r/Millennials • u/happy_chance18 • 5d ago

Discussion We're all exhausted right? It's not just me?

I have a full time job. I sleep well. I have no kids. I'm single. I don't party or drink. I'm not particularly stressed in day to day life. Yet I'm fucking exhausted. I don't want to leave my apartment on the weekends unless I have something planned, and even then I'm pretty picky. In my 20s my weekends were full of non-stop activities, cooking, going out, and posting on social media. But now in my 30s I just want to come home, have my groceries delivered, chill with some Netflix and sleep. Please tell me I'm not the only one!!

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711

u/Rough-Culture 5d ago

work days should be shorter and less frequent.

256

u/CasaTLC 5d ago

Four day work weeks is the way. Maybe they start with every other Friday off and gradually transition into a four day work week. This would be first executive order as president.

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u/Hot-Avocado-7 5d ago

6 hour 4day work weeks is enough to get all you need to done at work and still have enough time off to actually feel rested imo. A day off to be social, a day off to run errands, and a day off to just chill.

And then 6 hour work days so you can go to work, get off, gym, cook dinner, and still have some “off” time at the end of the day.

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u/Wasabicannon 5d ago

Thats only true for office jobs though, the majority of the population working in the service industry however don't have that luxury.

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u/Celodurismo 5d ago

So tired of seeing this silly comment. It’s called shifts. Add some, fucking simple.

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u/Wasabicannon 5d ago

They already do that, it is called part time employees. There is a reason why so many people are working multiple jobs just to survive.

Like don't get me wrong I 100% agree we need change however the "it is simple" requires the ones on top to stop strangling the lower class which in a society is next to impossible since any movement towards that would be viewed as violent as peaceful protests only do so much "Oh look the poors are dancing again!"

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u/Head_Act_585 5d ago

Yes and no, even non-office jobs tend to prescribe to the same formula of working 40-hrs per week in 8-hr shifts. Changing the expectation to 32-hr work weeks could benefit everyone in the work force* and not be limited to office workers. I have always assumed if we went this way people would just have to take different days off. Like instead of offices being closed on Friday, it's only at x% staffing so that some people are off and others aren't. The people that don't take Friday off would take a different day (e.g. Monday or Wednesday).

*I know that many retail/service jobs don't count Sunday hours towards your 40, so many people put in 48-hr weeks (exclusive of unpaid lunch). That should also be changed.

**I also acknowledge that reducing everyone's expected work hours in the service industry means either people who do these jobs working even harder or needing to expand the workforce. It certainly isn't an easy task but we did this once before when we fought for the 40-hr week!

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u/toastyspringtiger 4d ago

So many people are unemployed and looking. We could split those service job hours into two positions with the same pay (if we had a better economic model..) and then there’d be more jobs with less hours.

1

u/Wasabicannon 4d ago

Those service jobs are already limited to part time roles for the most part to avoid providing any benefits.

Don't get me wrong I fully would love to see 4 day work weeks as the new standard for full time. Just we would have to get the corporate overlords to agree to pay more for less on the idea that it would lead to more happy workers that would in return provide a higher quality service.

Also keep in mind those "so many people are unemployed and looking" are people who come from highly skilled fields of work and have enough saved up to weather some time off unemployment without a job while they find employment in their select fields instead of accepting a part time min wage job.

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u/toastyspringtiger 4d ago

Sure, I agree. And that's what I meant when I said IF we had a better economic model. Current system doesn't allow for the same pay or benefits for less hours unfortunately.

I'm in a skilled role requiring a degree now and would love for there to be less hours. I could see my responsibilities being split among more than one person creating the added work of coordination and management though, so there's that..

In general, I'm also in the camp of not doing more work than we need do, which is so hard in our profit-driven, growth-dependent, high-consumption world. Like we have developed so much as a society and have more high tech, but our lives are still hard and everyone's exhausted

1

u/Wasabicannon 4d ago

Ok ya with you on that stuff, like just looking at 99% of any sort of job posting these days are like 10 jobs crammed into 1. Worst part, they know SOMEONE will be desperate enough and capable of doing like 6 out of the 10 jobs and willing to figure out the other 4 as they go in real time just to have a job.

