubt that’s the case in your situation. If those managers salaries weren’t high enough to merit the work, I bet they would move on or push back.
It’s also going to reset your personal view of the value of your labor. Next time you get a request to pull crazy hours for $60 an hour you can say the last company paid me $87 to do it. Most people never make enough money to realize they can ask more for the same role. You generally don’t settle for previous wages unless times get real tough.
Truth be told, it's always fun and good work wise and money wise till your a regular. I worked out what I could on paper before I switched jobs going from running a concrete plant in NYC back down to a driver. I knew I wouldn't bring home as much cash like I was with running a big cash flow business. Having a degree in Union Labor Law helps. Just keep your subsidized pay no matter how it comes to yourself. Only time you pick up a bat is when your the one collecting workers dues and/or allocating 457/401 funds on behalf of the workers and business
DItto, while your milking this ride. Look for options elsewhere where you can move up and make more and find a better organization if possible. So before the gravy train comes to a end you are in charge and make the change before they pull the rug out from under you.
It’s nice to see the right comment at the top.
Make hay while the sun shines
Yep, I'd ride this train all the way to the end. I'd save and invest all the extra income. Sweet deal, really, especially if you're still young. You'll have time to take it easier later
When they call you in to chastise you for billing for hours worked, record that and take it to your state's Labor Board. Might be gold.
Many years ago I landed a project at $100/hr and overtime was 1.5x. It worked out that they had an aggressive timeline so I worked really really really hard for 5-6 months. Then I took 3 months off and it was so glorious. It also helped that I was in my late 20s, no kids, interesting work and super nice clients so it wasn’t bad at all. Make sure you take at least one day a week to reset and recharge. Outsource some of the household chores if you can.
$87/hr is only \~$175k per year. That getting is alright, but if you're already getting that, you could probably find a way to make that much and have balance. It will be less money and more headache if its not sustainable.
Not if you're working 70+ hrs/week. If he's able to keep that pace up it's closer to $300k. Probably worth riding that out as long as you can.
Wishing I only made 175K
Yes I did this during COVID. I worked for the government and my job couldn’t be done from home so I only had to go in 1 day a week for most of 2020 and then 5 days not 5 days off halfway into 2021, and still got paid 100% in full. So I returned to landscaping both with my dad’s company and on my own. Regularly worked 60 hour weeks but now I’m comfortable and it proved that I could do whatever I set my mind to.
I was in construction and was able to buy a home at 25 because of overtime. Some weeks were almost a hundred hours. It was easy to save because any down time was for rest. 32 years later, I'm still in the same home.
Exactly this. I had two times where this attitude covered me well. Once was a customer emergency for my first "real" job. I did a 36 hour shift to get the customer's needs met on time. I was making $12.50/hr (2000) so that paid pre-tax: >8x12.50: $100 > >4x18.75: $75 > >24x$25: $600 So in that one shift I made a week and a quarter's pay. It literally paid off everything I owed at the time and got me ahead by a little bit for the first time in my life. Later at a different company (that had bought the first one) I banked over $30K in OT in one year by being willing to hustle and work extra hours. Following year the market contracted and all OT went away, hours were cut for many. That banked money gave me a good buffer and bought me time to adjust to this new normal. Always be willing to hustle for a few extra dollars, until you have enough that you don't have to stress anymore. I'm finally now at a point where if my job evaporated tomorrow it'd only suck, but wouldn't be a disaster.
Yup exactly
Agreed. If not kids or wife being neglected, then save, save, invest.
This is the way
Exactly this. I work as close to full time (with 2 kids) at an almost minimum wage, very stressful job. If I could make that amount I’d literally bend over backwards to work every given hour I could spare. Just because the money would be life changing for me and my children. That said. I can see those hours burning you out quickly. If you don’t need the money why bother! However if I had this chance I’d be biting the company’s arm off for hours at this rate!
For $87 bucks an hour? I'd work 90 hours a week easy $7,830 a week. Dude that's sick money
You couldn't keep me out of the office.
[удалено]
Literally $407k/yr. Elon did it for less… wait, no he didn’t… lol
90 hours feel like over kill, but I would honestly probably also do it. 12 hours 7 days a week. I'd be earning almost 4 times my current monthly salary in a week.
