How Many Hours Do You Work per Week?

Turns out that most FMF readers would like to go to a four-day work week. But one of the issues people brought up in that discussion was that the number of hours they already work each week is well above 40. So this led me to wonder about the following:

How many hours do you work each week?

Here's where I stand on this issue:

• I'm in the office around 7 am every day and leave at 5 pm.

• I work through lunch most of the time -- takings a "long lunch" a couple days a week (our offices are off the beaten path a bit so a lunch anywhere is a two-hour trek.) I'll count the "working through lunch" and "long lunches" as a wash.

• I don't work on weekends (though I do check my email via Blackberry and respond/take action if needed.)

• I travel a bit, but not so much that it impacts my life dramatically.

• Given these, I work nine hours per day, five days a week, or 45 hours per week.

What about you? How many hours do you work per week?

Comments

[Homer S]

FORTY....no mas. :)

[Laura S]

I am an architect...average about 50 hours per week, sometimes a lot more, sometimes, a little less. I have to put in weekends once or twice a month and have been known to stay till 11 pm on occasion. A four day work week would never fly around here. I will probably have to leave this field if I ever want to have children....

[Laura M]

I work 40 hours most weeks. On occasion I will work more if need be.

[CG]

37-40 hr/week during normal times, 45-50 during crunch times, tends to average 40 across a year.

[SUSAN]

40 hours a week at my full-time job, and 25 at my part-time job. The rest of the time I do all the cooking, cleaning, etc.

[Joel]

Typically, I work 50 hours / week as a systems engineer. FYI - I get paid, with management approval, for any hours worked above 40, so I get out [financially] what I put in. I am very happy to be working for a company that values my overtime.

[Dave]

FMF, what do you do?

[Mike]

45 hours per week at my full-time job, as well as 25 hours per week at my second job. Sometimes another 12 hours at a third job. I'm 23, young, healthy, and trying to save as much for retirement as I can. :)

-mike

[MonkeyMonk]

I'm self-employed. My average work week can swing anywhere from 20-25 hours when things are slow to 60+ if I've got a big project that's within a couple of week of its deadline. I've been trying to take Fridays off most of this summer and i've really been enjoying that a lot.

[FMF]

Dave --

I'm a marketing executive.

[Kevin]

40-45 from April 15th to around mid-January. From mid-January through April 15th it's anywhere from 50-65 depending on the workload and how much my fellow employees are getting done. Anyone wanna guess what I do?

[wanzman]

I work in commercial banking as a credit analyst, 24 years old, have been in the workforce since graduating college about 15 months ago.

I typically get into the office around 7:30 every day, and leave between 5 and 5:15. Lunch is typically 30 minutes on the days I bring my own food (4-3 days a week), and 1 hour the days I eat out (1-2 days a week).

Overall I bet 43 is pretty typical for me. When i am promoted to a lending position, hours during the week will be the same, but with community functions on the evenings, weekends, etc.

[Jim]

40 hours a week for me.

I have a standard 8-5 schedule, which occasionally might be more or less on any given day but it averages at 40.
I am on salary and have no paid overtime.

Jim

[James]

Kevin B a tax-man.

I travel extensively about every other week. Those weeks I vary between 55-70 hours. So when I am in the office I try to keep it between 37-42 hours.

[Mark B.]

From 40-45 per week on average, although my managers would prefer me to work more. I feel that this amount gives me a good work/life balance, any more than 45 and the balance shifts too far to work for me.

[rdub98]

On average I work about 45-50 hours per week. It averages out to that because some weeks I work a straight 40, but other weeks, with big projects, I will work several hours after hours or on weekends.

[rdub98]

It used to be a lot more before my department expanded to three people. When I was a department of one, I worked about 60-70 hours per week.

[David]

I work 37.5 hours a week. Yes, 37.5. Exactly.

[Stephen]

As an IT consultant, I've been billing 50 hours a week for the past 4 months, and will be for the next 4 months. And that is just billing time. Since this project is across the country, I have to add in travel time. That's at least 24 extra hours per month. Add in about 2 hours of non-billable time per week, and I'm looking at an average of 58 hours per week.

And people wonder why I never want to "go out" after work or on a day off.

[SP]

40 hours, strictly. Even though I'm salaried, in theory, they require us to be paid for OT, so it generally isn't allowed unless necessary. M-F, 8-5 (or 4:30, short lunches), but we have flex scheduling. I have tried 9/80 on occasion, to plan a 3 day weekend for a specific purpose... but I don't think i'd like it on a permanent basis.

[dcs]

42 hours per week (12 hour shifts).

I get paid overtime, but generally that's only if I work a holiday that falls during my normal work week.

Since my job is staffed 24/7 I don't work on my days off. Someone else is at the office to handle anything that comes up.

[Greg D]

My light weeks are around 45 my heavy weeks are 60 plus. Average around 50-55 hours per week. Financial Analyst

[Richard]

Each week I do around 8 - 12 hours of "work" but I'm in the office around 40. I spend another 15 - 20 hours on nights and weekend building my own business.

[Mark]

My last job I was working 45-55 hours per week, with no OT. Since I've switched jobs I've been steadily working 40 hours a week.

