tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010505890506526002.post3577118513391454829..comments2024-03-28T07:04:52.697-04:00Comments on Just Like Cooking: Weekend Warrior...at WorkSee Arr Ohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09464185815368499346noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010505890506526002.post-66424586718267996322012-10-16T12:15:22.788-04:002012-10-16T12:15:22.788-04:00If your job is really interesting, you simply want...If your job is really interesting, you simply want to see the new results coming in as soon as possible, just to satisfy your curiosity. And you can't wait till you can assign a few hours per week to that new fascinating idea you/collaborator/boss just got. <br />Also look outside the academia. Entrepreneurs usually spend crazy amounts of time in their jobs. So I totally agree with the Anon above, if it's something interesting, it becomes a paid hobby. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010505890506526002.post-61850051449941011262012-08-16T10:54:38.087-04:002012-08-16T10:54:38.087-04:00I did the weekend/late nights thing for about 8 ye...I did the weekend/late nights thing for about 8 years when I worked for a well-known CRO. Typically that would involve rota-vapping 45L carboys of chromatography fractions, check-weighing material in vacuum ovens, changing savant traps, reviewing batch records/writing reports, but occasionally it would involve starting/working up new reactions. I was on an H1-B visa at the time, and didn't want to be sent back to the UK, so I put up with it. I was in my 40s, so as time went on I became more and more tired. Once I got my Green Card, my willingness to continue to "put up with it" rapidly dwindled, and when the Great Recession arrived, I was "separated/laid-off/insert appropriate euphemism" with a whole bunch of other unfortunates. (Oh, and just prior to being let go, my supervisor compared my career at the company to a patient/corpse on life support. I still want to punch his lights out for that one). I now work for a much larger company, in the chemicals rather than pharma business, and so far (1.5 years in) have never had to work weekends or late nights. I hope I never have to again, as I am now in my 50s, and my tolerance for long hours is not what it was. I'm also of the "work to live, not live to work" frame of mind. If there was something really interesting and stimulating to work on, I might get sufficiently caught up in it not to notice the time so much, but let's be honest, how much of our working life is like that? Unless you're in the top 1% or so of your profession, I'm guessing not much. So I'm with Anon. 1:49P. I've definitely paid my dues, and I want a life. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010505890506526002.post-68103030697213886712012-08-15T13:49:56.835-04:002012-08-15T13:49:56.835-04:00No. Absolutely no. I paid my dues, did my seven ye...No. Absolutely no. I paid my dues, did my seven years of seventy hour weeks. I'm tired, I'm done and I'm taking my payoff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010505890506526002.post-6758732169805050042012-08-13T09:34:44.100-04:002012-08-13T09:34:44.100-04:00Why is 40 hours per week the standard? Because te...Why is 40 hours per week the standard? Because tests have (repeatedly) shown that 8-five hour shifts lead to maximum productivity.<br /><br />This should be pretty settled ground. Henry Ford didn't champion these hours because they were kind to families, or because he wanted his employees to have outside interests. He did it because he wanted the most cars made per hour, with the fewest mistakes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6010505890506526002.post-21729190540339469132012-08-11T15:32:31.174-04:002012-08-11T15:32:31.174-04:00the solution is for companies/academic departments...the solution is for companies/academic departments to only employ well rounded people who don't want to work weekends. there is no need, no benefit. The only way you gain by working weekends is if you are doing work that monkeys could do, where more hours in = more results out. If you actually doing something interesting with your time, this is probably not the case. <br /><br />more results aren't interesting. interesting results are. interesting results come from interesting questions, and interesting questions come from messing around.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com