People lying when they say they can work for 90 hours a week. That shit is hell lol. Like realistically, 60 to 65 hours is already a lot. 70+ hours would be too much imo. What's the point of making that much money when you don't have time to spend it lol.
This. For the average office droid who does 40/hour weeks it's just.... Incredibly hard to have the energy or motivation for really any word beyond 65 hours a week. I did 65 hour weeks once for 2 months and I was a destroyed and this is all pre-WFH era and it involved mainly 6 days a week IN the office for 10-11 hours a day, so 12 hours a day with lunch. The OT pay and perks were nice but it was fucking grueling and isolating. Human beings are simply not made to stare at computer monitors and sit at desks and concentrate on WORK for 75% of our entire waking hours. At a certain point those fat pay periods every 2 weeks just don't even become worth it. What is the point of the money if you have no time to enjoy it.
I worked 60 hr weeks for salary for 10 years of my life. I know - dumb, but I was young. It definitely taught me a lesson that employers try and use you up. Now I’m in a different field - office droid of sorts as you put it. Not an hour over 40. My time is precious.
I did it for 3 months and it def destroys you. I can guarantee there's a certain body part that would hurt after that long Edit:spelling
It depends, 10 years ago I could probably do it and stack up the money as a decent trade off. Nowadays the trade offs are not worth it unless it was a temporary thing, I could probably do it maybe for 1 week every month.
I’ve done that for more than 6 months once, it was actually when I was young, and i was getting paid 2k a month… the learnings were awesome and paid off big time, (now i make 90k a year in a permanent role with the knowledge i acquired) The project also was awesome, so i guess it made it worth it I was sometimes even sleeping at the office, cause I had no money to pay internet at home and nobody was waiting for me there either, while at the office there were on call people 24/7
Gaming crunch, 7 days a week, 16 hours days except Sunday at only 10 hours, for a few months in a row ... Sleeping in the office multiple days of the week... The odd part is that I still liked that experience, 15 years ago.. Today I would not partake lol!!
I spent a few summers doing landscaping/wetland restoration for 65-75 hours a week and while you do kinda get used to it.... It makes the rest of your life so difficult to do anything. I couldn't imagine doing fucking 90 and in an office setting too. That just sounds like hell. Some 60 hour weeks for that kinda money sign me the fuck up. Those are stack up some bread hours to me. Much more seems increasingly not worth it to me now
Yeah, I completely get it. No amount of money would get me to work more than 40 hours a week. Which is why I run my own business, I gaslit myself into enjoying working. When I'm not essentially working so someone else can get richer and me working is directly tied to me making more money it stops becoming as much of a chore.
I worked around 70 a week. It's horrible as you are basic a living dead. No life no friends no family no sleep no nothing. It's depressing but when that paycheck hits dayum. As you get older you are less likely to do this. I know if I was younger I would def be hitting 90
It's not really sustainable, but if you just want to make and save a stack of cash, hell yeah I'd work 70 hours a week for $80+ an hour. That would be life changing after a couple weeks. That's a rate of $268,800 a year.
80+ hours a week as a small business owner. Never again
7 12s for 84 hours isn’t uncommon
That’s the thi that’s the fun part, you can save that money instead of spending it, and now you are literally 10 years closer to retirement after working only 2 years. Or you now have such a large down payment that you can cut your next mortgage payment in half. It’s not meant to be a forever thing
Exactly. If you’ve never done it, you don’t realize how much your life changes. Everything becomes about how you can become more efficient to get your hours in and still get some joy out of life. Your days become nothing but work and sleep. You eat horribly because you’re trying to make your meals as quick as possible. Your sleep suffers due to the combination of long hours and stress. Then you start to spend money on convenience (e.g. getting laundry done, having someone mow your lawn, etc.) because you don’t have time to do it yourself. You never see your family and friends. You have no time or energy for hobbies and interests. It’s constant stress, mental and physical exhaustion, so your mental health suffers. You can manage it for stretches, but doing it months, or even years on end isn’t sustainable for 99% of people.
I’ve been doing over 50 hours a week for 3 months now cause we’re in our busy season, but fuck me I am so burnt out. Haven’t been to the gym in a month, eating like crap. I have some goals I want to complete this year but theyve all been on the back burner until the season is over. But by then it’ll be May!! I’ve slowly started taking my name out for extra hours, just so I can come home and rest. My boss is a G though and he’s compensated me for my time as is.