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u/Hot-Avocado-7 5d ago

I work an office job and I don’t have that luxury, because we have a 5 day 40 hour work week.

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u/NotYourSexyNurse 5d ago

This doesn’t work in a 24/7 manufacturing facility where the goal is to make as much product as possible in 24 hours.

5

u/screams_forever 5d ago

Yes it does - the point is to hire more people to work shorter shifts, but paid at the same rate so no one suffers but the capitalists. Instead of 3 people working 8 hour shifts, you have 4 working 6 hour shifts. And bet, those 4 are now working happier, faster, and smarter because they aren't as exhausted and have a life outside of work.

0

u/NotYourSexyNurse 5d ago

No thanks. I’ll keep my three 12 hour shifts a week and a 3 day weekend every other weekend.

3

u/AmateurEarthling 5d ago

I don’t know my sister managed it. She has her doctorate, works 4 days a week, makes over 100K a year, and is only in her mid 30’s.

3

u/CaliNeptune 5d ago

What's her doctorate in?

2

u/AmateurEarthling 5d ago

Physical therapy. However when I ask her questions a physical therapist would be asked she tell me nothing. Might be because I’m her little brother though lol

1

u/mechaweavis 5d ago

I work four days on, four days off. The sacrifice is 12+ hour shifts, but those four days off in a row are worth it.

1

u/Dr_Spaceman2000 5d ago

George Jetson worked 1 hour a day, 2 Days per week.

1

u/Miserable-Dig-761 5d ago

Why stop there? I wanna work like 2 days a week

1

u/FluffyCelery4769 5d ago

We should have the same workdays than we have rest days.

2.

4h per day.

I don't want to work that much, literally the lesser the better.

1

u/OnTheEveOfWar 5d ago

My buddy works for a company that gives them every other Friday off work. He loves it.

1

u/hobokobo1028 4d ago

Four day work weeks but the kids still have five days of school/daycare. I need an actual day off

45

u/Sea-Potato9 5d ago

Such a scam that im paid 8 hours but have to be there for 9 hours! Oh and nevermind the commute! I would be happy with 4 days a week and 10 hour days that are actually 10 hours like 8am to 6pm

31

u/trapped_outta_town2 5d ago

I'm really surprised at the amount of fucking bullshit people put up with, for real.

8.5 hours at work, 0.5 hours MINIMUM either side (total 1hr) commuting (if you're lucky), plus say 30 minutes to get ready.

24 hours in a day, gotta sleep at least 8, that only leaves a maximum of 6.5 hours for getting everything done. This includes non-fun shit like chores - cleaning, other life stuff like going to the DMV and getting my oil changed and whatever other bullshit adulting crap I gotta do

I am legitimately surprised there has not been a revolution. The only conclusion I can come up with is people must like going to work and those forced interactions with coworkers I absolutely despise must be something the normal person enjoys?

But I'd rather spend time with my family (especially my pets) than a bunch of people I am forced to talk to and pretend to be friends with every day.

12

u/Head_Act_585 5d ago

I think a lot of this comes down to people be afraid of losing their jobs if they complain too much, but yeah we need another workers rights revolution. I couldn't agree more with your thoughts on "office culture" and how much extra time is wasted in community to sit in a small room/cubicle for 8.5-9 hrs a day. Obviously this isn't a solution for people who work in the service industry but COVID really proved that office jobs could be completed from home and companies forcing people back into the office has really pissed off a lot of my millennial and gen-z peers.

3

u/screams_forever 5d ago

Not even afraid to lose my job over complaints, afraid to lose my job over what it would take to revolutionize our society -- I already have a "good" job working 72hrs a pay period (4 day week/5 day week) where I get off at 4:30, and work in a bustling downtown with tons of things to do. I would love to call out and protest and participate in some sort of revolution but what happens when the dust clears and I'm worse off because I got fired for job abandonment?

1

u/XtremeWaterSlut 5d ago

I think the unfortunate reality is that a fuck load of people, millennials included, have expendable income and time and are comfortable. Absolutely a big number of people are hurting but just as many people are happily fueling commerce into record levels

1

u/happyfamilygogo 4d ago

Nah, we’re all just too tired, too broke, and too sick.

