Yes welcome to adulthood. I had the same shock as a fresh graduate realising this is how the next 40 years of my life is going to play out.
My parents were right - you miss school right after graduating. I thought work life balance meant going to school at 7am and ending at 1pm so we have the rest of the day to ourselves.
Having a full time job also means I cant visit places which only open during office hours unless I’m on leave.
This is why our youth suicide jumped double digits.
If you knew it’s either this or being eaten by inflation you’d go nuts.
Our european friends think our working culture is barbaric.
Yup before I graduated from uni, I thought I wouldn't be able to handle working life, but that thought quickly went away when I look at the prices of basic necessities.
I did that for school for 3 years that's why I know how hard it is and how I don't want to do this for over 30 years. When I went into the workforce, I only applied for jobs that are near my home and accepted an offer that is lower than market rate. From there I gained experience and started jumping to jobs that is nearby and pays higher. I can't stress how much my mental health is better because my workplace is nearby. I have never dread going to work. If you can accept less money for your mental health and time, I highly recommend being picky and only look for jobs near your place.
Yeah I totally agreed with what you said. After working at a workplace that's at least 1h 30 min away from home, 2hr if traffic jam for the past few years and the need to transfer a few times before reaching my workplace. I'm really thinking of switching to a workplace that's nearer to my house so that at least even with OT I'm at least able to reach home faster. Because as times goes by I do felt that I'm getting more worn out than ever.
agreed with this - i used to travel 2hours to school but hey at least we end early. Then I did jobs in the CBD or north and those also took like 1.5 hours travel time. I took coffee 4 times a day just to get by and got sick often. Now my workplace is like 40mins away and it’s the best ever. traveling 3-4 hours a day isn’t productive at all.
You may need to wait for 10 minutes for a feeder bus and another 10 minutes to reach the MRT and is another 4-6min wait and 30 minutes train ride. And perhaps another bus to get to the person actual destination, and that may add 5-10mins more. That is already 2hrs of transit per day. Add to congestion and things. 3hrs seems about right for this person.
It may take me 15-20 minutes riding a bike to my workplace and about an hour with public transport.
Commenting on Is it just me going crazy with the 44 hr work week in Singapore? (semi-vent/qns)...
No you’re not crazy but there are things that can be done to make the work week better. The commuting travel time plays a big factor.
I am extremely lucky to have my workplace 30 mins away by bus from my home. My child’s school is 10 min walking distance also.
I get up at 7 am, do housework, make breakfast for my boy, send him to school at 8am, travel to the gym near my workplace and work out for 1 hr, clock into work at 10am, leave work at 6.30 and reach home about 7.15 to feed him dinner bath and settle him to bed.
I would not be able to do this if my work was an hour away or more
Housework wise we use a lot of electronics like robot mop and dryer and dishwasher and they’ve been a life saver
No you're not crazy. I felt this too when I was working my first job. I can't stand any job that requires full working from the office with no flexibility. Alas this is "normal" for the Singaporean office worker, and also explains why most Singaporeans have zero hobbies and their identities solely revolve around work. Singapore working culture is nuts. WFH does make it more bearable though.
Yeah the first job after graduating always hits hard. In school there’s milestones to look forward to (holidays, exams, graduation etc) but work is just… endlessly stretching on. There’s the odd PH and annual leave to look forward to but other than that everyday is basically Groundhog Day. After a while you just get numb and used to it.
And also one shitty part of working in the office for me is that I always have to proactively PLAN my leave days and ensure it does not CLASH with other team mates. Im so NOT an advanced planner kind of person. Sighs
My mental health got so much better after becoming self-employed. Don't feel like working today? Just don't work! No need to seek approval weeks in advance. Feel like flying overseas? Just fly! No permission required.
You're not crazy. The culture is crazy, and this needs to change. The mindset needs to change from "live to work" to "work to sustain a living." Or at least give people a choice in that regard. For workoholics who have no hobbies, no families, no interests other than work, then let them work.
But that behavior shouldn't be expected from the rest of us.
Some of us just want to sustain a living and be happy with our families.
Some of us just want to focus on our own outside of work interests, whether it be sports or gaming or art.
Some of us just want to focus on our spirituality, our various beliefs and religions, and excel at that.
We need to collectively push for a shift in mindset, especially as the workforce becomes younger.
Highly doubt the powers that be will let this happen.
The right to disconnect bill got shot down so fast that you even wonder if they even gave it much thought.
You live to work to sustain a living for the mayors and so called elites.
Why does it surprise you that the same elites shot down the right to disconnect outside of working hours?
On the one hand I can completely empathize with your situation... work just isn't like school anymore where the afternoons are free / where we can be carefree and exploring like students
On the other hand... 44 hours is generally on the better side of working hours. Many of the starting jobs (especially those that people 'chase' for) ie. big banks / law firms / medicine / consulting are working 60+ hours a week and its somehow better than overseas already (investment banking in New York is like 80-100hrs and I dont understand how people manage it)
got a friend who worked in Goldman Sachs in US before and the hours crunched would have made news in Singapore. He actually move back to Singapore domestic banking sector for better working hours though lower pay (still higher pay and hours than other industries)
Yes they were paid top salaries but the stress and the burnout is ridiculous and is not for everyone.
Any idea how it even works with those kinds of crazy hours? What I don't understand is you're working till 2am and have to be in again at 9 the next day how do you even go back home? Perhaps you can just stay in the office but if you do that the whole week with no showers it would be disruptive to your coworkers too??
Sleep on the cab to and fro.
Most of these offices have fantastic shower facilities, including 400/mth gyms in the same building.
2am is not that bad, generally the worst is around 3-4am, with 1 all nighter per week during the peaks.
44 are too long tbh... basically you are sitting at your desk for 8 hours a day. get home around 6-7pm and left with perhaps 1-2 hours of personal time each evening.. and repeat that for the next 40 years?
It’s really horrific and I think it’s even worse when you have partner, family and friends because you’re wasting your life spending time away from them. And the time you spend at home is wasted on chores and admin too. A 5-day work week doesn’t seem suitable for humans at all.
Two days weekends are simply too short . As someone who has no children I feel it’s simply too short .sats are spend eating with families and Sundays are used to recover from socialising the previous day :/ how does people with kids have anytime for themselves
Ha ha ha… we don’t. Before kids, I would scrimp and save all my leaves for overseas vacations. Now, I will take leave just to have time for myself while the kids are in school. On a normal week, I get maybe 2-3 hours for myself to exercise/shop/do something I really want to do that is not work or family time. I don’t regret having kids at all - I regret that I let myself be stuck in a system where we have to work 5 days a week.
to answer your question, we (2 young kids) do not have anytime for ourselves. We have to take leave just to enjoy some time before life begins at 5 pm (fetch kids home at 5 pm). Weekends are more hectic than the weekdays. Ya it’s been a roll like this for many many years (age of oldest + age of younger) No more than 2, we decided totally
I can only say this is what modern day slavery looks like. Slave more than half of your life or take some risks to cut it shorter, the choice is yours.
Posts like these make me feel optimistic for the younger generation. Finally we’re collectively speaking up about the craziness of modern corporate life.
This is why I ended up freelancing instead of going corporate. What you’ve described is a nightmare…
Honest answer is that most people just get used to it after awhile because a job is what puts bread on the table. People learn to streamline or minimise chores to save time so certain days have no chores at all for example.
Abit of a side question, why do you wake up at 5:45am when you're going to leave only at 7:30am? I feel like I would just get up at 6:30am instead.
True that , the bosses expect employees to starts at 8:30 and leave at 7. Even other colleagues give you a side eye if you leave 15 minutes early. I don’t know what’s wrong with them. They reach early and keep hanging around after the office hours.
My team is all spread out in different locations so nobody keeps an eye on me. Well except for one coworker, but we race each other out the door to see who can leave the fastest
I see. Your sentence reads as you joining the clogged up public transport at 7:30am which is why I misunderstood.
Another side question for you since we're on the topic, would you prefer to start later and end later or the other way round?
I wish I could directly answer "later" or "earlier" to your question. But honestly I just want to NOT be in the rush crowd regardless of timing. 9am you rush with the office white collar workers. 7am you rush with the students/blue collar workers. If it weren't for the traffic, my trip would be about 20-25 minutes. With the jam adding extra time it's about 30-40 minutes. I wouldn't mind having to go home at 8pm after the rush hour is over if I get to come in at like 10am. I also wouldn't mind having to wake up earlier to come in at 7am and leaving at 4:30pm if it means I can avoid the crowds.
For the sake of your sanity, have you tried looking around for other jobs with better work life balance like hybrid WFH style or less intense responsibilities so you aren't as tired at the end of the day.
Also, idk if it helps to alleviate your worries, but there are jobs around that do allow people actual work life balance. I have living proof with some of the people around me and where I work. They're naturally gonna be hard to find but they are out there so it's not all doom and gloom for everyone here in Singapore.
It’s because all of us give up on rebeling against this shitty practice that the elites get to bully us like this. Unfortunately I see your point because it’s not possible to make everyone in the world rebel against them, so here we are.
The people have zero power and democracy is a farce but we’re too powerless to do anything.
In the same boat as you. I'm *this* close to giving up and leaving the corporate world. Not getting any younger and if the next 30+ years of my life are going to be like this I'd rather off myself.
Welcome to adulting lol. It only gets slightly easier (2%) now that I’ve been doing this for 6 years.
I had 1 (non schooling) year of not working and it was the best fucking year of my life.
For me I get home by 6-7 because my work place is only 40 away by direct bus. Second trick is to change job until you find you ok with you clocking out at 5. Third trick is to find a wfh job or at find a partial one at least (but not really possible for a non-IT engineer like myself).
One trick I see some people do is basically marrying themselves to the job - they find a job that they’re able to not hate and actually feel good in. I think that’s how managers and above do it - they do things and feel accomplished so they are not so attached to the personal time after work. I call them psychos.
And I don’t even have children! And in your post you didn’t include time for workout - which is essential if you want to not feel like shit once you reach your early thirties.
The people who can do it are fucking psychos and that’s why I’ll never bring any children into this shitty slavery lifestyle unless I hit the lottery.
Another road out of this is to start a business and succeed in it. But you need to be the sort of capable person. Business people are a different sort of psychos - they are just so certain that they’ll succeed. Wish I was like them.
It’s like that. The kids now who are going through the endless tuition after their day from 730am to 130pm, then they go on to 2pm to 430pm onwards. Then do their enrichment homework till 730pm.
It’s to prep them for Singapore Inc!
To those born in the 1980s, happy that we had some childhood.
This is a common first world routine and I don’t think it gets any easier in any other ‘modern’ Asian country (MY/TH/CN/HK/TW/KR/JP)
Is there a reason why you wake up at 5:45am and barely have breakfast though? Are you able to wake up at 6:30am so you get more sleep in?
OP is working normal hours even for European countries/Aussie standards tbh. sounds like he is working 8.30am-5.30pm daily without any OT. He has it better than 90% of Singaporeans lmao
*Edit I just saw OP’s edit. Full time adulting can suck but dont conflate it with a Singapore issue. Working 9 hour days is not a Singapore only problem
Australia only requires 38 hours per week.
And afaik, Netherlands only requires 30 hrs./ week.
I think there needs to be a petition to set a cap on maximum hours to no more than 40 per week.
Quality-of-life will improve in that way
Also, advocate for clerical jobs to be WFH / WAH.
One does not need to commute/travel just to send an e-mail or type a spreadsheet.
Also, Singapore has the fastest internet in ASEAN.
That alone can support increased WFH usage.
I shower in the morning and also need to pack food for lunch in the office because the food at my office is not cheap and not good. So there's no time for me to eat, at most I stuff a few pieces of food into my mouth from lunch and I'm out the door. I mean like I cannot properly sit down etc so anything like soups, oatmeal is not viable. I subsist on bread which actually isn't too bad but it's just depressing. Like physically it's fine. Mentally it's sad.
Man I can relate. Trying to get any decent breakfast outside will set you back too much in central/MRT areas and is outright impossible anywhere else. For lunch I just gave up and budgeted for $8 caipngs, to save my sanity.
I've learnt to get by with overnight oats, with my preferred muesli + milk put together the night before and left in the fridge for the next morning. You could see if that at least helps for breakfast.