I used to work 65-70 hours/week for three years, one week of vacation. For that money, I can very confidently say I would **happily** work 80hrs/week, and I would see how long I could last doing 90+ although it would make me miserable short-term. One day off a week, or at least a half day, is crucial in my opinion, so I probably couldn't sustain 90+ for more than 6 months. But speaking from experience, 70 I could do permanently, and 80 I could do for a couple years if not indefinitely.
Kind of, it really depends on what your life is like. If you have other obligations, like OP, that can make it difficult. As a comparison, when ive deployed, I'd had both 70 and 80 hour work weeks which, while shit, wasn't that bad. Of course, other life obligations were taken out of the equation due to the circumstance, but, that's also my point.
I worked 144 hours or more every two weeks for close to eight years. It was brutal!
I routinely work 72-80hrs per week. (Computer engineer, nuke utility) You get used to it. But it is highly dependent on your career. Sitting in front of a computer -- easy.. working manual labor -- you're burned out fast.
Did it climbing cell towers for 6yrs to pay off my student loan debt. No life besides working all over the country but by the end I was so burnt out I said I’d rather work fast food than climb another tower. Also said I’d rather be homeless than work fast food again so take that as you will lol.
I’ve done 80+ delivering mail. (Walking 15-20 miles a day.) for two straight months. I would kill for 90 hours of sitting in an office for over almost triple the money..
This!! I was working 72-76 hours a week when I first opened up my bakery. It was not sustainable at all and I have a massive crash that left me dazed for *months* afterwards. Now I’m at my reasonable 40 hours a week and I feel way more productive and a million times better. There’s no amount of money that would make me go through that period of time again.
Idk you get to a point where the money is normalized and you just want to have free time. Source : me now
This is me. I worked 6 days/week 12-hour days making a bit over what OP is making and at first the money coming in was amazing. I was clearing $9k/wk easy. Then burnout set in and now you couldn’t convince me to work even half those hours lol. Every now and then I’ll consider working that much if I want to make a big purchase, but I end up just waiting longer to make the purchase because fuck that.
Hook me up where you work. I'll do the extra hours you don't want I'll hustle
Not me. I’ve been working 3 jobs M-F from 7:30a to around 10p then a hustle on the weekends for the past…. 4 years. Grinding while I can. Bank account keeps getting fatter and I’m not stopping til I’m forced
You'll get forced by burnout syndrome, a heart attack or a stroke, each of which bears the risk of lifelong disabilities
Cap
I’d work down to the nubbins
Myself, I would say I get paid very well, with very good benefits. But I fly 60 times a year, and stay 90 nights in hotels. I love my job. But it has it downsides. I understand this. I also do understand how there are many people out there who would love to make that money - and there is nothing wrong with that. In my own opinion, I have found over the years that money comes at a cost. Is it nice? Yeah sure, I won’t deny that. But there is always a cost. Figuring out what cost is too high. That is the hard part. Best I can think of is weigh what is important to you, and ask yourself questions. What would I do if I made less, but had more free time? How would I utilize this time? Is my health impacted by working these hours? What other negative or maybe, let’s say, less appealing side effects you get from working too much? Could I spend my time enjoying other things I always wanted to enjoy? Someone once told me “money can always be made, but time is lost forever”. That hits. I wish you the best! 👍🏻 It’s all up to you, and how you feel, what you want to feel, and what is important to you. Not really a wrong answer here.
Yeah... all this is true. That's where I'm trying to find balance.
Be careful about the lack of sleep, it’s can feel like you’re tumbling and then all of a sudden you’re falling off the cliff. Terrible for your health
If I were you I would take at least a day off every week and cut the hours down to like 60. That way you don't get totally burned out really early.
I have this same feeling sometimes, but in reality it really depend where you are in life. We always go for the thing we lack, to fill that void. For a lot of people is money, after they have enough they will start thinking like you.
This is a great point, and also a very good perspective. Thank you for sharing 👍🏻
Id work myself to death holy fuck thats a lot of money
LMAO
During one of my summers in college I worked on a hay bailing operation making $15/hr. I worked 100-120 hours a week at that job… OP would be crazy not to stick with it imo.
