for me at least, 8 hours any other time of the day is less bad than the constant awful grind of 9-5
you’re always commuting right when everyone else is commuting, you have to be up early every morning (and it always FEELS early – if you’re naturally waking up at noon but have work at 1 that doesn’t feel as much like a boot stamping on your face forever), many things are only open during those hours so there’s always a time crunch if you have errands
and it just feels worse. you feel like a depressed office worker in a movie. by 5pm the day’s already over, the sun is setting in winter. and the most insufferable of all, imo: once it’s evening, you start feeling dread for tomorrow. so it’s like you’re never truly off work because you know you have to go to bed early to be up early to go right back.
somehow these standard hours are the most offensive possible to personal autonomy and mood.
i’m extremely lucky to have a WFH at the moment where i can make my own hours; when i work approx 9-5 like that, i just feel so trapped. i don’t want to go to the store before work because i just woke up and can’t be bothered, i can’t go after because traffic is a nightmare and i’m exhausted by then. it just sucks. there’s no mystery or magic to it. working food service until 2am felt cool, it felt cool getting paid to stay up late and make pizza and have a ‘good reason’ to have a weird sleep schedule and be out super late. 9-5 makes me feel like jim from the office except less charismatic
I can’t stand working til 5. After work I still need to go to the gym, cook dinner, eat, clean the kitchen, walk the dog, spend time with my family, and relax. How is that possible?
I got a job that allows me to set my own hours and work 6:30-2:30 and it has been a godsend. Feels like I have a life again.
I have similar life but I cheat a bit. I have 4 days work from home per week, and often I stop working at 4.00 pm so I have a couple of hours to shop or do other things.
Not having to go home from work also gives me another hour of free time, so I feel like life definently is a lot nicer now than before covid.
9-5 sucks very much and we should all try to escape it.
Give me the 4 day work week damn it
I consider second shift to be worse - I worked 3-11 for awhile and its just depressing. You wake up and can do things, but you’re just waiting to go to work. When you get out, it’s pretty late and most people are going to bed.
9-5 allows me to have my relaxation time at the end of the day, along with everyone else. Any other shift feels lonely, and like you’re off-sync from the rest of society.
When I worked retail I liked 3am to 12pm-1ish depending on the day. While it had me going to bed earlier than most people, it did allow me to feel like I still had some day left to get other things done.
Now I work for myself and while I do have to be willing to work when/where the work is, I have a lot more freedom and am working towards getting that same schedule back if I can.
I liked nights as well! I used to work 11-7 for some shifts, and while it was still a little lonely to go to work while people were heading to bed, I still had the whole day to do things if needed. It got me into the bad habit of just staying up for 24 hours if I wanted to do things in the evening though
I didn’t like night’s as much. Probably because the way my townhouse was facing my room was lit up by the setting sun reflecting off the building across the street. Even with black out curtains. Plus with that shift, even if you want to go do something with others on the same schedule, nothing is open besides waffle house and a couple of other restaurants.
Worked a 2-10pm shift and actually loved it. Its definitely lifestyle-dependent but it suited people who were younger and single. A group of us would go out to bars/clubs right after work and the be able to sleep in. The best part of this middle shift is that its not hard on your circadian rhythm AND you get to avoid most management presence for your shift.
2am-11am (idk what shift that is) is even worse. I drove to work without a seat belt hoping a drunk driver would hit me.
I work in a tech-field and for most jobs I’ve been on there’s been core business hours that you’re expected to be in your office which gives all the workers a little bit of flexibility. Core business hours are usually around 10am to 1pm. How it works is you do your 8 hours however you want, so long as the building is open, and you are in the office during core hours. We have a good-sized early morning group, also a smaller group (usually younger) that comes in later in the morning and hang out til 6 and then go out for drinks afterwards. Most of the jobs also allow people to flex their hours within reason. So you can work a 8+ hour day to work a shorter day later.
This little bit of flexibility is so great - allows parents more time with their kids, going to appointments, avoiding traffic, etc. Literally saves you so much in PTO and $$, as well as other residual benefits to your health and wellbeing.
EDIT - For clarity, they usually don’t show semi-flexible/flexible work schedules in job postings, but definitely ask during interviews. Let’s be real, a 4-day, 8-hour/day schedule won’t manifest in this lifetime, so this and WFH are the next best things.
Try 9-6, and I have mandatory meetings Tues/Thurs at 7:30 am. Every week.