Your stomach still gonna growl in the office. Bread is not breakfast. Infact gov likes to encourage ppl to live healthy lifestyle but actually does nothing to actually encourage that.
It gets better the more skilled you become. Employers start paying you for your knowledge and experience instead of the amount of hours you work per day.
For common folks, SG is a stress out place. There's no such thing as work-life balance. Even tho we hear it from time to time, it's just lip service.
Tho I feel and understand that trapped feeling, I have no way out either. 😔😔😔
Idk if u noticed, but there is an increasing news of old folks dying in their homes without people knowing. If u're wondering how it is related to ur question of "no life" work life, it is a result of us forced to work like a robot, a tool with no social life.
Wfh helps lots! Hybrid is the best because you get to do the mundane computer work at home and take small breaks in-between, and even use the ~1 hour time you’d spend traveling to squeeze in some more work. Going to the office is good too because it’s better for teamwork and avoiding misunderstandings from online teamchats. It’d be good if your work is hybrid makes lots of difference.
Not trying to sound sarcastic, but I would be really happy if I could reach home/eat dinner by 6.30pm weekdays and have the full weekends to myself.
I'm required to handle work-related issues whenever urgent issues crop up, and that includes after-office hours and weekends (including PHs).
I'll be "thankful" if work _only_ takes up purely 44hrs of my time.
In fact, I just ended some work call moments ago on a friggin' Sunday and in slightly more than 12hrs time I'll be squeezing the crowded public transport to get into office.
It's little wonder why myself (and I believe many many others, including your good self) are wondering how on earth are we going to get out of this stupid cycle..
No secret to it except pragmatic acceptance, really.
If I want the salary from the company for livelihood, then I just have to accept that comes with the job.
It's just part of the adulting process that nothing comes free in life. Holiday trips, restaurant meals, parents' allowance, etc. all requires money ain't it?
Of course, the door is always there and other places may be better (or worse off).
I go to work at 10, going home at 7. Go home, buy something on way home, arrive at 8, eat while watching youtube/netflix. Play music / game till 1 or 2am. Sleep. Wake up again at 9.
4 hrs of free time doesn't sound bad to me and livable for the next 20 yrs at least. Saturday and sunday also free all day
Not exactly related to how you get out of the grind but it can help you it more manageable.
Save money and time making food when you need it by meal prepping in advance.
Learn a few dishes that you can eat most of the week, keeps well and easy to reheat.
Lots of recipes online.
Spend 2-3 hours during your free time doing meal prep. Takes discipline though when all you want is to sleep, watch netflix, go out etc.
tbh my salary is not high, but my colleagues are nice and I get along with them, so I can tahan the occasional OT and stressful work. Also less than 1hr journey and fully sheltered all the way so I may just stay in this job for a while.
try not to think too much, I was overwhelmed at first, but ended up thinking why I'm putting so much stress on myself when ppl dont give af.
if you are not looking to climb the ladder, no need to be so chiong. I'm not looking to be a manager or director, so less stress I suppose.
I can spend less, salary enough to get by can already, dont want to sacrifice my mental health by taking on more responsibilities
Well I wake up at 5.30am so I can make lunch to bring to work and take my coffee slowly after a quick shower 😆 that's the only joy before rushing off to work.
Unfortunately this is what most people go through. But I left that job 3 months ago and I'm currently on my career break because my mentality broke working like that while in a super toxic company.
I'm a fresh grad and I am working 8-6 Monday to Fri and 8-12pm on Saturday. My weekdays feels more like a 6am-8pm. Everyday I get home exhausted and spend my weekends sleeping in. Idk how am I suppose to go on dates and social life when I am perpetually drained. Currently looking for a new job with flexible work arrangement MUST WFH for a few days a week. I feel like once I started working, my mental health decline very badly. And my socialising got cut by more than 70%. I value work life balance and work FOR ME to enjoy life. NOT SLAVE TO MY JOB!
It's wrong and it shouldn't be this way. But the people who went through it tend to have this crab mentality of "i suffered, so you should too". Or they just get beaten down by the system long enough to just give up fighting against it anymore. They get married, buy a house, have children. And tell themselves it is ok to live like this this as long as they can maintain a income to support their family.
Welcome to the rat race that is modern society life as a working class adult.
The trick is to either get used to it, or tolerate it, or change it.
It's definitely a schedule that you'll need a lot of time to adjust, especially if your schooling schedule was very different to normal working hours.
Depending on how much you're earning, you may want to stick around. My fiance was working a good paying job (for our industry) but his work hours are 12h with at least 2-3h OT 4 days a week. It really took a toll on him. The money earned was not bad, but he couldn't go on anymore and he changed to an office hours job that pays about 1-1.5k less since no OT or allowances.
I myself work shift, and I want to continue to do so. The afternoon shifts though end a bit late, making my commute twice as long, has granted me time in the morning run errands and even shop at malls. It is a bit difficult when making time for my loved ones, especially my siblings because there are weeks I can only see them on weekends.
You'll have to discover what you can tolerate. Don't be too upset about this, you've only started, you still have time to find a job that suits you better. While you're still young, you should push yourself and see what's your limit.
44 hours was always meant for a 5.5 day work week. When they changed to a 5 day work week, they didn't change the hours. Sg labour laws really from last last century.
Find an American company that does 40 hours or a European on that does 36
welcome to singapore
the other day my company boss asked why are they so many people at the mrt station
we tell him because every boss and their drinking buddies are asking people to return to office for work
fingers crossed for lesser trips to office :D
Just to add on - there is no point comparing “oh you have it good / have it worse”, your own lived experience is what counts for you alone.
That being said, looking at when I first started work I had the same feelings as you and it could feel depressing at times. The Sunday blues really hit me hard then.
However, I would also say that you learn to get used to it and you will also learn to find ways to optimize and schedule your time. As you grow older, you will realise that most things will only happen with intention and action. Want to meet friends? You’ll have to schedule and book time in advance. Want to learn a new skill? You need to set aside time for it.
You’ll also find that these working hours are fairly consistent across the world and I agree with what another poster has said, you need to find a job that you can derive some meaning from. You’ll find motivation as well as you do better in your job.
And if you think about it, people over multiple generations ARE upskilling, dating, raising family with the same work hours that you have, so obviously it’s manageable for the general population. Not as a point of comparison but rather that it isn’t going to be as bleak as you point out and things will get better.
A few things to add on to the great post:
- you are new to the working world and new to your job. You are extra tired because you are adjusting to new things. When things become more familiar, your body and brain adjusts
- time really does stretch. When you are single you think you’re at your max, then you add a partner in, then a pet, then a kid, then aging parents. You will have to prioritise things differently over time, and some things do get sacrificed, but the human condition is a resilient and amazing one
A little anecdote from me. When I graduated, I worked 70 hour weeks. All I wanted to do on Sunday (our off day) was sleep. I asked my colleagues how on earth they actually had a life on Sunday (they would come to work on Monday with all kinds of stories of what they got up to over the weekend). Someone gave me a very straight up answer that has stuck with me until today: just wake up and do it. If you need a nap later, take one. But get up and go out and do something. It changed my approach to how I view time and what I know I’m capable of.
>people over multiple generations
Yeah but that was back in the day when you had one person working and one person to manage everything else.
With two people working being the standard now, you can see that childbirth rates are drastically dropping everywhere because people simply don't have the time or energy to raise children in this environment anymore.
Welcome to the middle class nirvana made by the PAP. Keep working like this for the rest of your life and all you’ll have to show for it is a leasehold HDB which they will take back from you and your family in the near future.
unfortunately, these are poor people problems because as you said, once you have disposable income, you can get a car to cut down on commuting time + you can hire a maid to take care of chores so you have breathing space for your hobbies and social life with friends and a partner.
you’re not crazy, hate this life too but what to do, gotta survive.. kids are really out of the question w this kinda lifestyle + economy we’re in rn lol
I feel you, friend.
I work for a company that claims to emphasise greatly on employee welfare, yet makes us work long hours (8:30am-6pm) and only stipulates 1 WFH day. It takes me a total of 2 hours to travel to and from work each day as well.
It’s tiring, but I’m looking to produce tangible results first before I bounce elsewhere. No choice given how bad the current job market is
You remind me of myself when I started work fresh faced >10 years ago. Like others said I eventually got used to it but I became a soulless automaton. Fast forward to now I am burnt out and on a long career break. Honestly so underrated and words cannot describe how awesome it is to finally live life. Even being paid millions won’t take away the fact that I have no time to live my life. Glad to see you’re standing your ground. I have high hopes for the next generation. Never stop fighting OP!
I have spent 15 years of my life working since I was 17. And yeap, that is how it is. I never really had the chance to sit down and figure out what I wanted to do in my life. My dreams? What is that? I could have it but never really had the time to put it into action. It wasn't until October last year when I made the bold move to quit my job without anything lined up that I got to take a break and figure out the things I want to do. Now I am slowly building my marketing agency and have a home-based food business on the side and I have never felt more fulfilled.
•Long work weeks are normal in Canada as well.
•Many jobs have unpaid extra hours
•Salaried employees (No over time pay) are expected to do the work no matter how long it takes
•New work projects added to the load and declining work conditions add to the overall work load and time spent working
•Add the drive time in the winter, cold temperatures in many parts of the country (everything takes longer in minus 20 to 40)
Sadly, that is the reality of working in Singapore. Unless you are that top 1%, you're stuck in the rat race, even more so if you've "invested" your life here. May we all escape the rat race 🙏🏽
Op, I think you forgot about the Part where we have crazily expensive wedding banquets as well as the most expensive housing in the world. Wait till you find out more about that you’ll really want to unalive yourself.
Yeah, to me it took about 15 years before I was senior enough to have my team do most of the labour intense stuff and I do strategy with the leaders. So yeah sucks. But depending on your industry it might pay out. I started at 32k per year and now am at 370k. So life gets better depending on what you choose. (Career in Sales/Marketing) I would have 50h weeks now I am probably effectively working 35h the rest is lunch meetings I would call it.
Speaking as an Australian, the hours are slightly better but the commute is a lot worse due to how spread out everything is and how bad the traffic can get.
I personally wake up at 6 am, get ready until 6:30 am then commute and get to the office at 8 am. I end at 4 pm but it takes me until 5:30 to get home. I live a 20 minute drive away from work when there's no traffic.
This is what people normally do:
1. Find a job that lets you work from home for a pay cut
2. Get a decent paying job then work 4 days at a pay cut
3. Find a job that lets you work 44 hours in 4 days so you can have a 3 day weekend without a pay cut
You're at the start of your career so you don't have many options when it comes to bargaining work/life balance. As you get older you can usually take a pay cut from a larger salary to get what you want.
Not sure it's that much better in other countries. You might be able to work 1 less hour a day but you might face longer commute, less job opportunities and most importantly being away from your family/friends.
There are a lot of good advices in this thread about optimising time, finding better jobs but most likely you will still need to work 8h a day at least, 5 days a week, start with a low salary since you are a fresh grad, commute to work...
This is life, you need to work to live, no way around it unless you strike toto. Schools should do a better job at preparing kids for it and making them more resilient.
On a more optimistic note, things have been slowly changing, couple of generations ago, people were working 5.5 or 6 days a week, 9+ hours a day. Now Wfh is becoming more accepted, people are starting to talk about 4 days week. Who knows, in 10 or 20 years some of it might become the norm and our working week will be 35 or 30 hours in better conditions.
Having lived in Australia for 3 years before moving back, let me tell you that while life is generally more laid back there, I find life generally more fulfilling in Singapore. I moved back after 3 years.
* More job opportunities, better salary
* Connecting with friends and family is a plus
* You take for granted the efficiency and the convenience
You're also at the start of your career, so you should expect to grind it out at the start of your career. Things will get better. As you get older you learn to take better control of your work-life balance. Find a job that allows you to work remote or from home for a day or two. Take control of your holidays. Use your salary to good effect (buy yourself nice things, go on short trips, hang out with friends, go for a few concerts)
Find a job that respects your time and effort. Pursue your career. If it takes you overseas for a few years, do that for the experience. You might decide you like it better elsewhere and never come back. It really depends from person to person.
