Which mentality makes more sense to you?

My advice to you especially with the way the economy is right now is to make hay while the sun shines. I am more than twice your age, and I have been working those hours for the last six months with no let up in sight. If I had worked hard and saved when I was younger, I might not have to do it now.

I know you want some time to yourself, but just be happy you have a job right now. Many others are not so fortunate.

Your boss is narrow minded and has no clue of economy. No way to prosper if you don’t spend. Save more, spend less and economy will everything but flourish.

@SCAMP that is why i am doign it I realize many are laid off and struggling, so I am appreciating the fact that I still have a job and I am doing what i have to. I know that to some I may sound like im a bitch complaining about wanting to work less…maybe I am but I always have that trade off of my life and a paycheck in the back of my head…..

Your “mentality” makes more sense to me, but to my mind, you’re both mentalists! ;-)

There are more than two mentalities available on such subjects, and different ones work differently for different people in different circumstances. My suggestion is to invent what works for you, and let others do the same, but merely consider the ideas of those who think to impose their “mentality” on others.

I would also suggest not getting into a morality discussion of such topic with your boss unless you can separate it from the negotiation and agreement on your employment conditions. As far as your job goes, I suggest asking and listening for his request to you for his expectations, and you considering whether that works for you and letting him know what you are and are not agreeing to. If you can communicate and accept each other’s needs and reach an agreement, fine, but if not, it may tend to cause suffering.

Personally, I only want to work 40 or more hours a week on something I deeply care about, and amassing money isn’t one. Americans should do what they want. They tend to be weird and annoying about work and money and buying things. However they consume and discard far too much. I feel they have been brainwashed by advertising and lack the art, culture, community, spirituality and education to clearly see what they want, and so obsess about money and materialism. Their delusions about “economic growth” are threatening life on Earth.

The Navajo have a concept called “hozho,” meaning balance, and I think balance in life is vital. American culture is obsessed with work. As Zaku points out, there is more than one mindset—it is more of a continuum than a choice between the two viewpoints that you mentioned.

Comparing the two, no matter what your age, I prefer yours to your boss’, and having yours does not in any way make you lazy. I think it makes you wise.

I know of no one who reached the end of their life and moaned, “Oh, if only I had spent more hours at the office, my life would have been so much fuller.” Yet almost to a man and woman, workaholics express that having missed life’s big and little moments for work was a mistake they deeply regret.

There is just so much more to life than work. Love, friendship, relationships, the beauty of the planet, travel, words, music, animals. Work, to my mind, is a necessity. I find that Europeans have a much more sound appreciation of this than we do in the US.

Marina that is so funny cause your example about being older and looking back sounds like it came right out of my bosses mouth except he said something like “how many people when they get older look back and say…oh if I had just worked a little harder in my youth and saved more money, I wouldn’t have to do this right now” lol…..something like “how many older people look back and wish they worked harder and saved more money so their life was easier in their older age….no body looks back and says – wow I wish I partied a little harder or spent more time sitting around or having fun” which i rolled my eyes to lol

I think you need to balance that is my whole point…you need to worry about your future but not to the point where it ruins your present…

There’s a lot of good research on managing a Gen Y workforce that relates to this topic.

I personally believe that there is a difference between having a job and having a career. A job is 40 hours a week, minimum pay increases. If you’re in a deadline oriented industry, then overtime is expected and negotiated salary or overtime should reflect that. A career has personal development and opportunities for advancement to management or equity ownership in where you work. For this, you put in extra hours, because you are essentially working for yourself. To me, 50 hour weeks is reasonable. But I set boundaries, like I stay during the week, but never work weekends.

That being said, life needs balance. Like the expression, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

It’s not even simply one single spectrum. There are several issues being discussed, and collapsing them into one issue can remove the ability to make intelligent decisions.

For just one example, depending on the work and the people, working over 40 hours per week may just be a red flag indicating errors in planning or management, because overworked people tend to be less effective at the work they do, while workers who have comfortable and satisfying lives outside of work can bring that mood and experience into their work. And that has nothing to do with laziness, consumption, or retirement plans.

They let everyone go so we are basically (we as in 3–4 people) are pulling the weight for about 10–15 people and still trying to make the company grow….crazy – I agree with everyone here on what they are saying…maybe I should forward this fluther question to him in e-mail lol

Your boss is a workaholic and pardon my French, a prick. First off, his argument is ignorant, Americans spend MORE time at work than ANY OTHER INDUSTRIALIZED NATION. Do you realize that in Europe, everyone from the CEOs to the people who clean toilets gets 6 weeks off per year. It’s arrogant, workaholic sons of bitches like your boss who create all the misery in this country because they’re so concerned with making money at the expense of anything else (including their own quality of life and that of their workers) that they don’t see more to the picture than just accumulating wealth and power. I’d update my resume, you may not get out of their quickly, but get out of there. Life is too short to work for an asshole.

