What is your workday like?

5:45 am alarm goes off, I swear and get out of bed, shower and grab a bagel or whatever on the way out. I get on a conference call every morning with my supervisor and crew of technicians and craft foreman to discuss the work of the day as well as talk about corporate and safety stuff. I get in my truck and go do my part of the work we discussed. Then I do a shitload of paperwork, take little breaks and fuck around on fluther or whatever forum floats my boat but I’m still getting shit done ( just not going insane doing it) I work 2–4 hours of overtime, get in my car and drive the 15 min it takes to get home. I kiss my wife and we take a 4–5 mile walk together. We prepare dinner together and eat. I go to my office and attempt to study for a professional licence exam I am supposed to take. I fuck around on fluther a little. At about 9:30 the wife and I sit on the deck with tiki torches and a drink, maybe screw around a bit but then go to bed. 4:00 in the morning (usually friday or a holiday) I’m jolted awake by dispatch with a problem Techs unavailable or unable to get it eorking and we need to fix it ASAP, ( whatever it is) I cuss, get dressed and drive an hour or two to some sketchy part of town or countryside and usually cycle power on something or find a problem that is not mine. Sometimes I work all night on something major. Get back home on paid rest for a few hours then go back to work for some mandatory meeting that ends up being a complete waste of my time. I go to my office and answer about 50 emails about flipping a switch the night before. I go home. Repeat.

I sleep til 5pm. Fluther and watch my nbr (nightly business report ) business show on pbs or laptop while eating a hot dog or potato. Fluther and then take my pill at 8pm. Have a two hour long panic attack. Then sleep and repeat. I am ok with what I do. It is better than going outside and having more anxiety. Just burning the extra time until I get paid on the 25th. Any extra time is spent Fluthering or talking to my mom or sleeping.

Yes, I actually like what I do. It’s a different location, thing, problem and solution every day.

Wow @ARE_you_kidding_me We live parallel lives….I will give my version my work day later.

I think it’s the typical story for any working professional.

Gee the alarm goes off at 3;30am I get up turn the coffee on, stumble into the shower get out get dressed get my lunch ready out the door at 4;30 short 10 minute drive to the truck ,do a pre trip on the road by 5am , a five to five and a half hour drive to my load then get in a loader and load my truck 1 and a half hours later ready for a 6 hour drive back after a 15 minute fuel stop get back half hour post trip and paper work hand the truck over to the cross shift.
Most average work days are 13.75hours long as long as nothing goes wrong or breaks down.

I am up about 4:30 a.m., out the door by 5:30. I walk to the train that gets me in the office by 6:15.

I work in San Francisco in an industry that runs on New York time. The bell rings at 6:30 PT and closes at 1:15. I work until about 1:45 most days.

I work for a subsidiary of a well known financial firm. I have been involved in this business in one form or another for 36 years. It isn’t as fun as it used to be, but it still has its moments. And it carries a bit of satisfaction that we are involved in keeping the machinery of the financial world running smoothly.

The alarm/radio is set for 5:45 but I always awake at 5:44 that I have to attribute to a psychosis fear of waking up to a Bee Gees wake up song ever again. Toss on the robe…walk downstairs and hit the brew button on the coffee maker. Pop on the TV and channel surf the morning news talk shows…starting with Morning Joe and drifting to and fro from there while I do yoga stretches on the floor with pushups and crunches thrown in just because I like pain before I fully awake. I high five the HS senior as I ascend to take a shower and he is on his way out the door. 12 minute drive to work or a 9 minute drag race depending on the degree of coffeeness in my veins. Razz the secretaries as I unlock my office and first things first I check email and any shenanigans here on Floof. My day alternates between phone calls, emails, formulas, purchase orders, formulas, emails, Fluther, being razzed by the secretaries, meetings, lab work and more Fluther. Everyone leaves work at 4 pm and I linger to deal with the after hour demands until 5 pm where I hop back in my 366 hp twin turbo ride home and put the pedal to the medal. 20 years down 9.5 to go.

I work part time for a media company and for the company my husband and I own.

The media company. I do 75% of the month’s work in the first two weeks. I usually work late afternoon, because most of the subcontractors are in Europe, and we can’t be in the same document at the same time. I work about 35–40 hours a month. I wire money, create and send invoices, and maintain the books.

For my husband I work at least 30 minutes in the evening. The rest of the work I do whenever convenient throughout the week. I do about 15 hours a week.