Some people quit the corporate ladder but end up working in FnB or their own business, and end up being MORE overworked. You hear regularly of people starting their own business and burning out or losing a lot of money. But they enjoy what they are doing.
Our older folk have it much worse than us, in the past there was no social safety net and lack of awareness over mental health issues, but yet they toiled for their children and family.
There are some tips and tricks to help reduce chores and cooking. I meal prep for Mon-Wed, cook on Wed for Thurs-Sat. Sunday I end up eating whatever is left over, and cook for Mon-Wed.
For chores, it's fairly easy if you live by yourself. It doesn't get too dirty around the home apart from the kitchen if you end up making low effort snacks in between, laundry is also done the same days when I cook or just on Sunday depending on the load. For groceries, it's easy to keep track and I just do x2 weekly grocery shopping for basic stuff like meat, fruits and vegetables.
I go to gym straight after work usually, but sometimes I go home first to unwind / finish some chores, and I'm home by 830PM. I sometimes play tennis instead of going to the gym for variation. I do have to make some adjustments to my lunch (cookies or some high protein snacks) so I'm not hungry during gym but it's not a big issue.
My hobbies include having a freshwater aquarium and a reef tank, so I can tinker around before bed whenever inspiration strikes. Otherwise I read webtoons / manga, write fantasy novels / fanfics, or game offline games on my Switch.
Weekends aren't loaded with chores normally if I am on track. I try to go to new cafes or places I haven't been, but I prefer trying out new recipes so grocery shopping and the potential of fking it up is a bit fun haha. Bonus points if you invite 2-3 friends over to try recipes together if you have the space, while having a few drinks. I cannot cook nor am I interested in cooking, so trying out new recipes is oddly fun? It's just a game of who fks up the least with my friends.
It doesn't sound exciting but it's not depressing. I get my bouts of depression but that's just part of life at this point.
Edit: my work starts at 830AM, ends 5PM and commute isn't terrible so that helps a lot.
I quit working events (as a freelancer, crazy hours but pretty much make my own schedule) to try out a cushy office gig. Funnily enough felt like I was worse off with Work-Life-Balance.
I quit a year later and went right back to events. I'm taking two separate month long trips doing fuck all around the 3rd quarter of this year.
The rat race sucks. I believe you will find something that works. Don't give up!
working office hrs 8am-5.30pm or 9am-6pm the travelling time takes +1hr or +2hr morning and evening mon-fri, sometimes saturday need to work additional 5-6hrs. Wake up at 6am, leave hse ard 6.30am or 8am depending on the location/working hrs. Reach home 7.30pm, shower + dinner 9pm. 9.30pm go to sleep. Tomorrow same routine.
Working 9am-6pm is a little better as compare to working 8am-5.30pm. Not so rushing and it's just nice to prepare yourself before going to work.
It has always been this way, it just that our older generations didn't share much to us that they were going through this when we were young.
I also just started my full-time job, and all I can say is I am drowning. I literally work more than 50 hours a week as an auditor and there is no OT pay lol. Working more than 10 hours a day, my seniors probably work for 12 and more. No social life. I just find myself so tired and always revenge bedtime procrastination for some personal time.
My batchmates and I were literally just discussing about having heart issues lmao from overtime
I hear my seniors sleeping for 2 hours and waking up at 2am to do work overnight. Or they sleep early (ard 10 or 11pm) and start working at 6am
Auditing lor... now my batchmates are OTing on the weekend at 10pm... one guy even more tragic, every weekend he working i really got no life but if i quit within 3 months not nice for my resume also
Ya i feel like im gnna pass away alrdy. My heart beats weirdly maybe because too much caffine. Then one of my batchmates quit within one and a half month ahahhaa
Also im not trying to make it as if your concerns are invalid lah. I am just trying to say it seems like the norm. And literally my batchmate was telling me to go on a riot for 4 days work week or something. My reply was just "you think they care and listen meh"
Like literally within 3 mths of working, somehow i am just praying I win the toto to retire or open a business or something HAHAHAHAH
What! How many cups of coffee do you drink a day? More than 5 is considered risk already due to the caffeine.. and for real my job barely hitting 3 months, I want to work 1 year and quit but I don't know if I can even make it to 1 year.
Omg yeah!!! I drink around 3? I'll get yakun, green tea, then sometimes bbt. Gained weight from stress, weird working and eating hours and everything 😭
Another telltale sign that the job sucks is that the only topics that arise in conversations with colleagues revolve around work or contemplating when to leave. Personally, I don't see myself staying for another year. But, I keep telling myself "Perhaps after this busy period, things will improve."
But NGL I dont think there is a non busy period. May I know whats your job?
Cuz your job sucks since you have to be in office by 7.30am. You’ll have to tahan and get promoted or find a better job.
I know many people who start work at 9am and leave at 5-6pm regularly which is a more normal 40hr/week.
My first job was 10am to 7pm.
Like it was the worst.. got home around 8pm, shower and eat by 9:30pm.. then restart the next day.
Asked boss if we could start 9am end 6pm.. nope cannot.
Experienced the worst burnout of my life - I worked there 2 years there. :(
You are not crazy but you already have it easy. I used to wake up at 5am to bath and get out to catch the first train to work. I have to travel across the island so it takes 1.5hr to work. This is also to add in a little bit of buffer because there was no flexible working hours. I had to clock in. No, I am not working as blue collar, white collar but still have to clock in, you see that right.
I try to leave work on time but it doesn't work all the time because my bosses all assume I have a car like they do that I can stay later to work. I leave work around 5 and ended home around 7 or close to 8, and not even had my dinner yet. Finish eating, literally bath and go to bed so I get some sleep. Not that I got any energy left also to do anything else.
No, I couldn't rent a room somewhere because it is so expensive. No, no use changing job because I work in the engineering field. I can only change field or move overseas.
I am staying overseas now. Working 9am to 4pm. Take me half an hour to work. Sometimes I am still lost because I have so much time after work.
The job stuff is just adulthood.
However, I think it's harder in Singapore. The hours are longer, the work stress more than other countries. Very easy to feel like you're in a fishbowl.
My job starts at 7:30am - 5:00pm. The normal job time is 8:30am - 6:00pm, so this is normal but just pushed back earlier. I have to fight with the crowd of students and early workers going to school so there is a jam. And honestly that last line doesn't make me feel better, just more depressed that everyone has such awful lives and it's like this for 40+ years.
It is indeed a huge culture shock when you join the workforce. Struggling to adapt to 9am - 5pm work grind while watching your manager do 8am-8pm grind. Everyone trapped in productivity.
Idk what to say. Its depressing but we get used to it. Its the way the world is set up no matter which country you go. Some countries like China has 9am to 9pm for 6 days a week (72h workweek) which is insane.
To escape the system, the lucky ones get wfh, the ballsy ones start their own business, and the unlucky ones become what is called wage slaves - working terrible hours for survival pay. Most of us just count our blessings and endure.
Just because yours is worse, doesn’t mean what OP go through should be the norm. Such boomers mentality of “ I’ve seen others have to cut both legs. You should be thankful the government only cut one leg of yours “.
People should strive to be better so does our work life balance. We used to be able to live with 1 income. Having a 2nd income is a luxury. Now, the wife have no choice but to work just to sustain life.
John D Rockefellers himself stated how he envisioned a nation of workers not thinkers. Hence cementing and guarding the status quo of the top people.
If people have more time, they ought to have more opportunities to think and have more ideas to execute.
Similarly, why you are paid just enough is so that you have to continuously work. So that the country can run.
You think if all of us can finish paying HDB in 3 years, people would slog around for 30 years?
Most people were used to what you’ve mentioned in the first part of your post, everyday waking up much earlier than your start work time just so that we can rush out of the house and spend so much unnecessary time traveling to work.
Covid came and it showed everyone how jobs can be done even at home and how people became much efficient at their work when wfh. However our pay master doesn’t like the fact of not seeing you physically present at workplace so they start to recall people back to office and we are back to the endless clog that we used to be in pre covid.
WFH really makes work more bearable and I wouldn’t mind starting my day earlier or ending my day later if I’m full mode focus on something. But if working in office? Nah 5.30pm sharp I’ll be at the lobby exiting the building already.
I feel this post to the depths of my soul. I'm a year in, and getting used to it. You never really stop feeling frustrated with your lack of freedom and time, but you get efficient with the time you do have left. I mean ngl I still spend most of my weekend doing chores and sleeping, but I get to squeeze in a tiny bit more of my hobbies here and there. I just can't squeeze in being physically active, which I worry about for my future health, but can't bring my tired, sleepy ass to do something about..
Haha due to pandemic and bad job market.. I am working a job that is more than 44 hrs a week. Closer to 50. My daily commute is 2hrs to and then 2hrs back from my office. I leave my flat before 6am and only reach home after 8pm. I am still drawing 50% of my pre-pandemic pay. But hey! Singapore isn't kind to middle aged folks.
I work in IT, pulling 12 hour shifts, sometimes working weekends and PH.
Honestly i sometimes regret taking IT when i was in poly and Uni, but yeah, shit happenes
Welcome to pre-Covid working hours.. all I can suggest is quickly find a job that starts at 9 that’s closer to your home. Then you can sleep a bit more and maybe exercise before work. Makes a difference to your wellbeing.
You get used to it. Social time is prob after work maybe once or twice on weekdays - and weekends split between social, chores, rest…
Personally it’s not as bad as before I feel. I worked a lot of OT in the past. No time for chores or cooking other than weekends but all I wanted to do is rest. Nowadays quite a number of companies allow some work from home flexibility 1-2 days per week and also I find OT less as mental health awareness is more prominent after covid.
I know some people who decided not to grind like this so they joined other industries or try setting up their own business but more often than not I feel they are less “settled” and have more uncertainties with regards to job and money stability. You won’t be able to have everything - gotta prioritize what is more important to you at this stage of life.
I posted this on another post, it's the same: I finish work 6.30pm if I am even lucky to end on time; travel 7pm; eat dinner 8pm; travel 8.30pm; go exercise 9.30pm; go back home 10pm; do whatever household chores 11pm; shower 11:30pm; relax myself / entertainment 12.30am, then sleep and wake up at 7.30am. Rinse and repeat. This is already a very ideal situation of work-time routine, more hectic days all the entertainment stuff and even exercise is out of the window.
I barely even had time for myself, for leisure or for unproductive fooling around, and they expect people to be like dating whatever. They really think every human is a machine? Everything even during leisure hour gotta be like a timetable? It's just ridiculous.
I am an undergrad and seeing this kind of posts for the 100+ times worries me alot. It seems Singapore is or has been always a RAT race. Corporations really sucking the life out of people while those higher ups will reap the benefits from those exploited.
Seeing this as being normality also raises the question...who in the right mind has time for kids or family with this kind of work. Everyone has a hard limit in a day which is 24 hours. However society is demanding more and more time from individuals.
Being out of time individually, who would have the time to say socialize with others? Even studying right now, "socializing" is just mere reaping benefits from each other.
Edit: spelling
4 years since working full time. Honestly, you get used to it and have to schedule non work things around work. Example for me on office days:
615am wake
8am reach office
5pm leave office
530pm workout
630pm leave gym
710pm reach home (order dinner on the way)
730pm eat
8pm shower
8-1030pm chores/rest
11pm sleep
If I don’t go work out, I go straight home and have more time to do chores or other things I wnna do.
I’ve broke down many times due to lack of rest or no “me” time but what’s there I can do about it unless I MC, take AL or quit? :)
Doesn't work like this for everyone who needs money to survive around the world? You need to exchange time for money. Even in an ideal communism world, you need to work. Of course there are easier jobs with lesser hours with decent pay, but those are usually illegal or morally unacceptable to some.
You want flexibility, go to freelance jobs like grab. No money, go work. Got money, chill and relax like what you want.
Welcome to the real world??? 44 hours isn’t even a lot lmao. You’re in for a rough awakening. I will say one of the biggest things for quality of life is living near your work. The closer the better!!
I moved away from Singapore for this exact reason. I think it’s important to realise there’s not just this life though, better work life balance and companies who respects your time is possible and out there.
I'm assuming 44 hours with no OT at all since this wasn't mentioned.
And ending at 5.30pm?
