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Many years ago I was working for a small consulting firm and had a stretch of time with a lot of overtime; aka "crunch time". Since these were billable hours, t

by yibg 8y ago

Many years ago I was working for a small consulting firm and had a stretch of time with a lot of overtime; aka "crunch time". Since these were billable hours, time was tracked daily, even if they weren't all actually billed. The tracked hours varied over the ~6 month span, but ranged from 55 hours a week to 93 for one week. Of course not 100% of the time was spent on actual work but it was pretty close. The 93 hour week was pretty much: go to work, eat meals at desk, go home, work from home until bed time, go to sleep, then repeat. But in general weird things happened during that time, probably due to a combination of stress and unhealthy habits. For example: - I've never been a morning person and struggled to wake up before 9 all my life. During this time I woke up early to meet with the client early in the morning. After some time I'd habitually wake up 15 minutes before 6, which was when my alarm was set at. Also due to lack of sleep I'd always be pissed that I was missing out on 15 minutes of sleep too. - I was sleep deprived but didn't feel sleepy at all during the day. Granted I did consume a lot of coffee, but still. Adrenaline? - Got drunk really easily. Part of client facing work is drinks with clients every so often. I used to be able to drink 4-5 beers and not show much effect externally. Towards the end of this period 1-2 drinks and I'd be slurring. - Perversely, things were often times "fun". The team got really close to each other and we actually looked forward to going to the client office to do "battle". Definitely not sustainable nor healthy. I got pats on the back and some token raises / bonuses but I've since learned that going above and beyond like this is not worth it. The hit to mental and physical health is just not worth the small amount of extra money and (possibly) career advancement.

hobs 8y ago
Very common to have an "in the trenches" mentality and to even miss it - the shared stress and common purpose drives people close together, but mostly for the wrong reasons. I still am actively in contact with the people from "that job" and never made as strong of a bond with others, but I still wouldn't go back.
- yibg 8y ago
  I agree and it's similar for me. The closest work friends I have are from this company and formed during this period. 5+ years later and we still have regular gatherings. Of course the topic of conversation inevitably drift back to when we worked together and specifically during this period. A bit of silver lining in all this I guess, the friendships that have formed.
  - mat4magic 8y ago
    This is also the reason why sororities, military,.. do hazing. Because the hardship makes forming a bond easier. Its something that evolves naturally. Most people dont know why it works it just happens
- reachtarunhere 8y ago
  You are so right about the "in the trenches" mentality. I really crave for it sometimes.
sverige 8y ago
There are indications that missing 15 minutes of sleep can throw you off. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/real-life/774372/sleep-insomnia-how-much-cant-sleep-tired-better-nights-sleep https://www.dailystar.co.uk/real-life/774372/sleep-insomnia-...
wvenable 8y ago
Small bits of crunch time can be fun. You really get to stay in the zone and it's really liberating. I enjoy an occasional crunch (it's very rare in my job) but after the crunch I'm done and productivity falls to near zero.
- jammygit 8y ago
  I often catch a cold the day after a crunch period
radicalbyte 8y ago
Make that 6 months into two years and the sleep time to an average of 5 - 5.5 hours a night and you have parenthood of a crybaby. You have to add in a boss who spends 2/3rd of the time you're home screaming at you to the mix.
- kelnos 8y ago
  Except that having a child is an optional activity that you choose to do, whereas going to work is (usually) required. Ideally that work doesn't include periods of extreme overwork, and lucky people are sometimes able to walk away from jobs that do, but many people just have to do it in order to put food on the table.
  - beart 8y ago
    > Except that having a child is an optional activity that you choose to do I get what you are saying, but this is not a universal truth. Life gets complicated.
    - jolmg 8y ago
      For the vast majority, life doesn't get that complicated. I think even 5% of the population being forced into parenthood is too much of an exaggeration.
    - kelnos 8y ago
      The last time I was reading on this topic, around 10% of kids are actually unwanted -- that is, one or both parents did not want to ever have kids, or did not want to have more kids. Most kids are planned to some degree. For the remainder that aren't, the couple does want to have kids at some point, but they didn't plan to have kids at that particular time. Regardless, children are optional, full stop. There are certainly reasons why people who don't plan to have kids end up having them anyway, but that doesn't change the fact that it's an optional activity.
  - sidlls 8y ago
    Work is optional. There are plenty of people who get by without it. Doesn't mean they're doing well or healthy. And for society to continue to function having children is actually not optional.
shams93 8y ago
well add in the 4 hour a day commute and that's actually 70 hours lol.
otakucode 8y ago
>Adrenaline? Likely cortisol as well. Cortisol is the bane of modern society. We evolved to benefit from short intense bursts of cortisol and adrenaline, but our health suffers tremendously from extended elevated levels. And practically everything in the way we have structured society maximizes cortisol levels, especially in the workplace. It's particularly destructive to cognitive abilities, which is why I hope that maybe it might eventually get some attention and be consciously avoided. It would benefit productivity as well as benefit the health and happiness of nearly everyone.
- jammygit 8y ago
  Stress just kills focus and creativity. Then, when you can't focus or imagine, you have to somehow find a way out. I found regular hiking made the biggest difference to me personally. Wish my list of remedies was longer than that but... Yeah. Mountains
tootie 8y ago
I just had this week last week. 12 hours of work straight through two weekends and a few drinks every night. It's like one super long day where you're locked in. Then I slept 12 hours and spent 5 full days home with kids.

