please tell me this gets easier

[papasmurff]

I am a 22 yr old who just graduated college in May and just finished my second day at my "real" job.  Gone are the days of sleeping until 12 or 1...or staying up until 2 or 3am.....Hell right now i feel lucky to make it to 9pm as i awake from a nap that I never intended to take.  I feel lucky that tomorrow won't be quiet as early as I don't have to be at work until 8:30 (as opposed to 7:45 like today or yesterday)....has it really come to me feeling happy that i get to sleep in...until 6:45....when just a mere week ago I was free to sleep as late as I wanted...please tell me this gets easier cause right now I am beat!!!

oh and it isn't even like i am doing manual labor...it is orientation this week and computer training next week.....I am working for a health care provider

[Lockdown]

It gets easier.

[Isgrimnur]

It gets easier.  And if you need reassurance, think of all the people like me that had to go to school full time and then work 30 hours a week to keep a roof over their heads.

On a different note, though, almost every year I would come home and take a nap after the first day of school.

[rickfc]

Nope.  It doesn't get any easier.  Unless you get a job working at a place where you can play videogames and dress how you like.  And come in around 9 - 9:30 and leave around 5.  Yes, I have a great job.  

But before that, I was in the same grind as you.  It does suck, but you get used to it.  Especially on payday.  Suck it up.  

[Arkon]

I wish it got easier, but for me it just keeps getting harder.  I am going from working shift work to working shift work that is 3 days on, 3 days off, 12 hour days.  4 weeks of days, then 4 weeks of nights...not looking forward to it.

[whiteboyskim]

The real world is hella better than college if only because you don't have to study or take exams, unless you're in IT. But yeah, sleeping in every morning is loooooong gone. Savor weekends from now on. Eventually you'll involuntarily wake up then between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. but you'll enjoy them way more than you ever did back in school. Cheers, and welcome to it.

[YellowKing]

Having a full time job will really make you appreciate free time in way you never did in college. For me that's been a good thing, though. I tend to take more joy in nights out with friends, vacations, even little things like spontaneously going to a movie.

[Fellow]

It doesn't get easier. It gets monotonous, though! You wake up tired, you go to work, you come home tired and not have enough energy to do anything after the fact, and then you go to bed. Next thing you know 10 years have gone by, you're in your 30's, and you wonder what the hell happened. Welcome to the rest of your life. Enjoy your stay.


(...It gets a little better. Or you go insane. One or the other, really...)

[Devil]

Welcome to life!

It does get easier, but sometimes it can get harder... like when you have no job to wake up to, for instance.

You'll be fine! 

[Clanwolfer]

It gets easier for a little, then WAY harder.... either you break and go back to grad school (and accept the inevitable loans and such that come with), or you power through and make it.

[The Grue]

It depends on your job.  I work from home, except when I have to travel, which lately has been all the time.  So, I will work all day and then get on a plane which is usually delayed and I get to my hotel at 11 PM at night or worse and then have to get up in the morning, but I just lost 2 hours due to time zone changes and so it feels worse.  So, that part is worse.  THe good part is when I am home, I dres how I want and I am usually playing LOTRO in between taking calls and sending out emails.

[Sparhawk]

6:45am? You're complaining about waking up at 6:45am?

Dude, I wake up at 4:30am every day so I can be at  work at 6:00am and work until 3:00pm.

I will embark unto you words spoken by my boss to me in my first year, back in 1999 when I started work for the department when I complained about being "tired."

He said, "Don't be a puss. Nobody likes a puss."

It gets easier to deal with but it is never easy. Just remember you could be digging ditches in 100 degree weather for 10 hours a day and getting paid by the hour.
I'll take long hours and getting paid a salary with great benefits and an excellent retirement program. Oh and 30 days a year vacation +3 free days. So 33 days off a year.

I'll wake the fuck up at 4:30am, yes sir and do a good job.  People depend on you so don't let them down.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

[Kevin Grey]

The real world is hella better than college if only because you don't have to study or take exams, unless you're in IT. But yeah, sleeping in every morning is loooooong gone. Savor weekends from now on. Eventually you'll involuntarily wake up then between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. but you'll enjoy them way more than you ever did back in school. Cheers, and welcome to it.

+1

As fantastic as college was, there is something to be said for not having the constant anvil of homework, exams, etc over your head.  "Real life" has lots of responsibilities too but it's fundamentally different. 

I loved college but I can't say I would trade it for what I have now.

[cheeba]

Did you not have a real job until now?

[gellar]

The real world is hella better than college if only because you don't have to study or take exams, unless you're in IT. But yeah, sleeping in every morning is loooooong gone. Savor weekends from now on. Eventually you'll involuntarily wake up then between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. but you'll enjoy them way more than you ever did back in school. Cheers, and welcome to it.

+1

As fantastic as college was, there is something to be said for not having the constant anvil of homework, exams, etc over your head.  "Real life" has lots of responsibilities too but it's fundamentally different. 

I loved college but I can't say I would trade it for what I have now.

