VertexSquared Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 I am just wondering what on earth everyone does with their free time. In college I had virtually no time due to classes and such, but in the real world, I feel like I have so much free time outside of work despite working 40-70 hours per week. That being said, how often do you see your significant other (once a week? Twice? Thrice? Every day? etc)
Els Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 Wow, you feel you have lots of free time despite working 70 hours a week??? That's really strange... To answer your question in a relevant manner, the last time I first started out dating a guy we went out about twice a week. Within a month or so we were at 5 times a week.
Crazy Magnet Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 (edited) We sort of went from all weekend/once during the week to pretty much every night of the week(although he goes home to sleep at his house during the week) and all weekend staying together. There are several designated nights that we hang out with a group though, so it's not all couple time all the time. We take nights off here and there if I'm busy or he's busy. That doesn't mean we have "dates" every time we are together. On the weekends he takes me out to restaurants and to plays, live music, sporting events, etc. During the week, I cook for him and we talk and goof around and have grown up wrestle time, or we will sit together and write or watch TV or something like that. Even when we don't see each other we'll call right before we go to bed and chat for a while. We just can't shut up around each other! lol PS....way to man up and kiss her. Stop being such a wussy boy and go for it! Edited April 22, 2010 by Crazy Magnet needed to add the PS
SadandConfusedWA Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 How weird, in college I had tons of free time and when working I basically have none. I doubt that you had college classes 40-70 hours per week.
Rorschach Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 24*7=168 hours a week 8*7= 56 sleep assume 60 working (includes travel time) 56+60=116 168-116=52 free hours, I'd say thats alot of free time.
Els Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 Assume 2 hrs/day for eating/bathing/****ting/dressing for work/other self-care routines, that's 14 hours/week Assume 6 hours/week for various errands, grocery shopping, house chores, fixing stuff, etc. Assume 8 hours/week for friends and family, and any other things you participate in regularly (church, clubs, etc) You're only left with 24. You probably need at least 2 hours/day to yourself to just unwind, exercise, pursue your own hobbies as well, so that's 10 left. Also, it's rare that work ever completely leaves you alone during your free time, so those 10 may well be spent finishing up a presentation or learning a new skill for work. I frankly can't see how that's a lot.
Rorschach Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 Assume 2 hrs/day for eating/bathing/****ting/dressing for work/other self-care routines, that's 14 hours/week Assume 6 hours/week for various errands, grocery shopping, house chores, fixing stuff, etc. Assume 8 hours/week for friends and family, and any other things you participate in regularly (church, clubs, etc) You're only left with 24. You probably need at least 2 hours/day to yourself to just unwind, exercise, pursue your own hobbies as wel l, so that's 10 left. Also, it's rare that work ever completely leaves you alone during your free time, so those 10 may well be spent finishing up a presentation or learning a new skill for work. I frankly can't see how that's a lot. I would include all of this as free time that you're simply choosing to do something different with, as opposed to hanging out with a woman. But it is free time. I know personally I don't spend 2 hours a day eating/pooping/dressing but I can't speak for everybody. I work, on average, maybe a 70-80 work week but I'm self employed so I work when I choose to. I'm also picking up a second job with the census for a couple months so I'll probably do 40 hours at the census and only 20-30 as self employed, but I still feel I have alot of free time.
Els Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 Oh c'mon, house chores and errands aren't optional unless you're really, really rich. And friends and family typically aren't optional as well, cause it's really not advisable to spend all your time with only one person (the woman). Ditto on time for yourself.
Rorschach Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 You could make the arguement that housechores aren't optional but I don't see how in the world you could say that you don't CHOOSE to spend time with yourself/family. I mean yes, it's a logical choice and one you may enjoy but nobody has a gun to your head saying 'VISIT YOUR MOTHER' I'm not saying that you should spend 52 hours a week with your girlfriend, not by a long shot. I'm just saying that when people say 'I have a job, ergo I have no free time' they are completely full of it.
Els Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 What I, at least, am saying is: "Huh, you work 70 hours a week and still complain you have TOO much free time?"
Author VertexSquared Posted April 23, 2010 Author Posted April 23, 2010 I sleep 4 hours per night -- during college I worked a lot in addition to class, so post-college is very easy for me.
Rorschach Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 Cutting your sleep cycle in half is adding alot of free time to one's day for sure. Personally I just live a minimalist life when it comes to going out (not really by choice, I'm working on changing it) so even though I work alot and get full night's sleep I still just have alot of sit around time.
Els Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 Are you SURE it's healthy for you to sleep so little? Typical humans require at least 6-8 per day, with 8 being advisable for most. I have gotten by on less than 4 hrs a day for several months before, but I feel a lot healthier, more wholesome, and better overall when I get 6+.
Author VertexSquared Posted April 23, 2010 Author Posted April 23, 2010 If I try to get to bed earlier, I just wake up 4 hours later. My body is just hardwired for it and I don't know how to change it, lol.
Rorschach Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 Are you SURE it's healthy for you to sleep so little? Typical humans require at least 6-8 per day, with 8 being advisable for most. I have gotten by on less than 4 hrs a day for several months before, but I feel a lot healthier, more wholesome, and better overall when I get 6+. Thomas Edison claimed that he got by on less than 5 hours of sleep a night, Albert Einstein said he needed 10. I tend to enjoy a good 7. Everybody is different on that, kinda fascinating really. There was a time where I could easily get by on 3-4 but I trained my body to do that and it adjusted, eventually I just decided to sleep more.