My days really vary. It’s because of many reasons: upcoming projects or exams, the nature of the projects, whether I need to meet my teams (and my teams vary depending on the courses too)... but the most obvious reason is my schedule. Currently I have three days’ work (it will be four next month, when some courses finally begin). It’s actually harder than it sounds because most of my workload is at home.

My work day starts at 7 a.m for the morning courses and 12:30 p.m for the afternoon courses. I’m in my final years now so most courses are all about projects and practical work. There’s this course that revolves around mock lessons. Each team is given lessons and a deadline for each to perform in front of the class. When I don’t have any deadline I just watch my classmates do their job and aid them as a mock student until the period ends. Then there’s a Western Literature course, not technically a course that requires practical work but I have an upcoming play to perform. Apart from that I just sit there listening to the lecture. The Cross-Culture course could have been interesting with lots of research and projects, but unfortunately the teacher is just incompetent. All she does is give us projects and tasks and go out enjoying her day. I either try to complete the tasks or watch other students struggle with their presentations and the day ends. Other courses just requires sitting and listening to the lecture until it ends.

You can see I have lots of free time, but I don’t have much use for them. The “free time” is actually for preparing for projects. When I’m not at school, I have to watch out for which deadline I should meet, then make a plan for me and my team, then inform the team and go work on my part, send my work to the team and check with them, repeat until the final product comes out yeah, you can tell I’m the leader of most teams. Sometimes I have to go meet my team at the arranged day, as in the case of the play. Then when I go home I have to get what we previously agreed on done. Most of the work is done in the evening. There can be time when I have nothing in my hand. When it happens, I read textbooks for the next school day, or just go brush up my Japanese.

I’m kind of burned out at the moment. There are too many deadlines to meet. It’s the exam time and the teachers want projects for exam scores. My family wonders why I’m so lifeless as I have very short school days. They don’t know I’m not burned out at school, but at home.

I’m up on my own, no alarm clock anywhere from 5 to 7 o’clock. Sometimes I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and then have trouble returning to sleep, and on those days I’ll sleep till around 7, which is a bit late. Ideally I’m up around 5:30 to 6. I will check FB and Fluther and then get two cups of coffee. Then I take a shower, do hair and makeup, feed cats and wake up daughter. We are out the door around 8:15. I drive her to school which is a six minute ride from home. If I’m all ready, I’ll continue on to work. If I’m not ready, I have to return home to finish up getting ready.

I have a 50 mile ride to work which is about 40 minutes. If I had to leave at an earlier time, say 8:00, I’d be in the middle of rush hour and it would be about an hour to work. I’m lucky I’m a bit past rush hour when I drive to work.

I have to be at work at 9:30. I work till 5:30. My day can be very boring or it can be meetings, either in the office or at another work site. Sometimes I’m typing stuff, answering phone calls from employees (members of our organization) who have issues. Sometimes I’m answering emails or making charts. Sometimes we go to parties as part of the job. People say “what a great job. You go to parties for work.” I tell them that it’s actually easier to stay at work and eat then it is to go to a party and make small talk with strangers.

Sometimes we meet with other officials or politicians. I get an hour for lunch but I usually don’t go out for lunch. I’ll eat at my desk and play on the computer or sit with the receptionist in the conference room and eat.

I leave at 5:30 and pick my daughter up at the after school program by 6:30. Then it’s home to make dinner, get her in the shower and do homework. I don’t walk in the door until around 6:45. Sometimes after I pick her up we go out to dinner. I love not having to cook.

I like my job. It pays well and has great benefits.

6AM : wake up
7AM : out the door
8AM : drop daughter at school
9AM : arrive at work

I work at one college Monday, Wednesday and another college Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.

I’m an adjunct professor at the first one and a full-time professor/academic chair at the second one.

My days are a combination of:
• teaching classes
• advising students
• managing faculty
• updating/writing curriculum
• paperwork
• grading

4PM : leave work
6PM : arrive home

I love my job and have done pretty well with it for sixteen years.

I am also an artist and designer. I write too. Been doing that for twenty-eight years. I pursue these things when I’m not at the colleges. I love this job as well.

Overall, I’m pretty lucky.

You are all working Warriors! I had expectations of this and that but I humbly thank you all for your honest answers…just what I was hoping for! It seems no matter what we do, we all do it sunrise to sunset, have purpose and despite the demands, we are able to squeeze in some down time. Knuckles, high-five…hugs all around! Keep on keepin!

I’m marking this and will answer when I get home from work.

The first thing I do when I unlock my office door is make coffee in my little 4 cup drip coffee maker.

I’m in post-retirement and love what I do.