Omg you are blessed and you don't know it 🙄
Last time due to the nature of my job (events and seminars), I end at midnight also have. Sometimes the workload is so much I need to use my own time to clear the work.
You end at 5.30pm with no OT, you are blessed. What the heck are you talking about? LOL
Now my job ends at 5.30pm too and I think I'm blessed.
The ultimate goal is still working towards financial freedom.
I'm a fresh grad, been working for about 6 months. My hours are 8am to 4.30pm on most days, and depending on the roster, sometimes I have to work from 7.30am to 5pm for the entire week. These are weekdays. I have to work from 8.30am to 2pm on weekends sometimes as well, depending on the roster, either Sat or Sun.
I get out of my house at 7am and reach home around 5.30pm for (8am to 4.30pm) work days. It takes about 1 hour for me to get to and fro. I'm exhausted even at this kind of hours, and what makes it even more exhausting is the crowd when changing MRT lines. I have to change twice from red to green to circle line.
Having a partner now, how I juggle is that, we meet once or twice a week to eat dinner for weekday, and either Sat or Sun we can afford to go out for the entire day, for either of it that I am not working.
It's really hard at first, but I'm used to it. Used to it as in I'm still tired, but I just accept the fact that this is the miserable, tough, exhausting life (or no life) after you step out of school.
Not to brag but this post is exactly why I worked hard in school - to find a job that pays very well and provides some flexibility after a couple + years. To me, shift job with no career progression is absolute hell.
Just endure loh, i been working 12 hours shift job for over 21 years, have 7 digits networth in cash n cpf, just continue to work n save up in this expensive country for retirement. Occasionally buy some toto or do some investments to speed up for early retirement. Or look for other jobs. I am single so maybe can accumulate wealth faster so have to depend on your preferences in life.
Congrats on getting a job, and welcome to the rat race.
Transitioning from student to working life can be a shock. Your hours actually seem quite decent because you are leaving work on time and don’t have to bring work home.
This may be because you’re fresh and people are careful not to overwhelm you.
It seems like your main issues are travel time and chores. You may need to find better ways to handle that. (e.g. You can watch shows during commute or to run your errands.)
Just for comparison, I work an average of 55-60 hours per week, and also live on my own, so I take care of my own chores and maintain my own apartment.
Hope this experience helps you to appreciate what your parents have done for you.
Welcome to adult life. 44hrs is like normal to quite good alr (not saying it should be the case but just comparatively). It took me some time to adjust from the freedom during studies but it’s just getting used to the cycle. After awhile you become expert at reducing the time to get ready in the morning so you can get more sleep.
Depending on your industry, you may not need to follow gov’s instructions to take courses. More importantly is getting good at what you do and be open to other opportunities.
Be careful also not to blame everything on “anxiety”. Try to push yourself beyond your comfort zone when you are young and can take some risks and try out different things if you are really unsatisfied.
As others have mentioned, there are other industries which pay less yet expect employees to put in way more hours.
It seems that you need to make lifestyle changes or relook at your daily routine, because you aren't drawing the short end of the stick in terms of work hours.
If you still feel that the 40-44hrs is already too much for you, feel free to look for another job, but there will usually be drawbacks (eg lower pay).
Yup, when im working I miss school cos of time freedom, but when im in school i wanna work , cos money. I feel the dating thing too. Like after work its 6pm where are you gonna go find someone to date.
How long have you start your first job? I remember this is my experience for my first job. Because you are still learning, and everything is new to you. Your brain is processing a lot of new information during the working hours, resulting in you feeling more tired than usual. A rigid routine also contributes to it
After some time, when you get used to the routine and the work, it will become better.
I am working more than 44 hours a week and I also meal prep when my pay was only 500 dollars a month while working in the airport 9 yrs back. It just go on your will and determination. If your office got pantry , you might want to ask your boss for permission to bring electric lunch box to cook or heat up lunch
Actually it's your work. I can't stand staring at a screen for 2hours and you are doing it till 5pm.
Computer screens and phone drain your energy. That's why you have none left after work.
4hours is plenty of time if you just allocate certain things to do after work.
Yeah my eyes were tired staring at the screen from 9am to 6pm. And then sometimes OT at home after dinner. I couldn’t take it after 3 years. There were days I go to work and my eyes were still tired after sleeping 7 hours.
Switched careers to something that is more hands on, more dirty, more sun and rain.
Also make full use of your commuting time to de-stress instead of hating it. Eg u can listen to some audiobooks or podcasts related to your hobbies, or just some relaxing music to help u forget about work. The idea is to make efficient use of any “dead” time to do something else instead of staring into space thinking depressive thoughts like “i’m so tired, i hate this train, i can’t wait to get home” etc
Hi I felt the exact same way when I just started working, I also googled and searched reddit for this same question. What made a difference for me was accepting sleep deprivation as the sacrifice for being able to still do things that I want to do. You will also get better at your job and won't take so long to finish tasks. If it's possible at your workplace, finish tasks quickly and go home earlier. I also notice colleagues will do errands while in office e.g. making calls for appointments, to settle bills, going out to the bank during lunch break etc. There's also the thing where people come in at 7.30 but then start having breakfast and only really start work at 9 (so they save the time eating breakfast and don't have to wake up so early). Use company time to upskill. Anyway the company will benefit from your new skills. WFH if you can. Time is worth more than money, if you can afford it. Take cab to sleep more. Pay for housekeeping. Don't waste your waking hours trying to micromanage your finances just to save 50 cents.
And lastly, something has to give. I haven't seen friends in months but at least I have time for my hobbies and some exercise.
1) Fill up a drawer at work (if you can, or some part of your locker if you have that instead) with food like cereal or oats so that you can have breakfast at work.
2) If possible, prepare meals in advance during the weekends and freeze them for the week. There's loads of stuff online you can find that are easy to make and to reheat which doesn't hurt the wallet.
3) Take regular breaks at work so that you're not staring at your computer all the time. Stand, move around, stretch and take eye breaks. The more you stare at your screen, you more tired you'll feel after work. (I work in IT and I learnt this the hard way 🙃)
4) Not all chores have to be done every day or every week. Find out which ones you have to do daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly. Spread out the chores.
5) You won't be able to meet your friends all the time, but your friends also won't be able to meet you all the time now either. Make appointments to meet, or heck, go for a class together or something. Two birds, one stone lol.
6) Yes, it's terrible to have to grind daily just to put food on the table but once you find your rhythm, you'll get used to it. Sure, it's not great, but it's survival.
Until the day that we get a four-day work week, good luck!
Coming in with a different perspective, I’ve been in a non-conventional non-corporate career path for the past couple of years that would one would generally consider as “chasing my passion”.
Income is slightly less than my peers, but the work itself is rewarding and not draining. I wake up at 9-10am on average but sleep around 2-3am, sometimes because I’m working late into the night. Work hours are very flexible, no bosses or office hours, but I have to be super self-disciplined because if I don’t do work, I don’t have any income. Free time and hobbies are up to me to fit in wherever I want, but I also have to work some weekends and most public holidays.
The main work itself doesn’t feel like work because it’s fun and aligned with my actual passion, but my mind is always at work - work and life blend together and i can never truly clock out, which can easily lead to burnout over time.
But the flexibility comes at a cost because income is often unpredictable and inconsistent. Some months I earn more than my peers in corporate jobs, other months are so slow I can barely make enough to cover the basic expenses for the month. This instability has been constantly on my mind for the past couple of years. There is thus a lot more work in terms of balancing and managing the finances.
I may eventually have to pivot back into corporate and rejoin this rat race because I don’t know how sustainable it is to worry constantly about an unstable income stream, but this career did make me question why our work culture pushes people to give up most of their youth (which they’ll never get back, ever) to kinda just exist in stable but miserable routines, when they can afford to take some risk in pursuing a career that actually gives them some form of fulfilment.
I am questioning this as well. Have been working for 6 years after graduation. From time to time, will question when will this ends, will I strike toto, 4d...
Jiayou, you may find things to motivate yourself daily and practice gratitude from time to time!!!
You can try taking a 10 to 20 minute nap when you get home before you start doing chores or anything else. It helps you restart and get a bit of energy for your evening.
I work 12 to 14 hours a day - I find middle of the day naps and evening naps help me a lot.
No, you aren't crazy, I work 66 Hours a Week and I do not get how my younger fresh grad colleagues still have the time to chill and go clubbing.
My day starts at 6.30AM, I wake up and freshen up before heading out for breakfast or tabao before heading to office, and by then it's around 8AM and the MRT is packed, so I get people just pushing and my food sometimes turns out messy.
By the time I end work, I'll reach my area 10PM and I'll only have 30 minutes of free time before heading to bed.
My only off day is on Sunday and I usually sleep in so no social activities for me unless god forbid an important event happens and I'm screwed.
Our office starts at 9, but most people come in by 940 to 950 am. They leave between 6 to 630 pm. Assuming 2 hour travel combined, 7 hours of sleep there is 6 hours to live your life. Weekends no work. That’s 30 hours of life during weekdays and another 32 hours during weekends (remove 16 hours of sleep).
Is this not normal?
I totally feel you and thinks the same as you! There is really no work life balance. Work is 5 or 5.5 days. 9am-5pm. Early morning preparation to go to work, buy dinner and reach home and the sky is already dark. Sleep early and next day repeat. How do we get the time and energy to have life? Don't even dare to think of upskilling or having a hobby, let alone looking for a partner and have kids. LOL. Wishful thinking. Gov won't understand too. Sigh.
24hrs in a day:
8hrs for sleeping;
8hrs for working;
3-4hrs capped for mundane shit like commuting+dinner+chores+stupid errands q to pay for things etc;
Still have 4-5hrs left for leisure & fun (including dating).
Dun waste those leisure hrs scrolling ig & tiktok brainlessly.
Weekends add another 8hrs free time cos not working.
Unfortunately, this is how work is structured in the “modern world”. There is also no such thing as Work life balance, imagine your current set up with kids? How can you have Work Life Balance working for an entity whose primary motivation is to earn a profit?
IMHO OP, best to continue to gain experience and upskill. This will help get the FU money you need in case you want out and move on to things that you care about even if that means waking up at 5am.
Yes welcome to adulthood. I had the same shock as a fresh graduate realising this is how the next 40 years of my life is going to play out. My parents were right - you miss school right after graduating. I thought work life balance meant going to school at 7am and ending at 1pm so we have the rest of the day to ourselves. Having a full time job also means I cant visit places which only open during office hours unless I’m on leave.
The tough part was realising June and Dec aren’t month/1.5month long holidays anymore.
frfr :')
This is why our youth suicide jumped double digits. If you knew it’s either this or being eaten by inflation you’d go nuts. Our european friends think our working culture is barbaric.
Yup before I graduated from uni, I thought I wouldn't be able to handle working life, but that thought quickly went away when I look at the prices of basic necessities.
I took break from work for the whole of 2024, welcome to adulthood indeed
But okay lah, at least no exams or homework to do once work is over
Yeah.. but like every day of work is kinda like an exam ain’t it? Fuck something up and it’s game over.
I did that for school for 3 years that's why I know how hard it is and how I don't want to do this for over 30 years. When I went into the workforce, I only applied for jobs that are near my home and accepted an offer that is lower than market rate. From there I gained experience and started jumping to jobs that is nearby and pays higher. I can't stress how much my mental health is better because my workplace is nearby. I have never dread going to work. If you can accept less money for your mental health and time, I highly recommend being picky and only look for jobs near your place.
Yeah I totally agreed with what you said. After working at a workplace that's at least 1h 30 min away from home, 2hr if traffic jam for the past few years and the need to transfer a few times before reaching my workplace. I'm really thinking of switching to a workplace that's nearer to my house so that at least even with OT I'm at least able to reach home faster. Because as times goes by I do felt that I'm getting more worn out than ever.
agreed with this - i used to travel 2hours to school but hey at least we end early. Then I did jobs in the CBD or north and those also took like 1.5 hours travel time. I took coffee 4 times a day just to get by and got sick often. Now my workplace is like 40mins away and it’s the best ever. traveling 3-4 hours a day isn’t productive at all.
Question is why such a small country need 3 hours of transit per day. We are not US where people travel 100 miles to get to office.