Totally agree.

gellar

[CeeKay]

It gets easier with drinking, drugs and hookers.



 

[papasmurff]

Did you not have a real job until now?

I don't count my college jobs as "real"  I mean, yeah i worked in some restaurants and game stop...but when you make in one day what you would in a week at your college job....you know you have a "real" job

[whiteboyskim]

It gets easier with drinking, drugs and hookers.

 

No, that's family reunions.

[Chaz]

Nope.  It doesn't get any easier.  Unless you get a job working at a place where you can play videogames and dress how you like.  And come in around 9 - 9:30 and leave around 5.  Yes, I have a great job. 

But before that, I was in the same grind as you.  It does suck, but you get used to it.  Especially on payday.  Suck it up. 

I work 10-6:30.  I wear what I like.  Starting next week, several of us are starting to wear mohawks full time until we finish Mercenaries 2.  I love my job.

Yes, it gets easier.  One day, you're going to look around, realize that you just woke up on your own at 8am on a Saturday, and not want to go back to bed.  You'll realize three things:  1) you're a big boy now, 2) you've become an early riser, 3) you're getting old.

[Harkonis]

Never got easier to me, I still find myself fighting napping in my office during the day.

[Purge]

Screw sleep; I'll sleep plenty when I'm dead. I'm up to 12 monsters a day. I get less than 3 hours sleep, and I catheterize myself before going to bed.

[Hiccup]

College Schedule: 2pm wake up - 4am bedtime.
Work Schedule: 5am wake up - 10pm bedtime.

Work schedule wins hands down in the ease department.

[Razgon]

Most of what has been said here I can agree on - one thing though - start getting some regular excercise, and you will get a lot more energy, getting you through the day...

other than that, suck it up kiddo, a lot of things are getting a lot better from now on for you...especially the sex ;-)

[rickfc]

I work 10-6:30.  I wear what I like.  Starting next week, several of us are starting to wear mohawks full time until we finish Mercenaries 2.  I love my job.

NICE.  We just had to take down our badminton net to make room for more people. 

But, we still have the ping pong table and Team Fortress 2 to keep up occupied. 

[coopasonic]

I feel lucky that tomorrow won't be quiet as early as I don't have to be at work until 8:30 (as opposed to 7:45 like today or yesterday)....has it really come to me feeling happy that i get to sleep in...until 6:45....when just a mere week ago I was free to sleep as late as I wanted...please tell me this gets easier cause right now I am beat!!!

You probably should have tried to get yourself acclimated to the new sleep schedule BEFORE you started the job. Changing sleep schedules is always gonig to kill you. It just takes some time to adjust. In college I worked night shift security, got home at 3am, played games for a while and then slept until I had to get up for my "morning" class at 2pm thankyouverymuch. Now, about once a month I sleep past 7 on a saturday, but generally I'm up at 6:30 working day or not - and that happened even before the kid.

You just need to adjust. The real world isn't so bad.

[IkeVandergraaf]

Soon you will die.

[Exodor]

You think you're tired and have no free time now?

Wait until you have a wife and a kid.

[rickfc]

You think you're tired and have no free time now?

Wait until you have a wife and a kid.

+a gazillion

Again; suck it up, you big baby. 

[kratz]

You think you're tired and have no free time now?

Wait until you have a wife and a kid.

Ain't that the truth.

Got to bed at 1am last night... kid woke me up at 6:10.  This qualified as a decent night of sleep.

[PeteRock]

It gets easier.  And if you need reassurance, think of all the people like me that had to go to school full time and then work 30 hours a week to keep a roof over their heads.

Or those of us who had to go to school full time and then work 60 to 70 hours a week to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, and loans paid on time.  I still wonder how I ever managed to survive.

Working a regular schedule gets much easier over time with self discipline, a regular sleep schedule, physical acclimation to your new schedule, and chemical stimulants don't hurt either (I love me some freshly ground coffee in my office).    

I have found that I appreciate "real life" because unlike college, I have the funds to do what I want, there are no exams looming in the distance (although I am taking the PG exam in October), no homework to finish (instead there's housework), and I can keep regular hours.  Once your body gets acclimated to a certain schedule it becomes far easier.  You'll find that even on weekends you'll automatically wake up right about when you do for the work week no matter how badly you want to sleep in.  But you'll also find that you can get far more done waking up at a decent hour on a Saturday than sleeping until 10 or later.  By the time my wife comes downstairs at 9 or 10 am I've already washed the car, fed the dogs, put the clean dishes away, run the vacuum, swept the floors, and I am probably sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee playing a videogame.  I rarely stay up very late (I try to be asleep by 10pm most nights, even on Friday nights), and I am definitely an early riser.  I wasn't always, but I forced myself to adjust to that type of lifestyle and I wouldn't ever want to go back to the irregular sleeping schedule of college.  Nor do I think I am even physically capable to.

