Do you have boundaries? Where do you draw the line? I’m fine with “busy seasons”, but when is it too much? ⏰

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I have no boundaries and it’s killing me. I’m depressed and I feel my health declining. But now I don’t know how to walk back expectations after doing 80h weeks for over a year. I may just have to quit and start over somewhere else.

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This is why I’m trying to avoid this from the get-go at a new firm on a fresh slate. I was you a few years back and the firm owned my ass like no one‘s business. I ended up in the hospital in the emergency room which was awful and my health in general took a hit from a couple of different perspectives. Don’t end up like me. Take care of yourself. You might have already created the history of having done the 80 hour weeks with no hesitation but now might be the time to speak up to change that. Maybe think about reaching out to HR or some other avenue to get expectations set. You can’t let your health decline like this. I am available to connect if you need someone to talk to

I work my hours based on contract (40). I accept exception for overtime, but it needs to be an exception, if it’s too regular it means there is a problem in the organisation, so or the organisation changes or I quit.
Work is important, but my life is more important, and my performance is not going to be good anyway if I over work

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100% agree with this! I just got done with my final interview and they already gave me the disclaimer statement that they have busy seasons with this position which I am OK with provided that it is not all the time. I’m trying to come to terms with these busy seasons and if it literally means 80 hours/week or what? They did not define what that looks like exactly. I also don’t want to continue to job hop because unfortunately every other position has been relentless in this area and I’ve basically been trying to run from it the whole time so I don’t want to continue that trend. Trying to keep a long-term mentality with the firm but don’t want to burn out and end up quitting or having performance suffer or anything like that. Burn out is real

I definitely have boundaries, and will bend them but flag if it’s consistent for more than say 4-6 weeks. I find everyone’s boundaries are different but I’ll vocalise to the team I need 8 hours sleep, 1 hour workout in the week & no weekend work. Practically this means no more than 60 hours work per week.

Not always possible, but I try.

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I definitely communicate them (at the start of each project we have a ‘team norms’ session where everyone says what’s important to them - recommend suggesting these if you don’t have them).

It’s on you to enforce though. We typically have checkouts at 6pm, and I try to only commit to having things done that evening that will meet this, e.g., no one will say ‘oh it’s past 10pm, better stop asking for stuff tonight’ etc., and flag if things look like they can’t be done in the time available. I also do bend them regularly, but try to only do that for real deadlines and not just BAU.

Good luck working out what works for you!

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No, but I need them

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It’s about to be a new year guys! This might be a good time to reevaluate this area and set expectations at the start of the new year. Could be a good opportunity to use the new year as a leverage to set expectations going forward

I work 40 hours, may push it to 50 if I am doing interesting things. Anymore than 50 needs to be an exception and discussed.

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Thank you for this! I am definitely going to keep this in my back pocket :-) I agree about not having things done by end of business as that is a result of poor planning. Sounds like you have your boundaries set in stone and are doing well. Cheers to you!

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Considering consulting boomerang (currently in industry), but I’m hesitant on unforgiving late nights. Prior to leaving consulting my health took a hit. How can I manage expectations without driving myself into the ground again? 60/70/80 hours/week? Where’s the boundary, and how to enforce?

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