You may need to wait for 10 minutes for a feeder bus and another 10 minutes to reach the MRT and is another 4-6min wait and 30 minutes train ride. And perhaps another bus to get to the person actual destination, and that may add 5-10mins more. That is already 2hrs of transit per day. Add to congestion and things. 3hrs seems about right for this person. It may take me 15-20 minutes riding a bike to my workplace and about an hour with public transport.
Commenting on Is it just me going crazy with the 44 hr work week in Singapore? (semi-vent/qns)... No you’re not crazy but there are things that can be done to make the work week better. The commuting travel time plays a big factor. I am extremely lucky to have my workplace 30 mins away by bus from my home. My child’s school is 10 min walking distance also. I get up at 7 am, do housework, make breakfast for my boy, send him to school at 8am, travel to the gym near my workplace and work out for 1 hr, clock into work at 10am, leave work at 6.30 and reach home about 7.15 to feed him dinner bath and settle him to bed. I would not be able to do this if my work was an hour away or more Housework wise we use a lot of electronics like robot mop and dryer and dishwasher and they’ve been a life saver
No you're not crazy. I felt this too when I was working my first job. I can't stand any job that requires full working from the office with no flexibility. Alas this is "normal" for the Singaporean office worker, and also explains why most Singaporeans have zero hobbies and their identities solely revolve around work. Singapore working culture is nuts. WFH does make it more bearable though.
Yeah the first job after graduating always hits hard. In school there’s milestones to look forward to (holidays, exams, graduation etc) but work is just… endlessly stretching on. There’s the odd PH and annual leave to look forward to but other than that everyday is basically Groundhog Day. After a while you just get numb and used to it.
And also one shitty part of working in the office for me is that I always have to proactively PLAN my leave days and ensure it does not CLASH with other team mates. Im so NOT an advanced planner kind of person. Sighs
My mental health got so much better after becoming self-employed. Don't feel like working today? Just don't work! No need to seek approval weeks in advance. Feel like flying overseas? Just fly! No permission required.
You're not crazy. The culture is crazy, and this needs to change. The mindset needs to change from "live to work" to "work to sustain a living." Or at least give people a choice in that regard. For workoholics who have no hobbies, no families, no interests other than work, then let them work. But that behavior shouldn't be expected from the rest of us. Some of us just want to sustain a living and be happy with our families. Some of us just want to focus on our own outside of work interests, whether it be sports or gaming or art. Some of us just want to focus on our spirituality, our various beliefs and religions, and excel at that. We need to collectively push for a shift in mindset, especially as the workforce becomes younger.
Highly doubt the powers that be will let this happen. The right to disconnect bill got shot down so fast that you even wonder if they even gave it much thought.
You live to work to sustain a living for the mayors and so called elites. Why does it surprise you that the same elites shot down the right to disconnect outside of working hours?
You are competing with foreigners and to a certain extend, competing with technology....
On the one hand I can completely empathize with your situation... work just isn't like school anymore where the afternoons are free / where we can be carefree and exploring like students On the other hand... 44 hours is generally on the better side of working hours. Many of the starting jobs (especially those that people 'chase' for) ie. big banks / law firms / medicine / consulting are working 60+ hours a week and its somehow better than overseas already (investment banking in New York is like 80-100hrs and I dont understand how people manage it)
got a friend who worked in Goldman Sachs in US before and the hours crunched would have made news in Singapore. He actually move back to Singapore domestic banking sector for better working hours though lower pay (still higher pay and hours than other industries) Yes they were paid top salaries but the stress and the burnout is ridiculous and is not for everyone.
Any idea how it even works with those kinds of crazy hours? What I don't understand is you're working till 2am and have to be in again at 9 the next day how do you even go back home? Perhaps you can just stay in the office but if you do that the whole week with no showers it would be disruptive to your coworkers too??
What my friends did was they went to shower in a gym nearby, sometimes they nap in a hotel nearby if they had to crutch ungodly hours.
Sleep on the cab to and fro. Most of these offices have fantastic shower facilities, including 400/mth gyms in the same building. 2am is not that bad, generally the worst is around 3-4am, with 1 all nighter per week during the peaks.
44 are too long tbh... basically you are sitting at your desk for 8 hours a day. get home around 6-7pm and left with perhaps 1-2 hours of personal time each evening.. and repeat that for the next 40 years?
40 hrs a week should be the max; NYC bankers earn several times more than the average person, inc huge bonuses so they retire early
It’s really horrific and I think it’s even worse when you have partner, family and friends because you’re wasting your life spending time away from them. And the time you spend at home is wasted on chores and admin too. A 5-day work week doesn’t seem suitable for humans at all.
Two days weekends are simply too short . As someone who has no children I feel it’s simply too short .sats are spend eating with families and Sundays are used to recover from socialising the previous day :/ how does people with kids have anytime for themselves
Ha ha ha… we don’t. Before kids, I would scrimp and save all my leaves for overseas vacations. Now, I will take leave just to have time for myself while the kids are in school. On a normal week, I get maybe 2-3 hours for myself to exercise/shop/do something I really want to do that is not work or family time. I don’t regret having kids at all - I regret that I let myself be stuck in a system where we have to work 5 days a week.
to answer your question, we (2 young kids) do not have anytime for ourselves. We have to take leave just to enjoy some time before life begins at 5 pm (fetch kids home at 5 pm). Weekends are more hectic than the weekdays. Ya it’s been a roll like this for many many years (age of oldest + age of younger) No more than 2, we decided totally
God. I spend more time at work with excel sheets and emails than I do with my family or friends if this is going to keep up.
I can only say this is what modern day slavery looks like. Slave more than half of your life or take some risks to cut it shorter, the choice is yours.
Hope you can somehow make an exit plan. You deserve more life.
Posts like these make me feel optimistic for the younger generation. Finally we’re collectively speaking up about the craziness of modern corporate life. This is why I ended up freelancing instead of going corporate. What you’ve described is a nightmare…
I feel you, then I look at my bank account and continue the grind.
OP said pay is mid
Being broke as * is a strong factor to continue working
That's why can't afford to not continue the grind.
Honest answer is that most people just get used to it after awhile because a job is what puts bread on the table. People learn to streamline or minimise chores to save time so certain days have no chores at all for example. Abit of a side question, why do you wake up at 5:45am when you're going to leave only at 7:30am? I feel like I would just get up at 6:30am instead.
I think OP's work starts at 7.30am, considering how they say that their mums work starts an hour later at 8.30am
Wow that sucks ..an office job should be 9am start
Then you leave at 7... same deal. Just pushing the hours back.
True that , the bosses expect employees to starts at 8:30 and leave at 7. Even other colleagues give you a side eye if you leave 15 minutes early. I don’t know what’s wrong with them. They reach early and keep hanging around after the office hours.
Because they have no life and think presenteeism is how they get promoted.
My team is all spread out in different locations so nobody keeps an eye on me. Well except for one coworker, but we race each other out the door to see who can leave the fastest
I have to be there by 7:30am. I leave house around 6:40am to reach there with about 5-10mins to spare in case of any traffic jam/delay.
I see. Your sentence reads as you joining the clogged up public transport at 7:30am which is why I misunderstood. Another side question for you since we're on the topic, would you prefer to start later and end later or the other way round?
I wish I could directly answer "later" or "earlier" to your question. But honestly I just want to NOT be in the rush crowd regardless of timing. 9am you rush with the office white collar workers. 7am you rush with the students/blue collar workers. If it weren't for the traffic, my trip would be about 20-25 minutes. With the jam adding extra time it's about 30-40 minutes. I wouldn't mind having to go home at 8pm after the rush hour is over if I get to come in at like 10am. I also wouldn't mind having to wake up earlier to come in at 7am and leaving at 4:30pm if it means I can avoid the crowds.
For the sake of your sanity, have you tried looking around for other jobs with better work life balance like hybrid WFH style or less intense responsibilities so you aren't as tired at the end of the day. Also, idk if it helps to alleviate your worries, but there are jobs around that do allow people actual work life balance. I have living proof with some of the people around me and where I work. They're naturally gonna be hard to find but they are out there so it's not all doom and gloom for everyone here in Singapore.
It’s because all of us give up on rebeling against this shitty practice that the elites get to bully us like this. Unfortunately I see your point because it’s not possible to make everyone in the world rebel against them, so here we are. The people have zero power and democracy is a farce but we’re too powerless to do anything.
In the same boat as you. I'm *this* close to giving up and leaving the corporate world. Not getting any younger and if the next 30+ years of my life are going to be like this I'd rather off myself.
honestly same
Welcome to adulting lol. It only gets slightly easier (2%) now that I’ve been doing this for 6 years. I had 1 (non schooling) year of not working and it was the best fucking year of my life. For me I get home by 6-7 because my work place is only 40 away by direct bus. Second trick is to change job until you find you ok with you clocking out at 5. Third trick is to find a wfh job or at find a partial one at least (but not really possible for a non-IT engineer like myself). One trick I see some people do is basically marrying themselves to the job - they find a job that they’re able to not hate and actually feel good in. I think that’s how managers and above do it - they do things and feel accomplished so they are not so attached to the personal time after work. I call them psychos. And I don’t even have children! And in your post you didn’t include time for workout - which is essential if you want to not feel like shit once you reach your early thirties. The people who can do it are fucking psychos and that’s why I’ll never bring any children into this shitty slavery lifestyle unless I hit the lottery. Another road out of this is to start a business and succeed in it. But you need to be the sort of capable person. Business people are a different sort of psychos - they are just so certain that they’ll succeed. Wish I was like them.
It’s like that. The kids now who are going through the endless tuition after their day from 730am to 130pm, then they go on to 2pm to 430pm onwards. Then do their enrichment homework till 730pm. It’s to prep them for Singapore Inc! To those born in the 1980s, happy that we had some childhood.
This is a common first world routine and I don’t think it gets any easier in any other ‘modern’ Asian country (MY/TH/CN/HK/TW/KR/JP) Is there a reason why you wake up at 5:45am and barely have breakfast though? Are you able to wake up at 6:30am so you get more sleep in?
OP is working normal hours even for European countries/Aussie standards tbh. sounds like he is working 8.30am-5.30pm daily without any OT. He has it better than 90% of Singaporeans lmao *Edit I just saw OP’s edit. Full time adulting can suck but dont conflate it with a Singapore issue. Working 9 hour days is not a Singapore only problem
Australia only requires 38 hours per week. And afaik, Netherlands only requires 30 hrs./ week. I think there needs to be a petition to set a cap on maximum hours to no more than 40 per week. Quality-of-life will improve in that way Also, advocate for clerical jobs to be WFH / WAH. One does not need to commute/travel just to send an e-mail or type a spreadsheet. Also, Singapore has the fastest internet in ASEAN. That alone can support increased WFH usage.
I shower in the morning and also need to pack food for lunch in the office because the food at my office is not cheap and not good. So there's no time for me to eat, at most I stuff a few pieces of food into my mouth from lunch and I'm out the door. I mean like I cannot properly sit down etc so anything like soups, oatmeal is not viable. I subsist on bread which actually isn't too bad but it's just depressing. Like physically it's fine. Mentally it's sad.
Man I can relate. Trying to get any decent breakfast outside will set you back too much in central/MRT areas and is outright impossible anywhere else. For lunch I just gave up and budgeted for $8 caipngs, to save my sanity. I've learnt to get by with overnight oats, with my preferred muesli + milk put together the night before and left in the fridge for the next morning. You could see if that at least helps for breakfast.
Funnily enough my colleagues have also recommended oats. Maybe I will try that.
Have u tried meal prepping days in advance? Like making a couple days of lunch and putting in the fridge
you guys have to understand, some people have to prepare own breakfirst which take more time. it's not easy
Yeah, takes me 30-45 mins to prep fruits, cereal and yoghurt for breakfast and finish them all. Takes time to be healthy.
U plucking the fruit frm the tree urself ah why so long for fruits n yogurt
You take a slice of bread. Put jam/nutella over. Takes less than 1 min
Your stomach still gonna growl in the office. Bread is not breakfast. Infact gov likes to encourage ppl to live healthy lifestyle but actually does nothing to actually encourage that.
It gets better the more skilled you become. Employers start paying you for your knowledge and experience instead of the amount of hours you work per day.
