Are people really working for 16hrs per day? Are they being productive?

I see posts like this all the time—“I’m working from 9am to 2am, 80-100hrs a week” Seriously? I assume you’re getting, what, 4-5hrs of sleep nightly? Maybe catch up on weekends? Are people really being productive working like that? I find these claims dubious at best considering the literature out there on sleep requirements and the buildup of “mental fatigue” which has been observed in lifestyle studies. Obviously there are a lot of smart people in finance so it can’t be that ridiculous but this aspect of the job always struck me as odd. You’re telling me sleeping 4 hours a night and working 16 hours a day is more productive than sleeping 8-9 and working 11-12? What am I missing?

Maybe they are working 16 hrs and then sleeping 8 and doing literally nothing else?

6 Comments
 

Some days could be intense work for 10+ hours. Others may be days filled with calls, waiting for comments, etc that push back when I can get work done.

The important thing is never to let oneself be guided by the opinion of one's contemporaries; to continue steadfastly on one's way without letting oneself be either defeated by failure or diverted by applause.
 

EB in the middle-east
You really only need around 6 hours sleep to function well..
On busy times we start at 10 and finish at 02:00 with the occasional 1 or 3, so you can have your 6hrs.
Our office tries to keep weekends safe so you can recharge.
It’s really manageable, especially if the culture is good so even if you stay late the team that’s with you are friendly

 
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People always say 80-100 and rattle it off the tongue like these are the most similar concepts in the world. They're wrong. It's just as big as the difference between a part time job and a full time job, except the difference is not in how much you work, but in how much you sleep.

80 is not as difficult as people think. Do 14 hours a day for 5 days, then 5 hours a day for the other 2 days. That's 80 hours a week. That's literally working from 9-11 on most weekdays, which with a streamlined commute can put you in bed at 11:30-12:00 and you can get up at 8 for a full 8 hours of sleep. There's not really any deprivation in that, and you can sleep in on weekends.

Honest-to-goodness 100 hours a week feels so much different. You're basically losing 4 hours out of 8 on your sleep during the weekdays, which leaves you tanked on the weekends and you'll go into koala mode.

 

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