[CommRE]

Richard said - "Each week I do around 8 - 12 hours of "work" but I'm in the office around 40."

Best answer yet.^^^

"Looks like you have been missing a lot of work" - Bob
"Well, I wouldn't say I've been MISSING it Bob..." - Peter

[WiseMoneyMatters]

I work 40-80 per week. Most of it's by choice. I work at a church and love what I do. It's awesome to be able to help people everyday. Technically I can work more or less as I choose. I usually choose more even though I'm salary. It really pays to do what you love.

On the side I run the personal finance blog wisemoneymatters.com which I work and average of about 2 hours per day. It's another thing I just love to do.

I also run my own freelance web design firm siege911.com which gives me various hours based on the week.

I only do things I want to do. It's much better than getting paid all sorts of money and wasting most of my life doing something I hate.

[sahm]

12-15 hours a day, 7 days a week translates to 84-105 hours a week. Occasionally I'll get a couple hours off a week, but then there are the weeks that the "clients" are sick, so there are more hours. But, I have to say the pay of seeing smiles, hearing laughs, and watching as they finally get something is fantastic!

Hubby works anywhere from 40 hours a week to 60 or more depending on if there is a major project and if he is on call. (He works IT for a hospital). I would love for him to do a 9/80 or 4/10 schedule. I did the 9/80 when I was in corporate world and loved it! I was there early anyway to avoid traffic, so it was a nice treat to get an additional day off every two weeks!

[James]

I used to work 50-60 hours a week on salary (so only paid for 40). Then, I started contracting for a state govt. Now, 40 every week. And to top it off, we just found out we are going to 4/10. Permanent 3-day weekends here I come!

[RJ]

I "work" an average of 33 hours in a 6 day week. I get paid for 44 hours. Gotta love them government jobs! I actually work more at home everyday..

[a]

I keep it to 40 or less if at all possible. Any more and I start getting cranky and burned out. I admire the people who work 50-60+ hour weeks but I don't see how they do it. I'm guessing that they either need the money or love what they do. Honestly, I've yet to come across a job that I could consider anything other than a means to pay the bills.

[Heather]

I work 9am to 6pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
9am to 5:30pm Saturday
I am a receptionist, I do not take a lunch. I work about 44 to 45 hours a week.

[Jo]

I work in ministry, so my hours vary greatly. In the office I work 30-40+ but outside of the office I will do some work at home, run errands for work, and when on a retreat or trip I technically work 24hours/day. I calculated once on a 9 day mission trip that I clocked over 120 waking hours, my boss didn't believe me. But I was salary so what did she care!

Thankfully, I don't work for that church anymore and my current boss would totally believe me and probably insist that I take a week off follow that trip.

[Lauren]

40 hours (10-6 M-F), plus I go to grad school at night.

[bryan]

60-80 hours a week from mid march to mid november. off all winter. own a landscaping company.

[Tina]

My stated hours are 9-5 five days a week. However, 4 times during the year for six-eight weeks at a time, I work 8:30-6 (sometimes later) and take work home at night and on the weekend, and work during my commute. Except for a day here or there, lunches occur at my desk or in a taxi on the way to a meeting. Total of 40-50 hours a week. A four day week would help to cut down on some of the demands.

[aaktx]

I work about 80-100 hours a week. Docs work long hours.

[Sam]

I work 9 hours a day, so thats 45 a week. Add to that 4 hours travel time going to/from office/home, so thats like 65hours away from family. I'm now trying to initiate multiple streams of income, which starts with my blog. Spending more than 13 hours away from your family with so little time left for them doesn't make sense.

Sam
Fix My Personal Finance

[Rob]

40 hours a week. I'm hourly and can't work overtime unless they ask me to. I have a second job but that is never more than 15 hours each month (I do the second job from home).

[Amy]

I'm an attorney. I get in at 9, leave around 7-8 most days, a bit earlier on fridays, always working through lunch. I work 5-6 hours on a saturday once or twice a month. So between 50-55 hours per week on average.

[Jason]

Maybe working 4, 10-hour days would reduce the American propensity to come in early and stay late? Too many people get into this habit to prove how "dedicated" they are. Don't let your work take over your life. Each job has a reasonable number of hours you'll need to be there for. However, corporate over-scheduling and bad project estimation isn't a reason for you to work more hours. If a project can't get done with minimal overtime, the business needs to push back the goal date.

Anyway...I think 4, 10-hour days would help cure this habit because there would be fewer days to stay a little late. Also, after working 10 hours, most people should be itching to get home, no matter how dedicated they are, or want to appear.

[SPR]

Didn't think I'd take the cake, but I work from 55 to 65 hours a week (40 hours paid salary, the rest under the strong assumption that it'll be made up in my year end bonus), in the fixed income trading and financial services industries.

We are currently pursuing (somewhat unsuccessfully) a 4 + 3/4 day work week, with one employee having one Friday (or Monday) off a month (in addition to regular time off).

[Sarah]

A quiet week is around 50 hours. More common is somewhere between 60 and 70 hours...I think the top week so far was over 100.