How many free hours do you have on a work day?

[repoman0]

wake up at 7:30
at work by 8:15
leave work at 4:15
home by 4:30
sleep at 12-12:30

8 free hours. I use it to practice music, hang out with my gf, meet up with friends, make dinner and clean up, play video games, read books etc. Most of the time I eat lunch quickly at my desk and count it as work time and a couple-few days a week I sneak away to the work gym for 30-45 minutes mid afternoon.

It feels like my free time has expanded dramatically since I moved and my commute went from 25-30 minutes to 15, even though it's really not that much time.

 

[BxgJ]

Well it's pretty much zero, to answer the op. Unless you count a little reading before bed to get sleepy, as I can't seem just to get in bed and sleep right away.

 

[John Connor]

Gawd...I hate srs answers...

Waaaaaaaaaay back when I actually worked for a living...I generally crawled out of bed about 0230, out the door between 0330 and 0400...so I could drive ~100 miles for an 0600 start. I rarely worked less than 10 hour days...usually 12 (or more) and considered it a good day if I was home by 8 pm...where I'd grab a shower, maybe a bite to eat, crawl back in bed...and do it all again the next day. It always seemed like I would pass myself going the other way by Thursday...and I al.ost always worked 6 day weeks...with a smattering of 5's and 7's in the mix...

Go to college kids. LOL!

 

[Zeze]

(I read title as "how many free hours do you have AT work")

About 4 hours to be honest. So half day.

I have not come home later than 3pm 90% of the time this entire year. After the morning rush of meetings, I go home around 2-3pm and log in from home.

Glorious. I'm WFH today. And tomorrow.

I know this won't last, but I'm cherishing what I have now.

Bosses love me cuz I do work hard, make myself visible/vocal and lead folks during meetings. Thank god I'm not a developer.

 

[Red Storm]

wake up at 7:30
at work by 8:15
leave work at 4:15
home by 4:30
sleep at 12-12:30

8 free hours. I use it to practice music, hang out with my gf, meet up with friends, make dinner and clean up, play video games, read books etc. Most of the time I eat lunch quickly at my desk and count it as work time and a couple-few days a week I sneak away to the work gym for 30-45 minutes mid afternoon.

It feels like my free time has expanded dramatically since I moved and my commute went from 25-30 minutes to 15, even though it's really not that much time.

That small 15 minute difference saves you 30 minutes a day, which is ~15 extra hours every month (~180 hours a year, or roughly 7 extra days of free time). It really adds up, that's why commute time is very important to me, both to avoid the stress of rush hour traffic, but also the increased time savings.

 

[Yakk]

I'm full on booked last couple years. I try to get 4 to 5 hours sleep, if I want more free time that decreases. Also can't have more than one 24h no sleep day a week now that I'm getting older... Sigh...

 

[Exterous]

I'm not usually the one doing the cooking since that is the husband's domain and he gets cranky if I mess around in the kitchen too much.

Thats a hell of a perk but then I dislike cooking

 

[rh71]

Would most people agree that a healthy portion of their day goes into doing parental things?

I really only need like 1-2 hours a day for my own personal game time (after kids sleep at 830pm) and the rest is parental things which I mostly enjoy (coach kids' hockey, bring them to tennis which helps their athletic ability). I will say that if I had a girl and had to take her to dance recital, I would mind it a lot more. But really, when you reach a certain age and have kids, it's all about the kids and their happiness which in turn satisfies me.

Now that I sleep with my fitbit, it tells me that I only get about 6 hours sleep and then I tend to wake automatically. Since I don't have to wake until 8am most mornings, I can go pretty late for myself if I wanted to. Even if I had to wake at 6am, sleeping at midnight wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Red Storm]

Would most people agree that a healthy portion of their day goes into doing parental things?

I have a toddler, so I wouldn't say it's a healthy portion just yet, but I know that time will go up as he gets older. Right now when I get home from work the very first thing I do is spend a good hour or two just playing / hanging out with my kid, mostly because it's one of the highlights of my day, and also to give my wife a much needed break. I look forward to the increased time spent with him as he gets older.

 

[K1052]

Thats a hell of a perk but then I dislike cooking

I agree. I actually like cooking but I admit that he's naturally better at it than I am.

My one area in the kitchen where I'm at an advantage is baking, especially bread. He hasn't made a loaf of bread that has come anything close to edible.

 

[ponyo]

I was way optimistic. 4 hours of sleep is good right?

That's rough. I worked 3 hours so far this week. I have to work another 2-3 hours tomorrow. Sometimes I feel guilty how much free time I waste.

 

[zinfamous]

How do you fit in the weed time with that kind of schedule?

 

[Ns1]

How do you fit in the weed time with that kind of schedule?

how do you think I keep my sanity?

