Long 12 Days
 

I know some of you work long hours for weeks/months on end regularly. It's not my thing, but I survived.

It began Sunday, two weeks ago when I flew to Raleigh, NC. The following day I started a class for a software product that I will be working with. The instructor flat-out told us that the class had 3 weeks of info packed into 1 week. Class was officially 8 hours long, but I arrived an hour early and finished an hour late every day trying to complete the labs. Then I'd go out to dinner with my best friend (who just moved to Raleigh), and then back online for 2 more hours to clean up e-mail/try to keep the wheels on at work.

I flew home the following Saturday, went to bed, and got up the next morning and went into work for an implementation. Due mostly to problems with vendors, the implementation did not go well. I ended up working about 8 hours that day. Yesterday I finally took the day off (comp time), and will do the same on Monday.

By Thursday I had worked for 12 days straight without a break, many of those 12 hour days. I was spent and had trouble concentrating. I'm just wired so that my brain needs some down time and/or time away from work to function at its peak. The solutions to most of my work problems come to me when I'm away from work and thinking about other things. When I keep at a problem for too long, I start to run out of new ideas.

Pretty much America's new economy. Do more with less. If you are salaried, the more you work the less you're worth.

I would say welcome to my world. It gets worse as you get older
I do a 12 day stretch like that once a month- regular 50-70hr week, then 2 x10-12 hour days on the weekend, then another regular week.
The hardest thing is to fit "me" time into that type of week. Sounds like you did that ok too.
gary

Chris, two years ago I traveled allot. a 12 hour day is the norm. I was in Mexico working thru Thanksgiving (they don't do turkey down there). It's part of the job.

In July, I was gone almost the entire month. I traveled on two Saturdays and three Sundays.

Clients in NY so they get my undivided attention from 7:30 to 11am when my left coast people come online. Split time between coasts till 4pm when east shuts down then focus on west till 8pm which is when my Japanese client comes online. Usually spend an hour catching up with him. Not uncommon to get up in the middle of the night for a conference call with them. Oh, and my Sunday is their Monday so.......

I went garage saling this morning for an hour and an half.