Work-Life Balance...

19,012 Views | 207 Replies | Last: 9 yr ago by coupland boy
Only1BFish
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AG
Yep, it was about time for this quarterly thread from Scimi.
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Sssh
62strat
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quote:
There is no replacement for long hours and hard work to advance in your career. I don't understand the 8-5 mindset.
yeh I much prefer the 9-4.
nai06
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I rarely think about how many hours I work because it changes every day/week. That being said a lit of times it doesn't feel like work because I love what I do
BrazosDog02
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This thread is adorable. I'm not sure where I can go to find more people that are more insecure with their jobs, income or station in life than here. Is this normal gb stuff or a special Christmas edition?

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The insecure are the first to bring up insecurity...otherwise they'd just ignore it. Food for though.
RNG
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quote:
I take time off when I start losing my edge and motivation. I took about 2 weeks of vacation this year, which is more than I normally do. There is no replacement for long hours and hard work to advance in your career. I don't understand the 8-5 mindset.
Serious question, at what point are you satisfied with where you are (either in title or income)? Not everyone can be CEO.

Have you considered some people simply don't care? Someone makes enough to provide comfortably for their family and would rather spend time with them than work...what is hard to understand about that?
HollywoodBQ
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I made 2 trips to Aggieland this year and I live 8500 miles away

The nice thing is that I figured out how to convince management to allow me to combine two of my business trips into consecutive weeks and another business trip got cancelled so I only had to fly 75,000 miles this year for work instead of 175,000 last year.

I crossed the Pacific Ocean 12 times this year. The most typical flight was Sydney to LAX - 14 hours.

I always crack up when I'm in San Francisco and I hear about East Coast US guys at work talk about how far they had to travel to get to California. And the guys who want to leave work in the Bay Area by 10 am so they can get home before midnight when they're flying back east. My sympathy is about zero because it takes two calendar days for me to get home.
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quote:
quote:
I take time off when I start losing my edge and motivation. I took about 2 weeks of vacation this year, which is more than I normally do. There is no replacement for long hours and hard work to advance in your career. I don't understand the 8-5 mindset.
Serious question, at what point are you satisfied with where you are (either in title or income)? Not everyone can be CEO.

Have you considered some people simply don't care? Someone makes enough to provide comfortably for their family and would rather spend time with them than work...what is hard to understand about that?

If its left at that, nothing. When the same people make snide remarks about people who don't accept that "not everyone can be CEO", it's quite maddening to those who are motivated.

My late grandfather used to tell me if I strive for perfection, I'll reach excellence.

Today, we embrace mediocrity and not only shun, but actually mock, excellence.
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Yeah, but you're flying business class...piece of cake.
Ogre09
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I rarely work more than 40 hours a week, get every other Friday off, and use my full allotted 144 hours of vacation each year. I would rather be at home with my family or on fun vacations than at work. But I'm being promoted faster than average, score well in performance grading, and make more than I need. Some of my peers put in more hours than I do, but aren't outperforming.
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In your 3 years of post college life
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New army
Kate Beckett
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quote:
I've figured out work life balance has a lot to do with the wife. The guys I know who are single, have a crap marriage or a wife who is a nag and doesn't give it up anymore want to work all the time. Guys who love their family and have a cool, hot wife who still gives it up in interesting ways want to be home more than work. Pretty simple really.
FIFY.
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Corps_Ag12
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quote:
I've figured out work life balance has a lot to do with the wife. The guys I know who are single, have a crap marriage or a wife who is a nag and doesn't give it up anymore want to work all the time. Guys who love their family and have a cool, hot wife who still gives it up in interesting ways want to be home more than work. Pretty simple really.

I believe this to be the case as well, but this is from the outside looking in at the older people i work with (in regards to marriage at least).

Personally, I work the long hours sometimes because I have nothing better to do or I have a deadline to meet (I'm happily single FYI). I'll also do the jobs that people above me are supposed to do, but don't for whatever reason, giving me an opportunity to prove that I am ready for the next level thus allowing me to move up at a quicker pace than my peers. The flip side of that is no one wants to listen to a 25 year old boss them around on a jobsite.

I agree with Scimi to the fact that settling for mediocrity is wasted potential in your life.
piag94
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Nothing makes me feel better than working a long, productive day, getting home, making a MM and having dinner with my wife.

Love it
aggiepaintrain
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Typical 3 star self important post.