I wake up around 4am when the rooster crows. I make some rich coffee, feed the Maggie the Cat and my two workdogs, Sam&Dave. Then I open the laptop at the kitchen table and check various international newsites and Fluther.

After coffee, I get into some old overalls/coveralls and open the chickenhouse doors so the hens will have access to their shady run, check their water and feeders and collect the eggs. Then I feed the sheep, goats, mare and burro. I eye my inventory, milk the three nannies, then go back to the house to shower, dress into a light cargo shirt with lots of pockets, light-weight shorts and have a leisurely breakfast of meats, eggs, bread and coffee and mess around on the laptop while Sam&Dave lay on the floor nearby and eye me tensely for any sign of going to work.

About 8am, I boot up, grab a gooney hat and some water, saddle up Cheyenne the mare, last Betsy the burro by rope to the saddlehorn and with Sam&Dave herd the sheep to the higher meadow. I take the long way through the mango and pecan orchard in order to check on them. Betsy is secured to Shy in order to keep her from the little sugar cane experiment I have going. She has an insatiable sweet tooth and can do a lot of damage and the sugar isn’t good for her. Once in the meadow, the dogs ease up and stand guard, Betsy can wander off to wherever if I don’t her and I and Shy are free to survey and check fences and irrigation.

Shy and I return home for lunch and a little feed around noon or so. I either take Shy or the jeep down into the village for supplies and check on the fruit stand lady Kita, our mayor of sorts, the woman I’ve often mentioned as the one with the Apache eyes. She knows all that goes on as her stand is at the main crossroads between villages and everyone talks to her. She knows who needs work, who is having a baby, who has lost their boat or is getting a new one, who has gone away and who is sick. She is also a traditional medicine woman, a kind of family practitioner/midwife on a part of the island where doctors are scarce. These women are valued all over the Caribbean and have been for centuries. Both her son and daughter wish to study medicine at the university and often spend time eagerly perusing my old nursing textbooks up at the house.

Kita found me a better international buyer for my wholesale products, gave me my first vanilla vines and my first hive of stingless Melipona honeybees to ensure their pollination and has connected me with hotel concierges that recommend myself and my boat for charter to visiting tourists. She is also my source of casual labor. I sell her my egg production, some garden vegetables, fruit, honey, goat’s milk and we trade and we talk and she is invaluable to me. We do a lot of business and we are welcome in each others’ homes.

After that, I might have some coffee in the village and check on the boat, do some snorkeling for shellfish or take Shy for a brisk ride along the beaches. A couple of hours before sunset, I’m back in the meadow and it’s time to bring Betsy and the sheep in. At dusk, I open the little door from the chicken run to the garden and let the hens at the insects for about twenty minutes just long enough for them not to do too much leaf damage. Pest control and protein supplement. Then I sprinkle them with the hose and they run into the coop and I secure them for the night. They think it’s raining.

With coffee and pastry or tea, I’ll sit on the porch and add to my my weekly status report and accounting to the plantation owner, Howard, in Yorkshire, England, or Fluther, or just sit and listen to the myriad of sounds as the jungle around me awakens to another night in the Caribbean. Around 8 or 9pm, I go in and shower, eat dinner, change into some light cottons and watch a film, or write, sketch, email people back home and around the world or contribute to Wikipedia, or do a critique on some old film for the Internet Archive, plan the next sail, or wrestle with the dogs on the carpet or read.

I never dreamed I’d be doing this in a place like this. I fell right into it. It’s a little warm and wet but It’s nice work if you can get it.

(Gahhh!! I just fell even more in fluther-crush with @Espiritus _Corvus )

