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How many hours do you need to work every day?
#hours #working
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Nattakarn’s Answer
Hello, Kaiyi
It depends on your job, company and responsibilities as well. My regular work hours are between 8.00 am and 5 PM. But I tend to work more hours when I need to complete my tasks/projects to make sure I can complete them before my deadline. Normally I have a lot of meetings during the day which prevent me from completing my tasks. Please see below for more details from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that I found from the link below.
https://www.inc.com/amrita-khalid/compensation-remote-work-facebook-twitter.html
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American works 8.8 hours every day. Yet a study of nearly 2,000 full-time office workers revealed that most people aren't working for most of the time they're at work.
The most popular unproductive activities listed were:
Reading news websites--1 hour, 5 minutes
Checking social media--44 minutes
Discussing non-work-related things with co-workers--40 minutes
Searching for new jobs--26 minutes
Taking smoke breaks--23 minutes
Making calls to partners or friends--18 minutes
Making hot drinks--17 minutes
Texting or instant messaging--14 minutes
Eating snacks--8 minutes
Making food in office--7 minutes
This is particularly good news for freelancers and others who work from home. It's easy to feel like you're not "doing" enough when you don't have to go into an office. Yet this research suggests that if you're productive for just three hours a day, you're outputting the same amount as someone in the office for eight hours.
And imagine if we truly embraced this information. Even if we didn't cut a workday down to three hours, what if we cut it to six? What if the norm was a workday of 11 a.m.-5 p.m.?
People would be better rested, more focused, and likely more productive.
It depends on your job, company and responsibilities as well. My regular work hours are between 8.00 am and 5 PM. But I tend to work more hours when I need to complete my tasks/projects to make sure I can complete them before my deadline. Normally I have a lot of meetings during the day which prevent me from completing my tasks. Please see below for more details from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that I found from the link below.
https://www.inc.com/amrita-khalid/compensation-remote-work-facebook-twitter.html
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American works 8.8 hours every day. Yet a study of nearly 2,000 full-time office workers revealed that most people aren't working for most of the time they're at work.
The most popular unproductive activities listed were:
Reading news websites--1 hour, 5 minutes
Checking social media--44 minutes
Discussing non-work-related things with co-workers--40 minutes
Searching for new jobs--26 minutes
Taking smoke breaks--23 minutes
Making calls to partners or friends--18 minutes
Making hot drinks--17 minutes
Texting or instant messaging--14 minutes
Eating snacks--8 minutes
Making food in office--7 minutes
This is particularly good news for freelancers and others who work from home. It's easy to feel like you're not "doing" enough when you don't have to go into an office. Yet this research suggests that if you're productive for just three hours a day, you're outputting the same amount as someone in the office for eight hours.
And imagine if we truly embraced this information. Even if we didn't cut a workday down to three hours, what if we cut it to six? What if the norm was a workday of 11 a.m.-5 p.m.?
People would be better rested, more focused, and likely more productive.
Updated
Gloria’s Answer
Hi Kaiyi,
It depends on the job or the project that you are working on. For example, my job is a 40-hour work week during a regular week. I am an Instructional Designer, so my work is project based. And those projects have time-bound deliverables. Sometimes there is not enough time given for the work to be done so I have worked long hours and weekends. That varies from project to project and has been as many as 80 hours in a week. I am salaried so my paycheck does not vary with the hours. I want to point out that is RARE. If you have a job where that is the norm, there is a problem with the workload that you are doing. I have left jobs where the workload was always well over 40 hours. Those kinds of jobs are not good for a work - life balance. That work - life balance is critical for you to bring your best and most productive self to work.
Gloria
It depends on the job or the project that you are working on. For example, my job is a 40-hour work week during a regular week. I am an Instructional Designer, so my work is project based. And those projects have time-bound deliverables. Sometimes there is not enough time given for the work to be done so I have worked long hours and weekends. That varies from project to project and has been as many as 80 hours in a week. I am salaried so my paycheck does not vary with the hours. I want to point out that is RARE. If you have a job where that is the norm, there is a problem with the workload that you are doing. I have left jobs where the workload was always well over 40 hours. Those kinds of jobs are not good for a work - life balance. That work - life balance is critical for you to bring your best and most productive self to work.
Gloria
Gurpal Kaur, CPA
Lead Associate - General Ledger Transformation Project
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Gurpal’s Answer
I agree with what everyone stated above. If the number of hours is a concern for you, I would say that try to find a job that values life and work balance. For example, I am an accountant and I know it will be extremely busy every quarter because that is when we file our financial reports. I expected that when I took this job, but I also know there are other jobs out there where it doesn't require me to work over 40 hours.
What was your concern about how many hours you have to work?
What was your concern about how many hours you have to work?
Updated
Sophia’s Answer
As others have stated, it really depends on your job and what is typical for the industry. My job is similar to Simeon's that it varies from 8-10 hours depending on the time of year. I will add though, that my job excludes all the items Nattakarn mentioned from those working hours. So, if you add in lunch break, checking emails, learning/career development, the days can become longer than 8-10 hours (again depending on the time of year, slower times allow for learning and development during the 8 hours).
Updated
Simeon’s Answer
During non-busy season, we have eight hour days. During busy season, we have ten hour minimum days, but many teams work twelve to sixteen hours during busy season, especially towards the "crunch time" or end of busy season.