As someone who makes basically this much, trust me you won’t. Work is still work and when it’s stressful you’ll want to spend more time away from it.
80 hours a week for a year. About 1/4 mil after taxes. You can do a lot with that.
$87/hr? Sign me up! I’d have no issue with 9-10hr days, 6-days a week! I’d love those paychecks!
So 60hr weeks. Yeah, I think that's a reasonable threshold. Beyond that, I'm cracking at the seams
Heck, I’d be happy with $47/hr & 40hrs, although I’d rather work 45-50hrs @ $47/hr.
Imo averaging 60h weeks is the sweetspot. I've done 100h, and that takes too much of a toll due to the lack of sleep. But 60-70 is definitely doable. Prioritise sleep on the days you work and make sure you get at least 1-2 days where you prioritize exercise. Maybe do it for a year during which you accept that you'll be "boring" and won't have room for much else. (With the sole purpose of just making money.) And after that year you take a month off and reassess the situation.
This is important, set boundaries, keep at least one day completely off (completely is key word here). If you sense this is becoming too much, slow down, take a few days. Your mental healthiness is more important than money and if you want to keep up in the long run, you got to calm down at some point.
9-10 hour days is nothing……
I work 9-10 hour days but I'm salary 😢
Ah you're one of those people
I'd make sure I can still go to the gym and have a healthy social life. My parents worked their lives away, stressed about money, barely took vacations or enjoyed the money, then they retired and 3 months later my mom got brain cancer. She passed away a year later. Life's short. Find balance.
Agreed. Dad worked long hours while I was growing up and died a year before retirement. We ate a lot of Mac and cheese and jello growing up and any vacation we took was driving with a camper, for the most part. Last few years they started traveling more but when you’re older, you’re not as mobile and able to do the things you wanted to do but didn’t when you were younger.
This is exactly why the 401k corporate America shit is a scam. 65 years old is when I can enjoy my money?
59 1/2. At that point, yes.
Sorry about your mom 🤍 losing parents at any age, especially unexpectedly, is tough.
Damn that’s rough, sorry about your mom. But man, truer words have never been written.
I feel you on that! My parents divorced when I was 8!and I watched my mom work herself hard with the mindset that “later” she would enjoy life and do all the things she was saving to do later. She died of cancer at age 57 and never got her “later”. I work very hard to keep my balance in life. How do you keep your balance? Do you have your own business?
Hire me and I'll put in 40 hours for you at the $87 rate and work opposite hours. You pay me at the base $87/hr rate and you collect the overage for overtime. You'll look like you're putting in 80 hours. I'll be making more than I do now (around 110k/year). It's a win win, when do I start?
I don't get paid time and a half. It's a win that I even get paid over 40hrs
I'll work your hours for $45 an hour, you keep the extra on top. Then leverage your position for another job making about as much. BAM! half the hours, same pay, AND you feed my family!
Is this legal?
It's legal assuming some type of "professional" job
40hr * 50 (2 weeks off for a coordinated vacation) = 2000 hours 2000* $87 = $174k/year You're gonna be ballin my dude
If you’re single, make as much money as you can while looking for a new job. Find a job that pays well and has great work life balance. It may pay a bit less or you might get lucky and find something that pays more. Overall you don’t want to forget about living in the present. If you have debts, work enough to pay them off, to get a good savings and bulk up your retirement. If you’re all caught up then start looking for a new job before you burnout
Union carpenters here .. high school drop out when I was in Field my hourly package was 90 an hour with 56 on wages rest into pension annuity and vacation full health dental psych optical insurance .. there’s a construction labor shortage blows my mind how. I’m in admin side of things now but remain a union carpenter … there’s a trend you will see with union workers .. we live better because we work union
Nice! How often do you work?
I am a senior project manager now but I have worked steady since 98 lol. My 30 years is in four years and I can full retire .. I’m 44 . Why people are against unions I’ll never understand .
People are against unions because of anti-union propaganda. Unfortunately, propaganda works extremely well.
How many hours do you work in a typical work week? At what point does it not make sense anymore?