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Oh, I assure you, I am important to far more people than just myself



But typical lolpoor post
Sean_Jones
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Haha so this nerd is bragging about working 60 hours a week, carrying over some vacation days and vacationing in the freaking Caymans? Pathetic
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about time you showed up to sniff my ass
$30,000 Millionaire
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quote:
quote:
quote:
I take time off when I start losing my edge and motivation. I took about 2 weeks of vacation this year, which is more than I normally do. There is no replacement for long hours and hard work to advance in your career. I don't understand the 8-5 mindset.
Serious question, at what point are you satisfied with where you are (either in title or income)? Not everyone can be CEO.

Have you considered some people simply don't care? Someone makes enough to provide comfortably for their family and would rather spend time with them than work...what is hard to understand about that?

If its left at that, nothing. When the same people make snide remarks about people who don't accept that "not everyone can be CEO", it's quite maddening to those who are motivated.

My late grandfather used to tell me if I strive for perfection, I'll reach excellence.

Today, we embrace mediocrity and not only shun, but actually mock, excellence.
The underlying theme of the 8-5 mindset is striving for mediocrity in your career. I understand why someone would want to prioritize their home life over work, but there are consequences for that. In my experience, the majority of that same population is the first to complain about RIFs, not advancing, or whatever. Would you rather be home at 5:15 on the dot every day or send your children to ivy league schools? The same question can be asked about a number of other trade-offs.

To answer your question on being satisfied, I think what you are really asking is at what point would I stop trying to beat the curve vs. being complacent. I don't view work as a means to try to get to a specific destination in either a title or money, but I do it for the love of the game and competing, even if I'm just competing against myself. It is not sustainable to put the time in just for a lofty title or income level, it has to be about the journey. It certainly is not about dollars. If you polled most senior executives, I think you would get a similar answer.
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quote:
quote:
quote:
quote:
I take time off when I start losing my edge and motivation. I took about 2 weeks of vacation this year, which is more than I normally do. There is no replacement for long hours and hard work to advance in your career. I don't understand the 8-5 mindset.
Serious question, at what point are you satisfied with where you are (either in title or income)? Not everyone can be CEO.

Have you considered some people simply don't care? Someone makes enough to provide comfortably for their family and would rather spend time with them than work...what is hard to understand about that?

If its left at that, nothing. When the same people make snide remarks about people who don't accept that "not everyone can be CEO", it's quite maddening to those who are motivated.

My late grandfather used to tell me if I strive for perfection, I'll reach excellence.

Today, we embrace mediocrity and not only shun, but actually mock, excellence.
The underlying theme of the 8-5 mindset is striving for mediocrity in your career. I understand why someone would want to prioritize their home life over work, but there are consequences for that. In my experience, the majority of that same population is the first to complain about RIFs, not advancing, or whatever. Would you rather be home at 5:15 on the dot every day or send your children to ivy league schools? The same question can be asked about a number of other trade-offs.

To answer your question on being satisfied, I think what you are really asking is at what point would I stop trying to beat the curve vs. being complacent. I don't view work as a means to try to get to a specific destination in either a title or money, but I do it for the love of the game and competing, even if I'm just competing against myself. It is not sustainable to put the time in just for a lofty title or income level, it has to be about the journey. It certainly is not about dollars. If you polled most senior executives, I think you would get a similar answer.
80s Guy
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quote:
quote:
quote:
quote:
quote:
I take time off when I start losing my edge and motivation. I took about 2 weeks of vacation this year, which is more than I normally do. There is no replacement for long hours and hard work to advance in your career. I don't understand the 8-5 mindset.
Serious question, at what point are you satisfied with where you are (either in title or income)? Not everyone can be CEO.

Have you considered some people simply don't care? Someone makes enough to provide comfortably for their family and would rather spend time with them than work...what is hard to understand about that?

If its left at that, nothing. When the same people make snide remarks about people who don't accept that "not everyone can be CEO", it's quite maddening to those who are motivated.

My late grandfather used to tell me if I strive for perfection, I'll reach excellence.

Today, we embrace mediocrity and not only shun, but actually mock, excellence.
The underlying theme of the 8-5 mindset is striving for mediocrity in your career. I understand why someone would want to prioritize their home life over work, but there are consequences for that. In my experience, the majority of that same population is the first to complain about RIFs, not advancing, or whatever. Would you rather be home at 5:15 on the dot every day or send your children to ivy league schools? The same question can be asked about a number of other trade-offs.

To answer your question on being satisfied, I think what you are really asking is at what point would I stop trying to beat the curve vs. being complacent. I don't view work as a means to try to get to a specific destination in either a title or money, but I do it for the love of the game and competing, even if I'm just competing against myself. It is not sustainable to put the time in just for a lofty title or income level, it has to be about the journey. It certainly is not about dollars. If you polled most senior executives, I think you would get a similar answer.