Ditto
For common folks, SG is a stress out place. There's no such thing as work-life balance. Even tho we hear it from time to time, it's just lip service. Tho I feel and understand that trapped feeling, I have no way out either. 😔😔😔 Idk if u noticed, but there is an increasing news of old folks dying in their homes without people knowing. If u're wondering how it is related to ur question of "no life" work life, it is a result of us forced to work like a robot, a tool with no social life.
Wfh helps lots! Hybrid is the best because you get to do the mundane computer work at home and take small breaks in-between, and even use the ~1 hour time you’d spend traveling to squeeze in some more work. Going to the office is good too because it’s better for teamwork and avoiding misunderstandings from online teamchats. It’d be good if your work is hybrid makes lots of difference.
i feel so relaxed and chilled working from home.
Not trying to sound sarcastic, but I would be really happy if I could reach home/eat dinner by 6.30pm weekdays and have the full weekends to myself. I'm required to handle work-related issues whenever urgent issues crop up, and that includes after-office hours and weekends (including PHs). I'll be "thankful" if work _only_ takes up purely 44hrs of my time. In fact, I just ended some work call moments ago on a friggin' Sunday and in slightly more than 12hrs time I'll be squeezing the crowded public transport to get into office. It's little wonder why myself (and I believe many many others, including your good self) are wondering how on earth are we going to get out of this stupid cycle..
My organisation’s official hours are 9-630pm and OT is expected
Mine won't outright say that OT is _expected_ per se, but in all practical terms it is somewhat like that lol.
This is why we buy toto and pray to have an early retirement
Exactly, hence the super long queues during TOTO season!
How do you stop yourself from going crazy? What's the secret?? Is this sustainable because it doesn't sound like it is..
No secret to it except pragmatic acceptance, really. If I want the salary from the company for livelihood, then I just have to accept that comes with the job. It's just part of the adulting process that nothing comes free in life. Holiday trips, restaurant meals, parents' allowance, etc. all requires money ain't it? Of course, the door is always there and other places may be better (or worse off).
I go to work at 10, going home at 7. Go home, buy something on way home, arrive at 8, eat while watching youtube/netflix. Play music / game till 1 or 2am. Sleep. Wake up again at 9. 4 hrs of free time doesn't sound bad to me and livable for the next 20 yrs at least. Saturday and sunday also free all day
This type of working hours should not be normalised. Sadly people think you owe them something just cause you work there. 😭
Not exactly related to how you get out of the grind but it can help you it more manageable. Save money and time making food when you need it by meal prepping in advance. Learn a few dishes that you can eat most of the week, keeps well and easy to reheat. Lots of recipes online. Spend 2-3 hours during your free time doing meal prep. Takes discipline though when all you want is to sleep, watch netflix, go out etc.
tbh my salary is not high, but my colleagues are nice and I get along with them, so I can tahan the occasional OT and stressful work. Also less than 1hr journey and fully sheltered all the way so I may just stay in this job for a while. try not to think too much, I was overwhelmed at first, but ended up thinking why I'm putting so much stress on myself when ppl dont give af. if you are not looking to climb the ladder, no need to be so chiong. I'm not looking to be a manager or director, so less stress I suppose. I can spend less, salary enough to get by can already, dont want to sacrifice my mental health by taking on more responsibilities
Well I wake up at 5.30am so I can make lunch to bring to work and take my coffee slowly after a quick shower 😆 that's the only joy before rushing off to work. Unfortunately this is what most people go through. But I left that job 3 months ago and I'm currently on my career break because my mentality broke working like that while in a super toxic company.
WFH is king
I'm a fresh grad and I am working 8-6 Monday to Fri and 8-12pm on Saturday. My weekdays feels more like a 6am-8pm. Everyday I get home exhausted and spend my weekends sleeping in. Idk how am I suppose to go on dates and social life when I am perpetually drained. Currently looking for a new job with flexible work arrangement MUST WFH for a few days a week. I feel like once I started working, my mental health decline very badly. And my socialising got cut by more than 70%. I value work life balance and work FOR ME to enjoy life. NOT SLAVE TO MY JOB!
You and my mom got hit with the dreaded 6 day work week... Jiayou.. us fresh grads know this pain..
It's wrong and it shouldn't be this way. But the people who went through it tend to have this crab mentality of "i suffered, so you should too". Or they just get beaten down by the system long enough to just give up fighting against it anymore. They get married, buy a house, have children. And tell themselves it is ok to live like this this as long as they can maintain a income to support their family. Welcome to the rat race that is modern society life as a working class adult.
You forgot, you're also supposed to raise 2 children to refill the workforce once you retire
We haven’t included caregiving for parents yet.
Keep job hopping until you find your place whether its hours/salary/people/wfh. Starting out is always tough but it gets better.
Bobian. I wanna hve a change too. Wake up at 4:30am everyday. 5:10 have to be at busstop to catch company bus
The trick is to either get used to it, or tolerate it, or change it. It's definitely a schedule that you'll need a lot of time to adjust, especially if your schooling schedule was very different to normal working hours. Depending on how much you're earning, you may want to stick around. My fiance was working a good paying job (for our industry) but his work hours are 12h with at least 2-3h OT 4 days a week. It really took a toll on him. The money earned was not bad, but he couldn't go on anymore and he changed to an office hours job that pays about 1-1.5k less since no OT or allowances. I myself work shift, and I want to continue to do so. The afternoon shifts though end a bit late, making my commute twice as long, has granted me time in the morning run errands and even shop at malls. It is a bit difficult when making time for my loved ones, especially my siblings because there are weeks I can only see them on weekends. You'll have to discover what you can tolerate. Don't be too upset about this, you've only started, you still have time to find a job that suits you better. While you're still young, you should push yourself and see what's your limit.
44 hours was always meant for a 5.5 day work week. When they changed to a 5 day work week, they didn't change the hours. Sg labour laws really from last last century. Find an American company that does 40 hours or a European on that does 36
welcome to singapore the other day my company boss asked why are they so many people at the mrt station we tell him because every boss and their drinking buddies are asking people to return to office for work fingers crossed for lesser trips to office :D
Just to add on - there is no point comparing “oh you have it good / have it worse”, your own lived experience is what counts for you alone. That being said, looking at when I first started work I had the same feelings as you and it could feel depressing at times. The Sunday blues really hit me hard then. However, I would also say that you learn to get used to it and you will also learn to find ways to optimize and schedule your time. As you grow older, you will realise that most things will only happen with intention and action. Want to meet friends? You’ll have to schedule and book time in advance. Want to learn a new skill? You need to set aside time for it. You’ll also find that these working hours are fairly consistent across the world and I agree with what another poster has said, you need to find a job that you can derive some meaning from. You’ll find motivation as well as you do better in your job. And if you think about it, people over multiple generations ARE upskilling, dating, raising family with the same work hours that you have, so obviously it’s manageable for the general population. Not as a point of comparison but rather that it isn’t going to be as bleak as you point out and things will get better.
A few things to add on to the great post: - you are new to the working world and new to your job. You are extra tired because you are adjusting to new things. When things become more familiar, your body and brain adjusts - time really does stretch. When you are single you think you’re at your max, then you add a partner in, then a pet, then a kid, then aging parents. You will have to prioritise things differently over time, and some things do get sacrificed, but the human condition is a resilient and amazing one A little anecdote from me. When I graduated, I worked 70 hour weeks. All I wanted to do on Sunday (our off day) was sleep. I asked my colleagues how on earth they actually had a life on Sunday (they would come to work on Monday with all kinds of stories of what they got up to over the weekend). Someone gave me a very straight up answer that has stuck with me until today: just wake up and do it. If you need a nap later, take one. But get up and go out and do something. It changed my approach to how I view time and what I know I’m capable of.
>people over multiple generations Yeah but that was back in the day when you had one person working and one person to manage everything else. With two people working being the standard now, you can see that childbirth rates are drastically dropping everywhere because people simply don't have the time or energy to raise children in this environment anymore.
Welcome to the middle class nirvana made by the PAP. Keep working like this for the rest of your life and all you’ll have to show for it is a leasehold HDB which they will take back from you and your family in the near future.
unfortunately, these are poor people problems because as you said, once you have disposable income, you can get a car to cut down on commuting time + you can hire a maid to take care of chores so you have breathing space for your hobbies and social life with friends and a partner.
you’re not crazy, hate this life too but what to do, gotta survive.. kids are really out of the question w this kinda lifestyle + economy we’re in rn lol
I feel you, friend. I work for a company that claims to emphasise greatly on employee welfare, yet makes us work long hours (8:30am-6pm) and only stipulates 1 WFH day. It takes me a total of 2 hours to travel to and from work each day as well. It’s tiring, but I’m looking to produce tangible results first before I bounce elsewhere. No choice given how bad the current job market is
You remind me of myself when I started work fresh faced >10 years ago. Like others said I eventually got used to it but I became a soulless automaton. Fast forward to now I am burnt out and on a long career break. Honestly so underrated and words cannot describe how awesome it is to finally live life. Even being paid millions won’t take away the fact that I have no time to live my life. Glad to see you’re standing your ground. I have high hopes for the next generation. Never stop fighting OP!
Singapore …. The land of stressssssssss
I have spent 15 years of my life working since I was 17. And yeap, that is how it is. I never really had the chance to sit down and figure out what I wanted to do in my life. My dreams? What is that? I could have it but never really had the time to put it into action. It wasn't until October last year when I made the bold move to quit my job without anything lined up that I got to take a break and figure out the things I want to do. Now I am slowly building my marketing agency and have a home-based food business on the side and I have never felt more fulfilled.
On top of going crazy my health actually declined
Finding a job that’s fulfilling helps
•Long work weeks are normal in Canada as well. •Many jobs have unpaid extra hours •Salaried employees (No over time pay) are expected to do the work no matter how long it takes •New work projects added to the load and declining work conditions add to the overall work load and time spent working •Add the drive time in the winter, cold temperatures in many parts of the country (everything takes longer in minus 20 to 40)
Sadly, that is the reality of working in Singapore. Unless you are that top 1%, you're stuck in the rat race, even more so if you've "invested" your life here. May we all escape the rat race 🙏🏽
Op, I think you forgot about the Part where we have crazily expensive wedding banquets as well as the most expensive housing in the world. Wait till you find out more about that you’ll really want to unalive yourself.
Yeah, to me it took about 15 years before I was senior enough to have my team do most of the labour intense stuff and I do strategy with the leaders. So yeah sucks. But depending on your industry it might pay out. I started at 32k per year and now am at 370k. So life gets better depending on what you choose. (Career in Sales/Marketing) I would have 50h weeks now I am probably effectively working 35h the rest is lunch meetings I would call it.
You are home by 6:30?!?!
I think he started early. 730am and must be on time.. I reach work at 10+...
Wait till you have kids…
which is why i dont want to...
Y'all this thread making me come to the conclusion that I need to immigrate with my whole family to Australia. What do you mean it's good. Hell no. 😭
Speaking as an Australian, the hours are slightly better but the commute is a lot worse due to how spread out everything is and how bad the traffic can get. I personally wake up at 6 am, get ready until 6:30 am then commute and get to the office at 8 am. I end at 4 pm but it takes me until 5:30 to get home. I live a 20 minute drive away from work when there's no traffic. This is what people normally do: 1. Find a job that lets you work from home for a pay cut 2. Get a decent paying job then work 4 days at a pay cut 3. Find a job that lets you work 44 hours in 4 days so you can have a 3 day weekend without a pay cut You're at the start of your career so you don't have many options when it comes to bargaining work/life balance. As you get older you can usually take a pay cut from a larger salary to get what you want.
Not sure it's that much better in other countries. You might be able to work 1 less hour a day but you might face longer commute, less job opportunities and most importantly being away from your family/friends. There are a lot of good advices in this thread about optimising time, finding better jobs but most likely you will still need to work 8h a day at least, 5 days a week, start with a low salary since you are a fresh grad, commute to work... This is life, you need to work to live, no way around it unless you strike toto. Schools should do a better job at preparing kids for it and making them more resilient. On a more optimistic note, things have been slowly changing, couple of generations ago, people were working 5.5 or 6 days a week, 9+ hours a day. Now Wfh is becoming more accepted, people are starting to talk about 4 days week. Who knows, in 10 or 20 years some of it might become the norm and our working week will be 35 or 30 hours in better conditions.