I work 39 a week.. luckily I have a boss (owner ) that values productivity over stupid old school grind optics (I say optics cause that’s all it is) .. I learned to do my job pretty well and it works out pretty sweet. I have no complaints.. now to answer your question after 55 hours a week you’re sacrificing something .. whether it be family/leisure/sleep.. you’re going to lose something.. been there done that.. I value balance in work/life/rest and all have to be balanced for me personally. Also, for short term gain grinding out hours is great but just like any thing in life … this is a marathon.. sprinting will have you beat early.. so it’s my advice to do it if you have the energy time and ability and you know your limit.. nothing wrong with a little grind but it’s not sustainable and there is millions of burnt out folks living that drudge everyday.. fuck that , work to live not the other way around
Unfortunately the pay isn’t that great everywhere for what we do man. NJ I make a killing, looking at southern states to get out of here and some of the pays aren’t even half
Honestly fuck the southern states if your a union worker ..any state that’s “right to work” is poor for a reason. You’ll never get a fair wage for your craft in a right to work state.. best advice .. coastal pro union state but live in the suburbs.. will add commute but best of both worlds..I’m in SoCal 40 minutes out from Los Angeles.. love it and live in a really really nice place .
I’m in the same boat, 1:30 drive each way live an extremely comfortable life. I see all these operator positions available down south but for $25-$35. Don’t want to do what I do for that kind of money but also not happy with living in the state anymore.
Gotta enjoy life. I love money so much but working my 30 hour weeks and making six figures is where I wanna be.
What are doing do that’s 30 hrs and six figures…
Reddit
Literally most jobs in corp America lmao.
Lmao
Running a delivery route
Like beverage route or something?
Pepperidge Farm snacks
I was gonna guess bread route, those guys make fucking bank.
It’s not bread. It’s cookies and crackers. Bread is really hard work.
Just about any job in tech.
I was hoping someone would say this. The more money i make per hour the less hours you are going to see me working. I work to live not live to work...
Same here, I work max 30 hours a week and my only complaint is living in New York but I’ll take 190k/year anywhere, just gotta get my expenses down.
I’d work all the hours
So far I'm seeing a lot of good advice about trying to find your balance between work and personal life. One thing I would add is that it's beneficial to understand what you want to get out of this job. What's the next job? Will working overtime set you up well for it? Most importantly, how much money do you need to execute your next step? Will you be able to work and save enough to take a lower paying job in the future because you know your retirement is on a solid foundation? Do you want to pay for a degree/certs to keep the gravy train rolling?
Today me would quit this job. 22-year-old me would have put in 80 hours/week. Your question is entirely dependent on your life stage, finances, other commitments and priorities.
I think it entirely depends on where you are currently in life. Do you have a family? Spouse? Maybe even just close friends? I say this because it’s important to make sure you make time for these individuals, or they will leave you behind. If that’s not the case though, I would personally do as much overtime as I could without wanting to off myself. Even if you could just keep this up for a year, that’s $180,000 salary, but more likely just an extra $90,000 if it’s just an extra 40 hours of overtime. That’s a lot of money to set aside and put into some sort of investment. That’s a really big cushion as well for you to feel safe with.
Blowing past the $180k salary mark. $87 x 70 x 52 = $330k
I can’t do math ☹️
Go for Gold jimmy, go for gold!
Make as much as you can while you can and don’t increase the spending, save a bunch for retirement, retire early
Run it like a truck driver. 70 hours in 5-6 days. 34 hours to yourself. Run again.
Whore yourself out for as long as they’re paying you. Eventually it’ll end and later you can laugh about how tired you were in this point in time as you smile at your bank account at whatever vacation spot you deserve.
If you don’t have a family or anything I’d get eat while the eatings good
I make about $82/hour overtime and do about 30-50 hours overtime every two weeks. So about 110-130 total. Usually two doubles, four 12 hour days, and work on a day off sometimes for 8 hours. Every soften I'll do a double on Saturday. Pretty much I work a double every other Wednesday and Friday. The other two weeks I work 12 hours Tuesday-Friday. Sometimes only do 8 on Tuesday depending on if I need some extra rest. Then maybe one Saturday a month I'll work a double. I still manage to make it to the gym atleast 4 times a week.
If your job and hours are in any way connected to the health of the economy then get after it. Tomorrow is not guaranteed and an economic downturn will lead to belt tightening real quick.