There are times when I miss some of the freedom associated with college life, or the thrill of academic discovery, the camaraderie amongst friends, the ease of meeting new people, but I certainly don't miss erratic schedules, having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, not ever having any money, and living with minimal possessions.  

Of course, once you move far enough along in your career, the hours become longer, the responsibilities pile up, stress increases, sleepless nights become more common, and there never seems to be enough time in the work day, even if you come in early and stay late, and occasionally visit the office on weekends.  From where you're starting things get easier, but they won't be easy forever.  They can be, but if your goals and aspirations extend beyond the status quo, then things will get a little harder in the future, but not outside of what you can manage.  

[kratz]

Every day let yourself die a little inside.  Eventually you will be used to it.

[hepcat]

It gets easier.  And if you need reassurance, think of all the people like me that had to go to school full time and then work 30 hours a week to keep a roof over their heads.

Or those of us who had to go to school full time and then work 60 to 70 hours a week to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, and loans paid on time.  I still wonder how I ever managed to survive.

christ, it's like listening to my grandmother

"One gumball...that's all we had during the war...one gumball...AND THE NAZIS TOOK IT!"

 

[gellar]

Yeah somewhere along the line I became a real morning person.  I physically CAN NOT stay up past about midnight (1am on a Red Bull Vodka fueled weekend bender, maybe) and no matter what time I go to bed, I am up by about sunrise every day.

gellar

[PeteRock]

Yeah somewhere along the line I became a real morning person.  I physically CAN NOT stay up past about midnight (1am on a Red Bull Vodka fueled weekend bender, maybe) and no matter what time I go to bed, I am up by about sunrise every day.

gellar

Same here.  Saturday's Rock Band party finally broke up around 1am and the final guest left around 3, and even despite the heavy drinking and long day, I was up around 7am the following day feeding the dogs, cleaning up around the house, etc.  I can't seem to sleep in even if I try.  And hangovers just make me sluggish, they rarely keep me in bed or make sleeping any easier. 

[Koz]

Not me. I still go to bed at 2-3 am and get up at 10-11am on the weekends. I actually have a later weekend schedule now than I did in college.

[gellar]

Yeah somewhere along the line I became a real morning person.  I physically CAN NOT stay up past about midnight (1am on a Red Bull Vodka fueled weekend bender, maybe) and no matter what time I go to bed, I am up by about sunrise every day.

gellar

Same here.  Saturday's Rock Band party finally broke up around 1am and the final guest left around 3, and even despite the heavy drinking and long day, I was up around 7am the following day feeding the dogs, cleaning up around the house, etc.  I can't seem to sleep in even if I try.  And hangovers just make me sluggish, they rarely keep me in bed or make sleeping any easier. 

My body seems to respond when it feels sunlight while I'm sleeping.  Even if I am traveling to the east coast and get to bed super late due to jet lag, the minute I'm still up around 6:30a or so local time.  That's when it's real damn painful.

gellar

[Kevin Grey]

Not me. I still go to bed at 2-3 am and get up at 10-11am on the weekends. I actually have a later weekend schedule now than I did in college.

Same here.  Then again, I don't go to bed until 1-2am during the work week either.  

[rickfc]

Yeah somewhere along the line I became a real morning person.  I physically CAN NOT stay up past about midnight (1am on a Red Bull Vodka fueled weekend bender, maybe) and no matter what time I go to bed, I am up by about sunrise every day.

gellar

Same here.  Saturday's Rock Band party finally broke up around 1am and the final guest left around 3, and even despite the heavy drinking and long day, I was up around 7am the following day feeding the dogs, cleaning up around the house, etc.  I can't seem to sleep in even if I try.  And hangovers just make me sluggish, they rarely keep me in bed or make sleeping any easier. 

My body seems to respond when it feels sunlight while I'm sleeping.  Even if I am traveling to the east coast and get to bed super late due to jet lag, the minute I'm still up around 6:30a or so local time.  That's when it's real damn painful.

gellar

Agreed.  I went to a friend's house to play Rock Band with a few friends at around 10pm.  I got home at 4:30 and was up at 7.  I don't think I have felt that bad even when I've been sick.  I felt like I was half dead the entire day.   

[jersoc]

ah the joys of workign 2nd shift. i can't get up early at all. i have slept through so many alarms and what not before. in college i would pretty much not go to any class before 11am, even that is early for me. so at least i can still be a night owl and not have to worry about anything like that.

[Gratch]

Yeah somewhere along the line I became a real morning person.  I physically CAN NOT stay up past about midnight (1am on a Red Bull Vodka fueled weekend bender, maybe) and no matter what time I go to bed, I am up by about sunrise every day.

Yep, same here.  Of course, going to work at 6am for about 5 years probably had something to do with that.  I started going to the gym at 5:30 for the past year, and now I have a hard time sleeping past 5:00, even on weekends.  Doesn't help that the dog is used to my weekday schedule and starts whining to go out at 5am on Saturday. 

I don't mind it though.  I find that I get a lot more done in the mornings and feel much better throughout the day if I'm up early.  Sleeping in just tends to make me groggy.