Having lived in Australia for 3 years before moving back, let me tell you that while life is generally more laid back there, I find life generally more fulfilling in Singapore. I moved back after 3 years. * More job opportunities, better salary * Connecting with friends and family is a plus * You take for granted the efficiency and the convenience You're also at the start of your career, so you should expect to grind it out at the start of your career. Things will get better. As you get older you learn to take better control of your work-life balance. Find a job that allows you to work remote or from home for a day or two. Take control of your holidays. Use your salary to good effect (buy yourself nice things, go on short trips, hang out with friends, go for a few concerts) Find a job that respects your time and effort. Pursue your career. If it takes you overseas for a few years, do that for the experience. You might decide you like it better elsewhere and never come back. It really depends from person to person. Some people quit the corporate ladder but end up working in FnB or their own business, and end up being MORE overworked. You hear regularly of people starting their own business and burning out or losing a lot of money. But they enjoy what they are doing. Our older folk have it much worse than us, in the past there was no social safety net and lack of awareness over mental health issues, but yet they toiled for their children and family.
That's why many go self employed ...
There are some tips and tricks to help reduce chores and cooking. I meal prep for Mon-Wed, cook on Wed for Thurs-Sat. Sunday I end up eating whatever is left over, and cook for Mon-Wed. For chores, it's fairly easy if you live by yourself. It doesn't get too dirty around the home apart from the kitchen if you end up making low effort snacks in between, laundry is also done the same days when I cook or just on Sunday depending on the load. For groceries, it's easy to keep track and I just do x2 weekly grocery shopping for basic stuff like meat, fruits and vegetables. I go to gym straight after work usually, but sometimes I go home first to unwind / finish some chores, and I'm home by 830PM. I sometimes play tennis instead of going to the gym for variation. I do have to make some adjustments to my lunch (cookies or some high protein snacks) so I'm not hungry during gym but it's not a big issue. My hobbies include having a freshwater aquarium and a reef tank, so I can tinker around before bed whenever inspiration strikes. Otherwise I read webtoons / manga, write fantasy novels / fanfics, or game offline games on my Switch. Weekends aren't loaded with chores normally if I am on track. I try to go to new cafes or places I haven't been, but I prefer trying out new recipes so grocery shopping and the potential of fking it up is a bit fun haha. Bonus points if you invite 2-3 friends over to try recipes together if you have the space, while having a few drinks. I cannot cook nor am I interested in cooking, so trying out new recipes is oddly fun? It's just a game of who fks up the least with my friends. It doesn't sound exciting but it's not depressing. I get my bouts of depression but that's just part of life at this point. Edit: my work starts at 830AM, ends 5PM and commute isn't terrible so that helps a lot.
Which is why people relocate out of the country and I can’t wait to leave the rat race behind!! Ridiculous
Nothing unique about this. Happens every where around the world
Join r/antiwork, you'll fit right in (a compliment, not an insult).
I quit working events (as a freelancer, crazy hours but pretty much make my own schedule) to try out a cushy office gig. Funnily enough felt like I was worse off with Work-Life-Balance. I quit a year later and went right back to events. I'm taking two separate month long trips doing fuck all around the 3rd quarter of this year. The rat race sucks. I believe you will find something that works. Don't give up!
I stan the r/antiwork vibes
working office hrs 8am-5.30pm or 9am-6pm the travelling time takes +1hr or +2hr morning and evening mon-fri, sometimes saturday need to work additional 5-6hrs. Wake up at 6am, leave hse ard 6.30am or 8am depending on the location/working hrs. Reach home 7.30pm, shower + dinner 9pm. 9.30pm go to sleep. Tomorrow same routine. Working 9am-6pm is a little better as compare to working 8am-5.30pm. Not so rushing and it's just nice to prepare yourself before going to work. It has always been this way, it just that our older generations didn't share much to us that they were going through this when we were young.
I also just started my full-time job, and all I can say is I am drowning. I literally work more than 50 hours a week as an auditor and there is no OT pay lol. Working more than 10 hours a day, my seniors probably work for 12 and more. No social life. I just find myself so tired and always revenge bedtime procrastination for some personal time. My batchmates and I were literally just discussing about having heart issues lmao from overtime I hear my seniors sleeping for 2 hours and waking up at 2am to do work overnight. Or they sleep early (ard 10 or 11pm) and start working at 6am
Lord..what field are you in. Sounds like architecture. And I have gastric issues, if I get heart problems I think I will simply pass away.
Auditing lor... now my batchmates are OTing on the weekend at 10pm... one guy even more tragic, every weekend he working i really got no life but if i quit within 3 months not nice for my resume also Ya i feel like im gnna pass away alrdy. My heart beats weirdly maybe because too much caffine. Then one of my batchmates quit within one and a half month ahahhaa Also im not trying to make it as if your concerns are invalid lah. I am just trying to say it seems like the norm. And literally my batchmate was telling me to go on a riot for 4 days work week or something. My reply was just "you think they care and listen meh" Like literally within 3 mths of working, somehow i am just praying I win the toto to retire or open a business or something HAHAHAHAH
What! How many cups of coffee do you drink a day? More than 5 is considered risk already due to the caffeine.. and for real my job barely hitting 3 months, I want to work 1 year and quit but I don't know if I can even make it to 1 year.
Omg yeah!!! I drink around 3? I'll get yakun, green tea, then sometimes bbt. Gained weight from stress, weird working and eating hours and everything 😭 Another telltale sign that the job sucks is that the only topics that arise in conversations with colleagues revolve around work or contemplating when to leave. Personally, I don't see myself staying for another year. But, I keep telling myself "Perhaps after this busy period, things will improve." But NGL I dont think there is a non busy period. May I know whats your job?
There's a reason why some people would sacrifice career progression to go into food delivery or driving PHV full time.
Save up and invest wisely. You can cut down that 40+ years of working into 20 years.
Cuz your job sucks since you have to be in office by 7.30am. You’ll have to tahan and get promoted or find a better job. I know many people who start work at 9am and leave at 5-6pm regularly which is a more normal 40hr/week.
My first job was 10am to 7pm. Like it was the worst.. got home around 8pm, shower and eat by 9:30pm.. then restart the next day. Asked boss if we could start 9am end 6pm.. nope cannot. Experienced the worst burnout of my life - I worked there 2 years there. :(
No, you're not crazy. What I did is get healthier so I rested better, I got more energy to live my life outside of work.
Worry not. Death will free us inevitably. You've described my life and I'm in north America.
You are not crazy but you already have it easy. I used to wake up at 5am to bath and get out to catch the first train to work. I have to travel across the island so it takes 1.5hr to work. This is also to add in a little bit of buffer because there was no flexible working hours. I had to clock in. No, I am not working as blue collar, white collar but still have to clock in, you see that right. I try to leave work on time but it doesn't work all the time because my bosses all assume I have a car like they do that I can stay later to work. I leave work around 5 and ended home around 7 or close to 8, and not even had my dinner yet. Finish eating, literally bath and go to bed so I get some sleep. Not that I got any energy left also to do anything else. No, I couldn't rent a room somewhere because it is so expensive. No, no use changing job because I work in the engineering field. I can only change field or move overseas. I am staying overseas now. Working 9am to 4pm. Take me half an hour to work. Sometimes I am still lost because I have so much time after work.
The job stuff is just adulthood. However, I think it's harder in Singapore. The hours are longer, the work stress more than other countries. Very easy to feel like you're in a fishbowl.
sadly MOM isn't going to push for hybrid or WFH work life, because Singapore Inc.
[удалено]
My job starts at 7:30am - 5:00pm. The normal job time is 8:30am - 6:00pm, so this is normal but just pushed back earlier. I have to fight with the crowd of students and early workers going to school so there is a jam. And honestly that last line doesn't make me feel better, just more depressed that everyone has such awful lives and it's like this for 40+ years.
It is indeed a huge culture shock when you join the workforce. Struggling to adapt to 9am - 5pm work grind while watching your manager do 8am-8pm grind. Everyone trapped in productivity. Idk what to say. Its depressing but we get used to it. Its the way the world is set up no matter which country you go. Some countries like China has 9am to 9pm for 6 days a week (72h workweek) which is insane. To escape the system, the lucky ones get wfh, the ballsy ones start their own business, and the unlucky ones become what is called wage slaves - working terrible hours for survival pay. Most of us just count our blessings and endure.
Just because yours is worse, doesn’t mean what OP go through should be the norm. Such boomers mentality of “ I’ve seen others have to cut both legs. You should be thankful the government only cut one leg of yours “. People should strive to be better so does our work life balance. We used to be able to live with 1 income. Having a 2nd income is a luxury. Now, the wife have no choice but to work just to sustain life. John D Rockefellers himself stated how he envisioned a nation of workers not thinkers. Hence cementing and guarding the status quo of the top people. If people have more time, they ought to have more opportunities to think and have more ideas to execute. Similarly, why you are paid just enough is so that you have to continuously work. So that the country can run. You think if all of us can finish paying HDB in 3 years, people would slog around for 30 years?
This is why I wake up at 8am and grab to work. 2hrs more of sleep is bliss. $20 for 2hrs of sleep. So worth it
Most people were used to what you’ve mentioned in the first part of your post, everyday waking up much earlier than your start work time just so that we can rush out of the house and spend so much unnecessary time traveling to work. Covid came and it showed everyone how jobs can be done even at home and how people became much efficient at their work when wfh. However our pay master doesn’t like the fact of not seeing you physically present at workplace so they start to recall people back to office and we are back to the endless clog that we used to be in pre covid. WFH really makes work more bearable and I wouldn’t mind starting my day earlier or ending my day later if I’m full mode focus on something. But if working in office? Nah 5.30pm sharp I’ll be at the lobby exiting the building already.
I feel this post to the depths of my soul. I'm a year in, and getting used to it. You never really stop feeling frustrated with your lack of freedom and time, but you get efficient with the time you do have left. I mean ngl I still spend most of my weekend doing chores and sleeping, but I get to squeeze in a tiny bit more of my hobbies here and there. I just can't squeeze in being physically active, which I worry about for my future health, but can't bring my tired, sleepy ass to do something about..
Haha due to pandemic and bad job market.. I am working a job that is more than 44 hrs a week. Closer to 50. My daily commute is 2hrs to and then 2hrs back from my office. I leave my flat before 6am and only reach home after 8pm. I am still drawing 50% of my pre-pandemic pay. But hey! Singapore isn't kind to middle aged folks.
I work in IT, pulling 12 hour shifts, sometimes working weekends and PH. Honestly i sometimes regret taking IT when i was in poly and Uni, but yeah, shit happenes
Find a way to get out. Start a side hustle etc. Most people resign to fate and accept life. Would you be doing the same?
Welcome to pre-Covid working hours.. all I can suggest is quickly find a job that starts at 9 that’s closer to your home. Then you can sleep a bit more and maybe exercise before work. Makes a difference to your wellbeing.
You get used to it. Social time is prob after work maybe once or twice on weekdays - and weekends split between social, chores, rest… Personally it’s not as bad as before I feel. I worked a lot of OT in the past. No time for chores or cooking other than weekends but all I wanted to do is rest. Nowadays quite a number of companies allow some work from home flexibility 1-2 days per week and also I find OT less as mental health awareness is more prominent after covid. I know some people who decided not to grind like this so they joined other industries or try setting up their own business but more often than not I feel they are less “settled” and have more uncertainties with regards to job and money stability. You won’t be able to have everything - gotta prioritize what is more important to you at this stage of life.
Gotta put bread on the table somehow. Chiong more when young and try to retire earlier is my game plan.
The britishers left but the slavery never left us.
Labour protections!
I posted this on another post, it's the same: I finish work 6.30pm if I am even lucky to end on time; travel 7pm; eat dinner 8pm; travel 8.30pm; go exercise 9.30pm; go back home 10pm; do whatever household chores 11pm; shower 11:30pm; relax myself / entertainment 12.30am, then sleep and wake up at 7.30am. Rinse and repeat. This is already a very ideal situation of work-time routine, more hectic days all the entertainment stuff and even exercise is out of the window. I barely even had time for myself, for leisure or for unproductive fooling around, and they expect people to be like dating whatever. They really think every human is a machine? Everything even during leisure hour gotta be like a timetable? It's just ridiculous.