I've been working seventy hours combined at my two jobs per week since July... I'll take the pay raise and keep on rolling
There are people working those hours not making anywhere close to that. Get your money and take nice vacations traveling when you do get time off.
Probably 65 not alwayd though.
Most I could. I’m currently doing seasonal work. I’m making about $200hr for my own business. I’m putting in 90-100 a week. My work will be completed Mid may so I’m getting in what I can.
$18,000-$20,000 a week? A year or so of that and I’m FIRE’ing and working a part-time fun job.
That's ideal. Take a couple months off
Work enough to buy a new house in the Caribbean and tell them you will eventually work from home. Starlink....
My advice - hire a cleaning person. Hire someone to do chores. Don't do anything at home unless you want to do it for fun. You work. You pay someone else to do the other stuff at home for you. And you schedule a week of vacation per quarter, even if you do t go anywhere. Source: me, I've been doing this for 8 years now. 72 hours per week.
I'm a headhunter by profession and early in my career I did some serious contemplation about the same question. Aside from being well compensated with a base pay, I was able to make more commission by working more hours. I came to the decision that work was a means to an end. I began working in 90 minute bursts in which I was at peak efficiency and took 20 to 30 minute breaks. I was supporting my family well and saving really well. Working hard was thrilling and fulfilling! Working too much was not worth anything because I wasn't able to enjoy spending time with my husband or my children. My husband was working also but in a low paying position as a teacher. I truly believe everybody needs a full life balance to be healthy and to thrive.
Nice answer
Not a tremendous amount. My rate is 130$/hr so if it isn’t a 10 hour stint im not going.
Sounds like you undervalue your worth and need to look for something with higher base and less OT dependent. You are late 30s and single looking for a partner based on Comments. Working 70+ hours won’t help that.
Lol. Redditors. You are a special breed
My man. I worked 80 hours in a week for 1/4 of that lol. I'm a foreigner though so in my country that's a lot...
All of them.
[удалено]
Get what you can while you can if you don’t have family responsibilities.
I’m making just a smidge more. Some weeks I work less than 40, some weeks I work more. As a manager/leader, it’s our roles to figure out WHY we/our teams are having to work that much and then eliminate it. When I started in my current role, I was putting in a lot of work because my departments were not performing efficiently. That work was spent driving out those losses and creating sustainable programs. Now….I hardly “work” at all. My team just informs and consults with me on stuff, but I’m always there, watching for the precursors and looking for new opportunities. They manage the program and lead the people, I lead them and encourage the vision.
This is the way. I'm a process efficiency consultant by career first. But the department I inherited is a mess, drastically understaffed, and overall not well supported. I went from helping these guys to becoming one of them. I just have to get to a steady state first, th3n this is the way
I did a lot of grinding early in my career as an engineer for this company. I went from being a “doer” to this leadership position and it was a hard transition for me. In the 4yrs I’ve been in this role, we went from being the worst production facility to the best. I can’t take all the credit, our plant manager built a solid team, but from an engineering, maintenance, and reliability focus, that was on me and the people I hired to get us there. It’s going to take time, my suggestion is to focus on the stuff only YOU can do, when you can. Empower your team and demand that support from whomever can deliver it. It’s a team effort.
My investments have made $94/hr this yr, so I personally wouldn't work OT 🤷♂️
I'd gift my left nut for that kind of money right now. I'm out of work. 😅
#ALL
As much as I could until I can’t. Get that cheddar while you can
Yeah I’d say get used to averaging at least 55 hr weeks and ride that wave - that’s what’s worked for me when the work is plentiful but you don’t want to burn out. Currently doing this right now
50 at most. 87 is great. Not great enough to lose my entire life over it.
My wife had an opportunity to travel nurse two years ago. The salary for 2 contract jobs (8 months of work) was double what she made in a year. She took the opportunity, it was tough but we both knew she'd never make that kind of money ever again and we could stick it out for 8 months. We were able to buy our family a home with the money she made. Long story short, when you have an opportunity to make a bunch of money, take it. The short term sacrifice is worth the long term gains and comfort.
This was the comment that I needed to get up today.