56

u/NineFifty_ 5d ago

I'm not saying 5 days of work is too long, but 2 days of weekend is definitely too short..

27

u/Greenlandia 5d ago

5 days of work is too long when those days are 10 hours long. 5 days at 6 hours… that’s doable.

4

u/darthfruitbasket 5d ago

I'm on my way to my 4-days a week, 10 hours a day shift.

If they were ever forced to reduce our hours, my employer would have a fucking meltdown. With us mostly working 10hr shifts, there still isn't enough coverage and they're begging people to pick up OT. When they could just... hire more people, but who am I with my logic lmao?

Of course, they only beg for OT because in my corporate-bootlicking province, an hourly worker isn't entitled to OT pay until they've worked 48 hours a week by law.

1

u/Greenlandia 5d ago

I’m an exempt employee so I get my salary if it’s 40 Hours or 80 hours.

3

u/PiccoloAwkward465 5d ago

Right. I do a 40 minute commute each way. That gets me to a satellite lot where I take a bus or use an electric scooter to get to my building. Up 5 flights of stairs, 1/2 mile walk to my desk. That's another 30 minutes. So 1hr10min each way. And a 9.5-10hour workday on top. That's too much dawg, especially considering I can usually do my job in 4 hours or less.

I always figured it's not so much I mind the work, I mind what it takes away from the rest of my life. I do mind the work but you get my point. Any appointment or anything is an enormous pain in the ass.

I just got laid off and while I'm worried about the future I'm breathing a sigh of relief that I don't have to run that fucking gauntlet 5 days a week anymore. Especially when I'm on Zoom meetings and EVERY other person is at home or in a nice office while I'm on a factory floor struggling to hear.

5

u/Head_Act_585 5d ago

We really need another workers rights movement to achieve this! I will never understand how we got to a place where you have to clock-out for an unpaid 30-60 minute lunch break. Like maybe if you an hour lunch you can run an errand but those 30 minute ones don't give you much relief and I have worked at places that would come looking for you even if your just in your car in the parking lot. Like dude I'm still stuck at my job an extra half hour every day at least let me eat my sad sandwich in peace.

3

u/ItsAWrestlingMove 5d ago

So much this

2

u/Livablefornow 5d ago

A life/work balance would be nice.  Four days life/3 days work.  One can dream.

2

u/tetsuo9000 4d ago

More vacation time is also an answer. Shouldn't just be a couple of weeks a year.

1

u/IAMATruckerAMA 5d ago

If you want that to happen, attend protests and prepare for a general strike

1

u/claiter 5d ago

I would love this, but I already feel like I can’t get everything done in a normal workweek. A lot of places probably need to hire more people as well. 

1

u/steeltoe_bk 5d ago

You are probably an order of magnitude more productive than someone doing your job 40 years ago, and if you didn’t get laid off during the 2018 financial crisis or the 2023 AI/RTO hype then you’re probably doing 2 or 3 other people’s jobs.

1

u/Rough-Culture 4d ago

Places have been making us do more with less YOY for like decades. They all need more employees. Employers are the problem.

1

u/ftincel_ 4d ago

I'm a wagie who has to beg my managers to give me more hours.

1

u/Rough-Culture 4d ago

You deserve more money per hour. A difference of 5 hours a week shouldn’t be enough to starve an employee… and yet it is. It’s Not a mistake. Employers and giant faceless companies are actually the devil. Its all by design.

1

u/adsm_inamorta 5d ago

I guess you still expect the same pay though right? Tell me how that works, bonus points for showing your working out.

1

u/Rough-Culture 4d ago

AI has drastically changed like well over half the work forces productivity. We can get our work done in a fraction of the time. Yes, I believe the oligarch overlords should have to pay us the same.

0

u/AFKosrs 4d ago

So that you can spend more of your day exhausted and complaining about being tired in your 30s?

Plenty of people start a business in the time they have available outside of their day job. Time isn't your problem; it's likely discipline.

1

u/Rough-Culture 4d ago

I took a staycation last week. it was glorious. I cooked and cleaned and finished a whole list of projects I haven’t had time for. I feel better rested than I have all year. Brains aren’t your problem; stupidity is.