 

[rh71]

I have a toddler, so I wouldn't say it's a healthy portion just yet, but I know that time will go up as he gets older. Right now when I get home from work the very first thing I do is spend a good hour or two just playing / hanging out with my kid, mostly because it's one of the highlights of my day, and also to give my wife a much needed break. I look forward to the increased time spent with him as he gets older.

Have another kid, and quick, so they're similar aged and interests. It gets old as they age and need your attention every second rather than play along themselves. I do miss the old days most though, miss holding them and tossing them about. Take lots of videos, you'll never get the days back.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I try to work as little as possible, any time I can leverage getting off early I will.

I take all the OT I can get, but that's just because it's not super often it happens. If it happened often then I would pass some times. This is Canada though, we get paid for OT here, I think it's common in the states where you don't get paid, and if you don't take it then you're not a team player. Here people want OT because they get paid for the extra hours. Money is a good incentive to do more work.

 

[Fenixgoon]

wake up around 730
shower, walk dog
maybe eat breakfast
get to work at 9
run home for lunch and let dog out 1-2
finish work at 6
walk dog after home
dinner, etc.

i'd probably say 5 hours of free time, typically.

 

[madoka]

My job is unusual in that I can almost directly convert my time into work. So having free time means that I could have been earning money. Then you start realizing that watching a TV show costs you $500 in lost potential income or going out to the movies cost $2000. So the upshot is that I'm constantly working. It's a crappy life, but Lego, guns, and cars don't just pay for themselves.

 

[Red Squirrel]

My job is unusual in that I can almost directly convert my time into work. So having free time means that I could have been earning money. Then you start realizing that watching a TV show costs you $500 in lost potential income or going out to the movies cost $2000. So the upshot is that I'm constantly working. It's a crappy life, but Lego, guns, and cars don't just pay for themselves.

Holy crap, what do you do? I don't even make $500 in a 12h day lol. The trade off is I get lot of time off though. Like if I consider all the days off I get, I'm off almost half the year. Well maybe more like 1/3 but still better than a standard 8*5 job.

 

[zCypher]

Wake up a few minutes before shift, roll out of bed, turn on laptop. Not too bad. But I do give a fair bit outside of my "scheduled" and "defined" duties, so there is that.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That would be awesome to be able to work from home. When the internet was new that was suppose to be a new cool thing, but hardly any companies seem to take advantage of that idea.

 

[TheVrolok]

That would be awesome to be able to work from home. When the internet was new that was suppose to be a new cool thing, but hardly any companies seem to take advantage of that idea.

Working from home is awful.

I'd say if we're talking about time at home on a week night when I'm not actively working? Maybe 2 hours?

 

[snoopy7548]

I always feel like I'm rushing. Here's my schedule:

-Wake up at 6:15a.m.
-Leave for work by 7a.m.
-Get to work by 7:20a.m.
-Stop working at 4:40p.m. and go to the gym (at work) - I used to work until 5-5:15 but there's really nothing getting done in those last 20-40 minutes, so why stay?
-Leave by 5:40p.m.
-Get home around 6p.m.
-Get settled, pack my lunch for the next day, make/reheat dinner, start eating around 7p.m.
-Finish eating around 7:45p.m., feed my gecko, have a snack, either surf the internet or do a little bit of woodworking until 9:30p.m.. I should start getting back into gaming
-Get ready for bed around 9:30p.m., get into bed and start reading by 9:50-10p.m.
-Go to sleep around 10:45p.m.

I really want to start working from home in some capacity because I hate my current and the typical office routine, but I'm not really in the right industry for that unless I do consulting, which I'm not good enough for. Maybe I should just cut my work hours; I only go in early (we're expected to work 8-5, though my boss is one of the few who doesn't really care as long as our work is done) so I can spend the first 45 minutes at work eating breakfast and reading the news without being bothered.

 

[Thebobo]

4:40 AM to 5 AM - Morning routine
5:00 AM to 5:30 AM - Commute
5:30 AM to 2 PM - Work
2 PM to 2:30 PM - Commute
2:30 PM to 9:30 PM - Personal time
9:30 PM - Bedtime

 

[Red Squirrel]

Working from home is awful.

I'd say if we're talking about time at home on a week night when I'm not actively working? Maybe 2 hours?

It's all about discipline though. Personally I would probably setup a completely separate computer/network for work so the two don't mix, when it's 5:00, I would then move to my home environment and not even look at work.

My biggest issue though is I would probably turn into a hermit. I'm introvert and am fine with going weeks without any human interaction, but that's probably not healthy.

 

[William Gaatjes]

My commute is an hour travel to get to work and another hour to get home.
Usually i have to look up or read up on stuff for work but at home when i am alone it goes much faster than when having people around me. That goes of my own personal time but makes life more relaxed for me at work.
I work 8 hours a day.
Taking into account 1hour to do in the morning stuff and get ready to leave for work and 8 hours of sleep that i really need or i burn up, i have the luxury of 5 hours each evening to eat, do some choirs and relax or sport or do something social.
I am better off than most of you guys and gals.
Would not have expected that.