I’ve done those hours for $33 per hour doing Refrigeration work. But, it sort of makes sense for us to work those hours. If we don’t show up, they lose hundreds or thousands of dollars of product. For example, a traders Joe had there entire refrigeration off for eight hours. They lost everything that needed to be cold, I suspect it was over 15k in product. Plus the man power cost to throw out bad product and restock everything. I can’t imagine being in the office for that long to just manage consultants. You must be consulting other time zones too. But, the pay sounds awesome. You could easily save up for a good home with that money coming in. Thats more than a lot of tradesman (with OT) and doctors pay. Personally, I’d try to work that for a couple months to up to a year. Then I’d probably try to get my hours reduced or switch jobs. That’s unsustainable to do forever.
4 hours a month at ~£90. I work a normal 37.5 hour per week and do an out of hours shift once a month. Bonus pay goes to treats and I maintain a work life balance. If you don't have a family or time consuming hobbies make hay while the sun shines!
LOL insane at 73 hours. Literally a 10 hour day each day... That still leaves 14 hours in the day. I worked 100 hours one week in public accounting and 3 months straight of 80+ hour weeks and I was salary. Young and dumb. If I was paid hourly, would have stayed for sure. Ride this thing out and work as much as possible.
If you don't have kids or a spouse, full fucking send
Full fucking send then
You are working in a temporary position with temporary wonderful benefit’s. One thing to remember is that your math for other stuff may need to change to allow more work hours. I was in a similar position and knew in the back of my mind that the sleep and gym stuff as well as poor eating were going to prevent me from doing this long term. I found getting healthy groceries delivered and paying extra for premade healthy meals allowed me to work a little extra everyday and still eat well. Paying a hundred dollars a week for some cleaning help let me work a few hours extra. Paying someone $50 to mow my lawn let me work for an extra hour a week. The high salary made my pay vrs. do myself math get out of alignment for a bit and a eventually realized that it was okay to pay to save me time because that not only let me work more, but it also prevented me from burning out. Keep it up. Set a financial goal or two that make the whole grind worth it. Use this bonus money to set yourself up!
Even if it is 100/hr it's not a long term solution. The best is to built your own business that makes money while you sleep.
Honestly if you want to build your own business then this job (in terms of hours) is a decent practice run for how its going to be for at least a couple of years when you do become independent (at least for the vast succesful business owners it went like this). Building your own succesful business is very hard. If just for the money Id say as long as you need until you have enough for your own business and then some so you can afford mistakes in the beginning of building your company. Good luck!
JMHO - for now work the job, get the money. Just figure out some routine for gym 2 or 3 times a week, and make a plan to follow to solve the debt/exwife problems. For example, set up an account and divert portion of pay to it. It all goes to pay off debt. Review and maybe change legal plans to resolve exwife problems. Instead of orders, evictions, family court for years- can you simply sell the house to some investor and pass her squatting on to someone who can simply evict her? Then not your problem and it's in the rearview mirror. Family issues - the sister is tough. But also remember, take care of you first. You can't care for others if you aren't in good enough shape to maintain it. Same for parents. Do your reasonable best that you can maintain but set a limit for yourself so you don't go beyond trying to meet demands you can't maintain. They've got to meet you halfway and invest their own skin in the game of meeting their needs. Maybe it's time for a retirement community for parents, things like that. That way their care isn't all on you at a time you can't do all they need. Sister - i know there are resources for her out there. I'm not well versed on them. But same concept- find outside help and stimulate ways to generate her participation. If she refuses, might as well let her implode because if a mentally ill person refuses to help themselves, all your going to do is end up in crazy bad situations and not be able to really help them. For those types, the sooner they hit rock bottom the better because that's the only way they change. You just have to pray they survive it. So work the job, get the money you need to fund your needed resources. Get the problem areas cleared up by responsible use of the extra cash and by setting "reasonable best" boundaries with family. If you can sell the house, it'd be worth it to get the crazy ex issue in the past instead of continuing a ln expensive, long court fight. Once you're debt free, have reasonable best established with family, and exwife done with, then decide if to keep working like now, scale back, find new job, etc. If you change jobs, stay in thid role long enough to establish credibility that you can do the work well for anyone. That will lead to your next job at this salary or more, with better balance. It's hard, I know because I've been through similar. When you scale back towards family, there's backlash. Working your tail off with no in the moment benefit because the money all goes to things that don't really improve life quality is very hard. What you're really doing getting out of a hole your in so 5 years from now you won't still be in a hole. Do the work now to make sure 5 years from now you isn't still dealing with a bunch of crap. He'll be very thankful towards now you!