F'in A Dude. F'IN A.
12thAngryMan
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quote:
quote:
quote:
The underlying theme of the 8-5 mindset is striving for mediocrity in your career. I understand why someone would want to prioritize their home life over work, but there are consequences for that. In my experience, the majority of that same population is the first to complain about RIFs, not advancing, or whatever. Would you rather be home at 5:15 on the dot every day or send your children to ivy league schools? The same question can be asked about a number of other trade-offs.

To answer your question on being satisfied, I think what you are really asking is at what point would I stop trying to beat the curve vs. being complacent. I don't view work as a means to try to get to a specific destination in either a title or money, but I do it for the love of the game and competing, even if I'm just competing against myself. It is not sustainable to put the time in just for a lofty title or income level, it has to be about the journey. It certainly is not about dollars. If you polled most senior executives, I think you would get a similar answer.


Thanks for the response. First, I think it's hard to "strive" for mediocrity. Also, what you call mediocrity at work, I call being there for family. I recognize it isn't always that black and white. That being said, my parents worked hard to provide for my family but they were also at every sporting event, band concert, church event, etc. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

I know it isn't your main point, but I would much rather be at home at 5:15 on the dot every day and it's not even close.

In regards to your last paragraph, we'll have to agree to disagree. Some people just have different mindsets about work which I'm sure you recognize. Many aren't competitive by nature and don't see any intrinsic value in such a journey.

If you don't mind my asking, are you happily married/do you have kids at home?
knoxtom
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"There is no excuse for long hours and hard work to advance your career."

Arguably the most inaccurate and stupid post in the history of Texags. Something only someone young and inexperienced would ever say.

Working long hard hours for the man gets you promoted to another crappy position that requires long hard hours with no high end upward mobility. If you think top level positions are filled by those who work long hard hours, you are sadly mistaken. We hire you shmucks under us so that we can work work efficiently and control our situation.

Upward mobility is not determined by desk time... it is determined by ability to control the position and those around you, both up and down. You get those around you to work, not sit in your desk counting hours to prove how hard you work.

Long desk time is not the sign of a hard worker, it is the sign of someone whose children resent him, whose wife is giving oral favors in the shops of legacy parking lot, and someone who actually count the days they have been on vacation like it is reps on a weight machine (which I am sure you also count). Its not about the experience, its about the number of days.

I am sorry, but I feel you are very misguided and have a lot to learn.

Scimitar
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AG
quote:
"There is no excuse for long hours and hard work to advance your career."

Arguably the most inaccurate and stupid post in the history of Texags. Something only someone young and inexperienced would ever say.

Working long hard hours for the man gets you promoted to another crappy position that requires long hard hours with no high end upward mobility. If you think top level positions are filled by those who work long hard hours, you are sadly mistaken. We hire you shmucks under us so that we can work work efficiently and control our situation.

Upward mobility is not determined by desk time... it is determined by ability to control the position and those around you, both up and down. You get those around you to work, not sit in your desk counting hours to prove how hard you work.

Long desk time is not the sign of a hard worker, it is the sign of someone whose children resent him, whose wife is giving oral favors in the shops of legacy parking lot, and someone who actually count the days they have been on vacation like it is reps on a weight machine (which I am sure you also count). Its not about the experience, its about the number of days.

I am sorry, but I feel you are very misguided and have a lot to learn.


False. THIS is the dumbest thing ever posted on TexAgs.

The inability of you people to look past your own little world never ceases to astound me.

knoxtom
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If you say so smart guy.

Keep patting yourself on the back and telling yourself what you need to hear.

How many hours does your boss's, boss's boss work. You don't even know because you can't get near him. And he doesn't even know who you are. You're just another dude.
80s Guy
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If you say so smart guy.

Keep patting yourself on the back and telling yourself what you need to hear.

How many hours does your boss's, boss's boss work. You don't even know because you can't get near him. And he doesn't even know who you are. You're just another dude.

Again, your insularity amuses me. My boss' boss boss singled me out at our company offsite in Paris this summer to commend the accomplishments and initiatives of my own department. It's no wonder that both my department and (higher) division have received top honors 3 years running as voted by our global clients, both corporate and investors.

Then again, I'm no data mining cube monkey.
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That's the next project now that our careers are at a certain level. Then again, my dad worked his butt off as a legal immigrant and wasn't always around. Never soured our relationship. Then again, our family has a VERY different perspective.

being there for family = working towards financial independence, whether it takes one or five generations.
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