Thought some of you might find this interesting. I catch myself doing this occasionally, usually when trying to justify laziness on the weekend.
FTA:
People are not very good at estimating how many hours they work, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (PDF) in a study highlighted by Harvard Business Review. When asked how much work they do each week, Americans tend to report longer hours than when they keep a more accurate diary of their work, the BLS analysis found. For instance, a person who actually works 40 hours in a week will, on average, report working 43.Not only that, but the more hours that people work, the more they exaggerate. Americans who say they work 75 hours a week tend to be exaggerating by 25 hours. (The average American work week in September was 34.5 hours, according to the BLS.)
It’s hard to say whether people are just bad at estimating their work weeks, are intentionally inflating their hours, or some combination of the two. The BLS suggests that at least one factor is the “social desirability” of work. People may overstate their working hours out of fear of being considered lazy, especially if they are part of a social class that puts a premium on people who work too much.
Note: Anyone not reading Quartz (qz.com) should start
Haven't heard this before but not surprising if you believe in classical economics that income roughly=productivity. I Look forward to reading starred members thoughts
Well depends on whether ppl consider commute, lunch breaks, some work related reading from home work. I mean im in the office 10-12 hours a day, but when i get home i might be reading a sell side report or 10q-10k for a few hour, or do some reading on the subway on my way to work and home which if i added would bring me to 11-13 hour a day plus home reading. Its all ambiguous how you define work hours.
Sounds like you fit OP's post.
ladubs brings up a good point. If people ask how much I work I say 50-55 but i'm probably only in the office for 45ish most weeks, more in really busy times. The rest of the time i'm commuting/at the gym during lunch/etc. Just commuting in a large city tends to feel like work and I often do some work outside of the times i'm at my office.
Any story worth telling is worth exaggerating.
Great post. I know some weeks are crazy than others, but ib analysts oversell how many hours they work on average.
just finished working today (saturday, sigh). pretty sure i'm consistently hitting 75 hours a week these days...
well, UBS reported in September avg was ~40 hours for financial analysts at banks
http://www.static-ubs.com/global/en/wealth_management/wealth_management…
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