Green Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 I see my gf every day we live togather, but even before that we spent practicaly every day togather.
SadandConfusedWA Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 I sleep 4 hours per night -- during college I worked a lot in addition to class, so post-college is very easy for me. If you mean that you worked a lot on your subjects/assesments then you must have not been very high on academic talent. If you mean that you worked as in had additional jobs then discard my previous statement. BTW I truly don't beleive that anyone can sleep 4 hours per night on consistent basis and be healthy and fuction normally. Sure, for short periods of time but forever - no way.
Romance Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 We see each other for a weekend(late friday night - mid day sunday) once or twice a month, depending what we can do. Ah, what can I say, long distance sucks. I really wish it were more like 5/6 days a week, even like 3 days a week would be better than what I get now.
tigressA Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 (edited) If you mean that you worked a lot on your subjects/assesments then you must have not been very high on academic talent. If you mean that you worked as in had additional jobs then discard my previous statement. BTW I truly don't beleive that anyone can sleep 4 hours per night on consistent basis and be healthy and fuction normally. Sure, for short periods of time but forever - no way. Excuse me?! There are a lot of majors that require a lot of time spent on assignments, regardless of the person's intelligence. I know a lot of smart people in my school's engineering program, for example, who spend countless hours doing homework and projects--the last guy I dated being one of them. I find that statement incredibly presumptuous and insulting. Edited April 23, 2010 by tigressA
SadandConfusedWA Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 Excuse me?! There are a lot of majors that require a lot of time spent on assignments, regardless of the person's intelligence. I know a lot of smart people in my school's engineering program, for example, who spend countless hours doing homework and projects--the last guy I dated being one of them. I find that statement incredibly presumptuous and insulting. I work in academia and it is universally known that the true measure of student's ability is their subject mark adjusted for time they have spent working on that subject. For example if Joe spends 2 hours per week on subject A and gets 80% final mark, and Jane spends 10 hours a week on subject A and gets 80% - Joe is simply brighter than Jane. This is the point I was trying to make.
Author VertexSquared Posted April 23, 2010 Author Posted April 23, 2010 I meant actual WORK-work in addition to class work. For privacy purposes I don't want to get into what my schoolwork was like, but I assure you, it was hard. Perfect SATs/near-perfect GPA at an Ivy. And yes, 4 hrs/night is pretty consistent for me, although I may get 6 on the weekends.
Els Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 I work in academia and it is universally known that the true measure of student's ability is their subject mark adjusted for time they have spent working on that subject. For example if Joe spends 2 hours per week on subject A and gets 80% final mark, and Jane spends 10 hours a week on subject A and gets 80% - Joe is simply brighter than Jane. This is the point I was trying to make. This is true. But you made a blanket assumption that if the OP was working hard on his schoolwork, he was automatically 'not very academically talented'. I used to adhere to your principle in my younger, more carefree days - and eventually I realized I was taking unnecessary risks. Sure, it was nice only studying the day before and then aceing exams... but really, what's the point??? Who CARES whether you're maximising your effort:result ratio or not??? Certainly not your future employers/scholarship awarders/etc, and they're the ones who matter. There is no shame in putting in a lot of effort and time into your schoolwork even if you're bright... and many bright people realize this.
Author VertexSquared Posted April 23, 2010 Author Posted April 23, 2010 I work in academia and it is universally known that the true measure of student's ability is their subject mark adjusted for time they have spent working on that subject. For example if Joe spends 2 hours per week on subject A and gets 80% final mark, and Jane spends 10 hours a week on subject A and gets 80% - Joe is simply brighter than Jane. This is the point I was trying to make. I don't think time spent is necessarily indicative of intelligence unless it's a purely isolated function. Some people are good at connecting the ideas together but just read more slowly. Perhaps they write their notes out more carefully. Perhaps their notetaking skills aren't as good and they don't necessarily paraphrase as effectively despite their talents at the subject. It's also possible that the person who takes longer studying has other activities that are simply more tiring and thus water down their ability to focus as effectively as the guy who is relatively destressed. I know many people who spend a comparably longer time studying for a given subject for the same grade as someone else who was able to do it in half the time, but it'd be a grave mistake to place your bets in favor of the faster guy if it came down to choosing sides.
SadandConfusedWA Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 I meant actual WORK-work in addition to class work. For privacy purposes I don't want to get into what my schoolwork was like, but I assure you, it was hard. Perfect SATs/near-perfect GPA at an Ivy. And yes, 4 hrs/night is pretty consistent for me, although I may get 6 on the weekends. Thanks for clarifying.
Els Posted April 23, 2010 Posted April 23, 2010 And yes, as OP says, it's certainly no measure of intelligence. Measure of natural proficiency in the particular subject you're taking, maybe. I know people who have photographic memories and could score in my graduate exams with just reading through stuff once... but last I checked, memory was only ONE function of intelligence. My course does not account for analytical, numerical, and linguistic capabilities... just memory. So even then someone who maximises their effort:result ratio is simply good at memorizing.
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