Most mornings I wake up between 5 and 5:30 am. The alarm clock goes off at 5:30, and 5:45, and sometimes I snooze it for ten minutes or so. I am very rigid in my morning routine, and I like that as it requires less thought. I shower the night before, mainly because my boss keeps it so cold in our building and I usually have my hair air dry, so I’d have pneumonia if I came to work with it wet.
Every morning I test my blood sugar, and then give myself my insulin shot. Then I dress for work, fix my lunch, then fix and eat my breakfast. Lastly, I brush my teeth, etc., say goodbye to my cats, and I’m out the door.
My commute only takes about 15 minutes at most, and I’m at work between 7 and 7:30 am. Depending on the day, and my schedule, I start at 7 or 7:30, so if I’m early, I say hi to people, putz around for a few moments, check my email, etc. I DO NOT work before I have punched in, and am adamant about that.
My day is varied, in that I take care of issues as they arise, but I also have set tasks that have to be done daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. The sad thing is I am bored most of the time nowadays. When my current boss came about seven months ago, he ran roughshod over me, and took a bunch of things away from me that I used to do. Apparently he hired some guys who, in his words, needed to have enough work to do with their 40 hour work week, so never mind that I had been taking care of a lot of the issues before that, it was taken out of my hands.
At first it really hurt, but I have to say I couldn’t care less at this point. A lot of the things I did, I enjoyed doing because it helped out my friend who worked at a location about a mile down the road, but he left in June, and though I would have continued doing those tasks, now I really don’t care if they get taken care of or not. I hate to sound bitter, but it was a real slap in the face when my boss did that to me, and I’ve just decided that since he didn’t want me doing it that I would just stop caring.
So…obviously, I am not very happy in my job. I used to feel challenged, and I used to feel like I could use my problem solving skills a lot, but all of that has changed. I am really pretty depressed in my job right now, as I feel like I’ve lost my identity. Most days, as I said, I’m bored out of my mind. I get everything done that is a scheduled task, and I take care of issues as they arise, but I have lost all enthusiasm and passion for my job. Plus, when my friend left, that was kind of the last straw, as he was always someone I could go and talk to. He wasn’t happy either, but we kind of encouraged each other to hang in there, and now I don’t have that any more.
Some days I feel bad because I’m not working on much as there’s not that much to do. But then I’ve tried to take on extra tasks, and my help is not wanted apparently…so, I figure I shouldn’t feel bad as I did not create this situation.
I really want to find another job, but only have my two year degree so far, and haven’t been able to find a job that pays enough for what I need to make. I feel very trapped, and it is a horrible feeling.

OK… I’m home from work. So, let’s begin,

Depending on when I have to start and where I have go, I get up between 5.15 and 6.15. Today was an odd day and I wasn’t booked until 10am, but I usually start between 7.30 and 8.30 and then finish accordingly between 15.30 and 16.30. I get up and make a strong pot of french press coffee from coffee my BBE brings me from the US, and I turn on the extractor fan for the bathroom. I shower while my coffee is brewing. I dress in something I know will be comfy for that day. If I’m going to be with the 1 to 3 year olds, I put on leggings or sweat pants so when I sit on the floor with them, I can stretch and be comfortable. If I’m going to be with the bigger kids from 3 to 5 year olds, I usually wear jeans because I know we will be outside playing rough and I need the harder wear. My tops don’t vary much. Cotton crew necks, either long sleeve or short and an array of fun and funny tshirts with everything from the Cookie Monster to Tesla on them. Even Tinkerbell is represented. Recently, I found some fun earrings the kids like. Lady bugs, cookies, cupcakes…that sort of thing. They can help refocus a little one if something has upset them. Then it’s time to make the lunches. I make up the kiddo’s first, then mine if I have time. I wake up the kid if he isn’t already and we assess whether he needs a shower and then he gets in and I make sure everything gets done as it should because he gets distracted easily and I need to remind him that running out of hot water is NOT the indication that the shower is done. He needs to be finished well before that happens. I set out his clothes and make sure he gets dried and dressed and then I put on my face and do my hair which takes no longer than 6 minutes. (Drinking coffee the entire time since out of the shower, mind you) If I have any time left, I hang clothes to dry or I put another load in the washing machine or I clean the kitchen or the bathroom, sweep… what have you. Any left over coffee goes in the thermos and I kiss the boy good bye and remind him to get to school, and I pack my inside shoes and outside over-pants and with my back pack on, I’m off to the bus stop, 700m down the road. By this time, BBE has usually pinged my phone with a ‘good morning’ which means he is still awake there in the Great State of New Mexico and is up for a chat, so we usually talk on the phone during my bus ride into the city. If not, I’m on Facebook or Fluther. It’s no later than 7.15 at this stage. I get to work (depending on the location) after 30 minutes or an hour and a bit of travel time.
Work is a bubble. I walk in the door and two or more little people run toward me yelling my name with their arms outstretched. I immediately bend down and grab them in a hug. We chit chat and I tell them I have to take my jacket off yet, so they follow me to where I hang up my stuff, chatting and goofing the whole time. By the time I get organised with the kiddies, the routine is a-foot. Breakfast is between 8 and 8.45. It is a mash up of asking the kids what they want and just organising for the ones that can’t quite express themselves yet. We focus on waiting your turn and table manners and sitting in our seat and more… but anyway… so, I look after the babies all day and I have a half hour break where I usually like to sit alone and have quiet. Sometimes I’ll walk to a nearby grocery store and buy groceries for the night’s dinner to save time on the way home, if I need anything. We play inside and outside and focus on things that have to do with their development. There are scheduled and unscheduled diaper changes. There are songs sung and cries heard and owies to blow on. Disagreements to referee and naps to be had. Dishes to be put in the dishwasher, tables to be wiped, floors to be swept, garbage to be taken out. I don’t like leaving when all the kids are still there waiting to be picked up. I’m usually delayed on my way to the employee closet and it is hard to say good bye, especially when I am not booked to be back to that section of children, so I don’t know when I will see them again. Today, there were 14 kids ranging in age from 3 and a half to 5. The day before it was kids I’ve known since they were 1 year old and now they are 3. The day before that it was kids I’ve known since they were 1 and now they are two. One day, I might count all the children who touch my life from day to day, but right now, I think I just want to bathe in the sweetness of it all and not set an empirical system on it. I have to wait for the bus to come so I can find my way home. I ring my son, who is either with is buddy, or at home and ask him about his day and if I need to stop for anything on my way home. It is usually milk or bread if I didn’t already, or some special request for dinner. All reasonable requests are considered. I get on the bus. By this time BBE has woken up and is getting ready for his own day, so he sends me a message that he is ready to chat, so we will talk while I travel and while he drinks his morning tea. Sometimes, we are still talking when I walk through the door at home so I will hand the phone over to the little man and they will share and joke and laugh while I put my stuff away and start dinner. (long distance relationships aren’t easy.) By this time it is anywhere between 5pm and 6pm. That is, pretty much, my work day. I have the best job in the world. These little humans have restored something in me that I thought I had lost.
OK, Next.

