I follow the holidays of the construction industry, meaning I have 3 weeks off in July and 2 around Chrismats and new years. Construction takes another week off in spring and one in autumn, but I don't. I do however take another week off in february-march to go skiing.
So on average I take 6 weeks off, along with a handfull of days sCattered throughout the year, just because I can, and mostly when the wife feels we should attend this or that during the day. On the other hand, I also work a couple of days in the weekend when deadlines are nearing, although this year I haven't needed to do that.
All in all I don't work a lot, with the kids and everything I'm pretty sure I don't even reach 8 hours a day on average throughout the year and I make a pretty good living. I won't get rich, but I have it better than Joe Average. Also, I work for myself, so my workload depends on how many contracts I can reel in, and to be honnest, this year it's been slim pickings.
robio said:I get 3 weeks of paid time off each year and 1 week worth of sick time, aside from holidays and I generally use all of it. I used to only use it for vacations or if I needed the time, but now I do everything I can to use all of it and leave nothing on the table.
Here in Belgium the rule of thumb is 4 weeks of paid vacation, and you can gain days by working at a place for a longer time. That said, all my vacation is not paid for, so a day in which I don't work, I don't earn anything either.
robio said:I get 3 weeks of paid time off each year and 1 week worth of sick time, aside from holidays and I generally use all of it. I used to only use it for vacations or if I needed the time, but now I do everything I can to use all of it and leave nothing on the table.
That's awesome and I admire you.
SupremeAC said:I follow the holidays of the construction industry, meaning I have 3 weeks off in July and 2 around Chrismats and new years. Construction takes another week off in spring and one in autumn, but I don't. I do however take another week off in february-march to go skiing.
So on average I take 6 weeks off, along with a handfull of days sCattered throughout the year, just because I can, and mostly when the wife feels we should attend this or that during the day. On the other hand, I also work a couple of days in the weekend when deadlines are nearing, although this year I haven't needed to do that.
All in all I don't work a lot, with the kids and everything I'm pretty sure I don't even reach 8 hours a day on average throughout the year and I make a pretty good living. I won't get rich, but I have it better than Joe Average. Also, I work for myself, so my workload depends on how many contracts I can reel in, and to be honnest, this year it's been slim pickings.
Kudos on "slim pickings" usage. And... you don;t work 8 hours a day??? I put in a minumum of 10 hours a day and feel guilty. So you are better at life than me.
aspro said:Kudos on "slim pickings" usage. And... you don;t work 8 hours a day??? I put in a minumum of 10 hours a day and feel guilty. So you are better at life than me.
Well, my wife works a 9 to 5 in an office, while I'm my own boss. So with the kids being little, it usually falls on me to take them to school and what not. In the evenings I try to be there for the family as well, so I rarely work later than 5-5:30PM Then when they're sick and we can't find a babysit, we'll split parenting duty, so there go another couple of days a year. On the other hand, I am away to clients about 2 evenings a week.
Anyhow, I have come to realize I work very efficiently, and it's not about how many hours I put it, but how fast and good I get the job done.
And it's not like I don't feel guilty about it. I always get very snarky when the wife asks to call someplace or do something during working hours, as I always feel I should be working more.
^+1 Understood. I am making changes at my job to get to a healthier level.
I get three weeks of vacation and one week of sick per year. i always have one week of vacation available just in case I ever need it, and use everything else up.
I'm guessing I am on the low side. I took 3 days off last year (not counting weekends and public holidays) and so far this year I've taken the same. I have about 11 weeks of vacation time acrued.
And it sucks!