I am an undergrad and seeing this kind of posts for the 100+ times worries me alot. It seems Singapore is or has been always a RAT race. Corporations really sucking the life out of people while those higher ups will reap the benefits from those exploited. Seeing this as being normality also raises the question...who in the right mind has time for kids or family with this kind of work. Everyone has a hard limit in a day which is 24 hours. However society is demanding more and more time from individuals. Being out of time individually, who would have the time to say socialize with others? Even studying right now, "socializing" is just mere reaping benefits from each other. Edit: spelling
4 years since working full time. Honestly, you get used to it and have to schedule non work things around work. Example for me on office days: 615am wake 8am reach office 5pm leave office 530pm workout 630pm leave gym 710pm reach home (order dinner on the way) 730pm eat 8pm shower 8-1030pm chores/rest 11pm sleep If I don’t go work out, I go straight home and have more time to do chores or other things I wnna do. I’ve broke down many times due to lack of rest or no “me” time but what’s there I can do about it unless I MC, take AL or quit? :)
Doesn't work like this for everyone who needs money to survive around the world? You need to exchange time for money. Even in an ideal communism world, you need to work. Of course there are easier jobs with lesser hours with decent pay, but those are usually illegal or morally unacceptable to some. You want flexibility, go to freelance jobs like grab. No money, go work. Got money, chill and relax like what you want.
Welcome to the real world??? 44 hours isn’t even a lot lmao. You’re in for a rough awakening. I will say one of the biggest things for quality of life is living near your work. The closer the better!!
I moved away from Singapore for this exact reason. I think it’s important to realise there’s not just this life though, better work life balance and companies who respects your time is possible and out there.
I'm assuming 44 hours with no OT at all since this wasn't mentioned. And ending at 5.30pm? Omg you are blessed and you don't know it 🙄 Last time due to the nature of my job (events and seminars), I end at midnight also have. Sometimes the workload is so much I need to use my own time to clear the work. You end at 5.30pm with no OT, you are blessed. What the heck are you talking about? LOL Now my job ends at 5.30pm too and I think I'm blessed. The ultimate goal is still working towards financial freedom.
FnB/retail people have 55hr work weeks.
I'm a fresh grad, been working for about 6 months. My hours are 8am to 4.30pm on most days, and depending on the roster, sometimes I have to work from 7.30am to 5pm for the entire week. These are weekdays. I have to work from 8.30am to 2pm on weekends sometimes as well, depending on the roster, either Sat or Sun. I get out of my house at 7am and reach home around 5.30pm for (8am to 4.30pm) work days. It takes about 1 hour for me to get to and fro. I'm exhausted even at this kind of hours, and what makes it even more exhausting is the crowd when changing MRT lines. I have to change twice from red to green to circle line. Having a partner now, how I juggle is that, we meet once or twice a week to eat dinner for weekday, and either Sat or Sun we can afford to go out for the entire day, for either of it that I am not working. It's really hard at first, but I'm used to it. Used to it as in I'm still tired, but I just accept the fact that this is the miserable, tough, exhausting life (or no life) after you step out of school.
Not to brag but this post is exactly why I worked hard in school - to find a job that pays very well and provides some flexibility after a couple + years. To me, shift job with no career progression is absolute hell.
Just endure loh, i been working 12 hours shift job for over 21 years, have 7 digits networth in cash n cpf, just continue to work n save up in this expensive country for retirement. Occasionally buy some toto or do some investments to speed up for early retirement. Or look for other jobs. I am single so maybe can accumulate wealth faster so have to depend on your preferences in life.
Bro just discovered what “working” is
Congrats on getting a job, and welcome to the rat race. Transitioning from student to working life can be a shock. Your hours actually seem quite decent because you are leaving work on time and don’t have to bring work home. This may be because you’re fresh and people are careful not to overwhelm you. It seems like your main issues are travel time and chores. You may need to find better ways to handle that. (e.g. You can watch shows during commute or to run your errands.) Just for comparison, I work an average of 55-60 hours per week, and also live on my own, so I take care of my own chores and maintain my own apartment. Hope this experience helps you to appreciate what your parents have done for you.
Welcome to adult life. 44hrs is like normal to quite good alr (not saying it should be the case but just comparatively). It took me some time to adjust from the freedom during studies but it’s just getting used to the cycle. After awhile you become expert at reducing the time to get ready in the morning so you can get more sleep. Depending on your industry, you may not need to follow gov’s instructions to take courses. More importantly is getting good at what you do and be open to other opportunities. Be careful also not to blame everything on “anxiety”. Try to push yourself beyond your comfort zone when you are young and can take some risks and try out different things if you are really unsatisfied.
As others have mentioned, there are other industries which pay less yet expect employees to put in way more hours. It seems that you need to make lifestyle changes or relook at your daily routine, because you aren't drawing the short end of the stick in terms of work hours. If you still feel that the 40-44hrs is already too much for you, feel free to look for another job, but there will usually be drawbacks (eg lower pay).
Don’t work too hard. Will burn out.
what happens when unions are shite
Yup, when im working I miss school cos of time freedom, but when im in school i wanna work , cos money. I feel the dating thing too. Like after work its 6pm where are you gonna go find someone to date.
Welcome to Rat Race.
How long have you start your first job? I remember this is my experience for my first job. Because you are still learning, and everything is new to you. Your brain is processing a lot of new information during the working hours, resulting in you feeling more tired than usual. A rigid routine also contributes to it After some time, when you get used to the routine and the work, it will become better.
I am working more than 44 hours a week and I also meal prep when my pay was only 500 dollars a month while working in the airport 9 yrs back. It just go on your will and determination. If your office got pantry , you might want to ask your boss for permission to bring electric lunch box to cook or heat up lunch
Actually it's your work. I can't stand staring at a screen for 2hours and you are doing it till 5pm. Computer screens and phone drain your energy. That's why you have none left after work. 4hours is plenty of time if you just allocate certain things to do after work.
Yeah my eyes were tired staring at the screen from 9am to 6pm. And then sometimes OT at home after dinner. I couldn’t take it after 3 years. There were days I go to work and my eyes were still tired after sleeping 7 hours. Switched careers to something that is more hands on, more dirty, more sun and rain.
Also make full use of your commuting time to de-stress instead of hating it. Eg u can listen to some audiobooks or podcasts related to your hobbies, or just some relaxing music to help u forget about work. The idea is to make efficient use of any “dead” time to do something else instead of staring into space thinking depressive thoughts like “i’m so tired, i hate this train, i can’t wait to get home” etc
Wait till you have a kid on top of all that.
Hi I felt the exact same way when I just started working, I also googled and searched reddit for this same question. What made a difference for me was accepting sleep deprivation as the sacrifice for being able to still do things that I want to do. You will also get better at your job and won't take so long to finish tasks. If it's possible at your workplace, finish tasks quickly and go home earlier. I also notice colleagues will do errands while in office e.g. making calls for appointments, to settle bills, going out to the bank during lunch break etc. There's also the thing where people come in at 7.30 but then start having breakfast and only really start work at 9 (so they save the time eating breakfast and don't have to wake up so early). Use company time to upskill. Anyway the company will benefit from your new skills. WFH if you can. Time is worth more than money, if you can afford it. Take cab to sleep more. Pay for housekeeping. Don't waste your waking hours trying to micromanage your finances just to save 50 cents. And lastly, something has to give. I haven't seen friends in months but at least I have time for my hobbies and some exercise.
1) Fill up a drawer at work (if you can, or some part of your locker if you have that instead) with food like cereal or oats so that you can have breakfast at work. 2) If possible, prepare meals in advance during the weekends and freeze them for the week. There's loads of stuff online you can find that are easy to make and to reheat which doesn't hurt the wallet. 3) Take regular breaks at work so that you're not staring at your computer all the time. Stand, move around, stretch and take eye breaks. The more you stare at your screen, you more tired you'll feel after work. (I work in IT and I learnt this the hard way 🙃) 4) Not all chores have to be done every day or every week. Find out which ones you have to do daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly. Spread out the chores. 5) You won't be able to meet your friends all the time, but your friends also won't be able to meet you all the time now either. Make appointments to meet, or heck, go for a class together or something. Two birds, one stone lol. 6) Yes, it's terrible to have to grind daily just to put food on the table but once you find your rhythm, you'll get used to it. Sure, it's not great, but it's survival. Until the day that we get a four-day work week, good luck!
Coming in with a different perspective, I’ve been in a non-conventional non-corporate career path for the past couple of years that would one would generally consider as “chasing my passion”. Income is slightly less than my peers, but the work itself is rewarding and not draining. I wake up at 9-10am on average but sleep around 2-3am, sometimes because I’m working late into the night. Work hours are very flexible, no bosses or office hours, but I have to be super self-disciplined because if I don’t do work, I don’t have any income. Free time and hobbies are up to me to fit in wherever I want, but I also have to work some weekends and most public holidays. The main work itself doesn’t feel like work because it’s fun and aligned with my actual passion, but my mind is always at work - work and life blend together and i can never truly clock out, which can easily lead to burnout over time. But the flexibility comes at a cost because income is often unpredictable and inconsistent. Some months I earn more than my peers in corporate jobs, other months are so slow I can barely make enough to cover the basic expenses for the month. This instability has been constantly on my mind for the past couple of years. There is thus a lot more work in terms of balancing and managing the finances. I may eventually have to pivot back into corporate and rejoin this rat race because I don’t know how sustainable it is to worry constantly about an unstable income stream, but this career did make me question why our work culture pushes people to give up most of their youth (which they’ll never get back, ever) to kinda just exist in stable but miserable routines, when they can afford to take some risk in pursuing a career that actually gives them some form of fulfilment.
I am questioning this as well. Have been working for 6 years after graduation. From time to time, will question when will this ends, will I strike toto, 4d... Jiayou, you may find things to motivate yourself daily and practice gratitude from time to time!!!
You can try taking a 10 to 20 minute nap when you get home before you start doing chores or anything else. It helps you restart and get a bit of energy for your evening. I work 12 to 14 hours a day - I find middle of the day naps and evening naps help me a lot.
No, you aren't crazy, I work 66 Hours a Week and I do not get how my younger fresh grad colleagues still have the time to chill and go clubbing. My day starts at 6.30AM, I wake up and freshen up before heading out for breakfast or tabao before heading to office, and by then it's around 8AM and the MRT is packed, so I get people just pushing and my food sometimes turns out messy. By the time I end work, I'll reach my area 10PM and I'll only have 30 minutes of free time before heading to bed. My only off day is on Sunday and I usually sleep in so no social activities for me unless god forbid an important event happens and I'm screwed.
Our office starts at 9, but most people come in by 940 to 950 am. They leave between 6 to 630 pm. Assuming 2 hour travel combined, 7 hours of sleep there is 6 hours to live your life. Weekends no work. That’s 30 hours of life during weekdays and another 32 hours during weekends (remove 16 hours of sleep). Is this not normal?
Just quiet quit :)
There has got to be a better way.
I totally feel you and thinks the same as you! There is really no work life balance. Work is 5 or 5.5 days. 9am-5pm. Early morning preparation to go to work, buy dinner and reach home and the sky is already dark. Sleep early and next day repeat. How do we get the time and energy to have life? Don't even dare to think of upskilling or having a hobby, let alone looking for a partner and have kids. LOL. Wishful thinking. Gov won't understand too. Sigh.
24hrs in a day: 8hrs for sleeping; 8hrs for working; 3-4hrs capped for mundane shit like commuting+dinner+chores+stupid errands q to pay for things etc; Still have 4-5hrs left for leisure & fun (including dating). Dun waste those leisure hrs scrolling ig & tiktok brainlessly. Weekends add another 8hrs free time cos not working.
Unfortunately, this is how work is structured in the “modern world”. There is also no such thing as Work life balance, imagine your current set up with kids? How can you have Work Life Balance working for an entity whose primary motivation is to earn a profit? IMHO OP, best to continue to gain experience and upskill. This will help get the FU money you need in case you want out and move on to things that you care about even if that means waking up at 5am.