Yes it depends entirely on the kind of work you do and how much you like it. If you are an hourly worker and only 22, make hay while your particular sun shines-at least until you have 4–5 months expenses in the bank and no debt. You may not regret missing a few thousand $$$ at 65 but you’ll regret the loss if you are laid off in 2009.

If you are an exempt employee you may be in your seasonal busy period and you should be able to be flexible at other times of the year. In one job I was working 12/6 from March-May for fiscal ye and reports but in the summer I worked from 9–4 many days and occasionally took a long weekend.

If you are doing a lot of ‘scut’ work, then you need to bring in an entry level worker to do filing, phones, simple paperwork. It’s counterproductive to waste the time of skilled employees on chores and working them to a frazzle’

However, you should look at the situation analytically. The business may be going under and that’s why the boss is pushing. I have worked for small businesses and seen a boss lose everything. If that is the case you have to decide if you are going to hang in there until the end or if you are going to be putting out feelers for another job.

In any case you have to look out for yourself financially. But at 22 extra work isn’t going to kill you.

Johnny, is the money good and is the business profitable? If you’re working that much, there reaches a point where what it costs to pay you overtime is better spent hiring a lower level person and paying you less in overtime. The catch-22 is that you get used to the extra money. OTOH, if you’re salaried and working killer hours, the pay better be higher than the industry average. Perhaps you could negotiate that he pay off part of your student loans as a “retention bonus.” He could take it off his taxes.

And I should add that if you’re in any type of graphic design industry, working a 60 hour week is the normal work week in an ad agency. I once worked part-time, which was 37.5 hours a week.

That’s pretty cool that Rukus gets to go to the office.

Great, great answers here. They highlight the tension between enjoying the moment and investing in the future. I work long hours and find myself questioning whether I would be wiser to kick back and enjoy life. Yet, I also want the investment I have put into my career to pay off. I don’t think the tension ever goes away.

Well I was moved to 1099 because yes the business wasn’t doing amazing, they are just okay, but many got laid off and since i’m really one of the only people left, they saved money by not doing normal payroll and making everyone private contractors. I do, do graphic design work but now with this tight crunch ive been doing customer service, finding solutions to new business opportunities and much more! It’s great experience yes, but I am making the same I was making before this all happened except im in control of how I file my taxes so if I have the right legitimate deductions then I suppose I could end up with a little extra. The money is not amazing thought it’s better then what all my friends have been able to get. I don’t mind putting my financial business out since I feel at 22 its not horrible for this area anyways. I make 2040 a month but usually get some extra things throughout the month like gift cert. or free lunch things like that. While this certainly isn’t my life long aspiration, should the company move forward, I am certain I’d hold a higher paying position and it would pay off. However they sell natural gemstones and use the internet, auctions, and they have one retail store which they are slowly trying to make into a chain. While this type of product is very profitable when sold and marketed right, I’m not sure if I can see it pulling in millions and millions of dollars for them. I have been back and forth with this for months now on what I want to do, and I have looked for other jobs but graphic design jobs are not the easiest to find and i’m not always qualified due to lack of experience. I don’t mind working hard, but when I am questioning where I will be in a few months, then I do. For all I know I could bust my ass the next couple of months get them on their toes and they they decide to give me the boot, or they go under and I was working so hard, I didnt have time to look for something better and then im screwed again. With my current bills and my obsessive shopping disorder, I don’t save nearly as much as I should incase something were to happen. Maybe I should start saving more…

They not only saved money, they may have lowered your salary significantly! Did you put money aside to pay your taxes including the employers portion of Social Security? If they 1099’d you before Oct 1 and you didn’t file a quarterly return for the 3rd quarter, you may already be in trouble. Get thee to the IRS ASAP. And start job hunting, you may even be ineligible for unemployment.

Taxes and fines and interest, Oh my!!

That’s crazy! I am only 14 and have only had ajob at my grandparent’s hotel. I would say that you should get some loungetime. Definitely. You do not need all the money unless you are in debt or something. Did you know that the most unhappy people in the world were rich? Money can ruin your life. Now I know that we’re not talking that much $$, but I think that if you have no money problems, then take a break, at least for a while.

Yeah, that’s a common agency technique to reduce benefits expenditure. (I seem to recal some sort of lawsuit about if they do this to you, and prohibit you from working for anyone else, then you are an employee, and they have to withhold taxes, pay benefits, etc.) The key is that if you’re “free agenting”, you technically don’t work for them; you’re self-employed. Focus in on the skills acquisition, and build your resume and portfolio, which is not defined by their industry but by your role in the organization.

Hey kid, most of us may not have money problems at the moment BECAUSE we have jobs, but if we go for the ‘loungetime’ the rent, utilities, transportation, food kind of sneak up on us bringing the money problems along.

I don’t think USA is the most workaholic nation, Japan wins that title.