Did you work crazy long hours as a young professional?

[PinkPlantCase]

Not really an AIBU. Posting here for traffic. I’ve worked past midnight twice in the last 2 weeks. My office hours are 9am - 5:30pm (working from home atm). On the nights I work late I tend to stop for an hour or two to spend time with my OH and eat but then get back to it.

I work in a professional job and have some project management responsibilities. I so often find that for me to get any of the actual work done I need to do it later as the project management takes up most of the working day.

I guess I want someone to tell me that they worked their balls off too when they were in their 20s and it was all worth it. Interested to hear the experiences of others.

Yes, I was a solicitor in private practice in the City. Long hours are par for the course. But it set me up nicely after children to go inhouse earning not millions but a very comfortable wage with good work life balance and no fee-earning pressure.

Now with COVID, I will WFH for the foreseeable future and get to enjoy time with my family even more before they go to university. I did not end up with the grand prize that comes with working all hours (partnership) but left with something better and still out earn most of my school mates.

Yes, I work in mare taking and worked long hours a lot when I was more junior. These days I still sometimes work late but the difference is that I have a lot more flexibility (eg can work from home if needed or flex hours so if I have to stay late I come in late the next day).

I was working FT, studying for professional exams and then retrained in my late twenties with yet further exams. I worked and studied absolutely mad hours for a decade.

Hello! I've just finished work, did 7am to 1am today. I'm 46.

Haha hello @JamesTKirkcompatible I’m still going. Might call it a day soon 🥱

Hello both! I've just finished work, 10am to 1am today. I'm 36.

Maybe in our 50s we’ll finish work on time 😅

Yes big time! Before parenthood and being single starting off in a big blue chip city firm it was the boom years post university and further post graduate degrees and then professional qualifications and training! Working with international teams on complex cross boarder deals meant a high frequency of crazy macho billable hours! Those were the days! Stupid nonexistent work life balance as family, personal relationships or commitments were taboo as dare not make a fuss as pay was acceptable to compensate but soul sold to the devil otherwise known as the head supervising matter partner! Retrospectively seems quite de rigueur modus operandi!

All change now!

@zeezu I have sent you a PM.