TV alarm comes on at 5:30AM. I try to be up and moving by 6:00, but it’s usually a few minutes after. On those awful adrenaline-jolt mornings when it’s 6:20 or 6:30, there is swearing involved. Brush my teeth, pee and wash my hands.

Head downstairs, make coffee, make lunches for my husband and me. I started making his lunch a long time ago. He was in a very stressful job and I wanted to make sure that at least one nice thing happened for him that day. Check Facebook if I have time. Feed the cats if their bowls are empty. Go back upstairs, get dressed and curl my hair whilst listening to a local radio show. Take my meds, go back downstairs, get coffee for the drive to work, give all the cats goodbye scritches and tell them which one is in charge that day. Kiss husband, and leave by 7:00AM. Sometimes earlier, but rarely later than 7:05.

Hit the road for the 50 minute drive to work. Sometimes a pre-highway stop at McDonald’s because I am hooked on their hash browns. I try to limit this to no more than once a week!! Eight miles from home, I hit the interstate and set the cruise control for 77 mph. Get annoyed at people who tailgate or who speed up and slow down. There’s a construction zone on my drive right now, so I’m sure I annoy people by going 55 in the 50 mph area. The people who want to zoom past me need to do it before it turns into one lane. I’m not going to endanger a worker’s life or get a double-fine speeding ticket. Get off the highway, drive the last 5 miles to my building.

I clock in between 7:45 and 8:00, sort my stuff, make hot water for the tea drinkers, and go to the bathroom. After drinking coffee the whole way, it’s necessary! Then I get my coffee and talk to a co-worker about who I have to hunt down that day to make corrections to CTRs. Eat breakfast, usually a bagel or muffin, check email and make my to-do list.

If I have a class, I make sure that they know what they should be working on, then I finish whatever prep I need to do. The rest of the day is spent teaching for the most part. I will email or call the people who need to make the aforementioned corrections while my class is on break or involved in an activity.

If I don’t have a class, I am prepping for the next class, answering questions via phone or email, maybe working on some kind of tracking report, updating materials, BS-ing with co-workers, proofreading for my boss, checking facebook or fluther, updating files, and trying to not lose my mind from the under utilization of many of my skills.

Lunch happens between noon and 12:30 for 45 minutes. That is usually spent chatting online with friends. If no one is around, I have my iPad so that I can play a game or read. I head for home between 4:30PM and 5:00PM. As I’m an hourly employee, I have to be very careful to avoid overtime. Drive the 50-ish minutes home with stops to pick up the mail and get fuel as needed.

Do I like what I do? Some of it. I have so much more to offer that I am not “allowed” to do because my boss will not think outside of the box that she has put me in. When I try to reach out of the box and offer up something that I am capable of doing that could help the bank as a whole and is still well within the realm of what a training department can be, I get shot down with, “No, that gets handled by this or that person.” Obviously, those people aren’t doing it or aren’t doing it well, so why not let me try to show them and coach them??