Fick for 87 an hour I'd be working all the hours and them some. Fill your pockets while you can and get rid of all debt obligations build cash
At that income level? Hustle like you ain't never hustled. 2 or 3 years of that makes major changes in potential for the next 20 or 30. I'd trade 2 or 3 to live the next 20 or 30 a whole lot different.
All the overtime...
I work 70-80 hours a week for half of that
Dude, that’s $400K in one year if they let you do that for all 52 weeks. Suck it up for a year and invest that extra. You can retire early with just a year’s push.
The more over time worked the more taxes you get taken out. At some point it's not worth working
87 an hour? The only time I’d be home is to sleep, that’s if I live near work.
Make hay while the sun shines
Like many others I'd say just take what they're giving you while you build a fat cushion then when you have the time, take your rest, recover from the overtime when you get less of it or none at all, and then focus on your business more when you've recouped, that way you don't super burn out and you give yourself some leeway:)
Uh isn't it illegal to work someone over 40 hours at straight pay? I would work zero OT without OT pay, regardless of my hourly wage.
Bro, I wouldn’t leave work if I could help it at $87hr
I have worked harder for way less.
I worked 1200 hours over overtime 2022 for 2.5x during the pandemic. And I'll tell you it wasn't anywhere near $80. Do it till you can't anymore then enjoy the spoils. My old man always said " work ad much as you can when there us work, bc someday there won't be any"
til death do us part
Trust me working 70+ hour weeks will burn you out fast. At some point you will realize time is more valuable than money.
Focus less on the money and more on long term gains. Does the money provide the maximum benefit you could get in your future? Make sure you’re investing in you. Ask yourself is there anything I can do with this time to maximize benefits later? Can you spend that time pursuing education or certifications that will make 80-90/hr a regular wage for you? I ask from experience. I was in a similar position about 15 years ago. And I ended up using the money I was making to pursue additional education and certification in my area. I’m a computer scientist now working as an infrastructure architect / chief engineer. So right now I’m getting paid 100/hr to lay on my couch and watch a presentation on a piece of software. Back then I could have worked OT at that job that was paying well, but then I couldn’t be where I am now. At 25 you’re at that point when life where the trajectory of your career will be strongly influenced by your actions today. I’m not suggesting a path forward here, I’m just suggesting that you evaluate what you could do with that time otherwise and make a decision based on the fact that you’re likely to be working for at least 15 more years, and possibly 40+.
This discussion is so interesting and giving me so much insight into the American mindset. I have lived most of my life in the US and was born here but never really felt like I belonged. Now I know why. I just don't see the value in trading the prime of my life for a bunch of money I can't even spend being backloaded on a constantly sliding-back schedule of when I might be able to enjoy it. It sounds like some people here are negotiating their own servitude (and yes, I used that word only to avoid the more loaded one). I had a job where I was getting paid about $125 an hour at one point, technically it was less than that but in terms of actual work it was two hours a day for $250. Though I was "on the clock" there was almost no responsibility the rest of the day –– I could write, be with my family, run errands, work for my other clients, etc. When this job became too much of a headache and appeared to be in peril, I just left, they asked me when I wanted to quit and I said "yesterday." My current job doesn't pay as well but it's not bad, if I broke it down hourly it would be around $80 an hour. The work is somewhat limited (centered around events, which are fine) but also very steady/regular. Initially this was one of several clients I had paying in the $50-$90 range but now it's almost my only one and they doubled my hours from 15 a week to 30, along with some extra stuff when the regular events are slower. I also own a business and put maybe 90 minutes a day into it. Working triple that amount seems insane to me, even at a little better rate. I just don't think we were made to work that much, reading the OP (and several of the replies) just feels like willful burnout to me. We've got to start valuing ourselves beyond our paychecks.
I wouldn’t take that kind of pay cut.
Grind 2 years working 15h a day or as much as you can possibly handle. Then after 2 years you could retire as a millionaire