by yibg 8y ago

hobs 8y ago

Very common to have an "in the trenches" mentality and to even miss it - the shared stress and common purpose drives people close together, but mostly for the wrong reasons. I still am actively in contact with the people from "that job" and never made as strong of a bond with others, but I still wouldn't go back.

yibg 8y ago
I agree and it's similar for me. The closest work friends I have are from this company and formed during this period. 5+ years later and we still have regular gatherings. Of course the topic of conversation inevitably drift back to when we worked together and specifically during this period. A bit of silver lining in all this I guess, the friendships that have formed.
- mat4magic 8y ago
  This is also the reason why sororities, military,.. do hazing. Because the hardship makes forming a bond easier. Its something that evolves naturally. Most people dont know why it works it just happens
reachtarunhere 8y ago
You are so right about the "in the trenches" mentality. I really crave for it sometimes.

sverige 8y ago

There are indications that missing 15 minutes of sleep can throw you off. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/real-life/774372/sleep-insomnia-how-much-cant-sleep-tired-better-nights-sleep https://www.dailystar.co.uk/real-life/774372/sleep-insomnia-...

wvenable 8y ago

Small bits of crunch time can be fun. You really get to stay in the zone and it's really liberating. I enjoy an occasional crunch (it's very rare in my job) but after the crunch I'm done and productivity falls to near zero.

jammygit 8y ago
I often catch a cold the day after a crunch period

radicalbyte 8y ago

Make that 6 months into two years and the sleep time to an average of 5 - 5.5 hours a night and you have parenthood of a crybaby. You have to add in a boss who spends 2/3rd of the time you're home screaming at you to the mix.

kelnos 8y ago
Except that having a child is an optional activity that you choose to do, whereas going to work is (usually) required. Ideally that work doesn't include periods of extreme overwork, and lucky people are sometimes able to walk away from jobs that do, but many people just have to do it in order to put food on the table.
- beart 8y ago
  > Except that having a child is an optional activity that you choose to do I get what you are saying, but this is not a universal truth. Life gets complicated.
  - jolmg 8y ago
    For the vast majority, life doesn't get that complicated. I think even 5% of the population being forced into parenthood is too much of an exaggeration.
  - kelnos 8y ago
    The last time I was reading on this topic, around 10% of kids are actually unwanted -- that is, one or both parents did not want to ever have kids, or did not want to have more kids. Most kids are planned to some degree. For the remainder that aren't, the couple does want to have kids at some point, but they didn't plan to have kids at that particular time. Regardless, children are optional, full stop. There are certainly reasons why people who don't plan to have kids end up having them anyway, but that doesn't change the fact that it's an optional activity.
- sidlls 8y ago
  Work is optional. There are plenty of people who get by without it. Doesn't mean they're doing well or healthy. And for society to continue to function having children is actually not optional.

shams93 8y ago

well add in the 4 hour a day commute and that's actually 70 hours lol.

otakucode 8y ago

>Adrenaline? Likely cortisol as well. Cortisol is the bane of modern society. We evolved to benefit from short intense bursts of cortisol and adrenaline, but our health suffers tremendously from extended elevated levels. And practically everything in the way we have structured society maximizes cortisol levels, especially in the workplace. It's particularly destructive to cognitive abilities, which is why I hope that maybe it might eventually get some attention and be consciously avoided. It would benefit productivity as well as benefit the health and happiness of nearly everyone.

jammygit 8y ago
Stress just kills focus and creativity. Then, when you can't focus or imagine, you have to somehow find a way out. I found regular hiking made the biggest difference to me personally. Wish my list of remedies was longer than that but... Yeah. Mountains

tootie 8y ago

I just had this week last week. 12 hours of work straight through two weekends and a few drinks every night. It's like one super long day where you're locked in. Then I slept 12 hours and spent 5 full days home with kids.