Anyone do 11, 12 hour days of jobbing without more than 10 min break?

[WaterTight]

Been doing it for a few weeks now. I think it's dramatically shortening my life expectancy.

 

[Ermintrude]

Thats a normal day. It's not big it's not clever and it's working sensible but think most of us do it

 

[kris]

No ive defo been havin the breaks as you need them , im not doin jobbin either but am doin long days,, il head off in ten mins and arrive at my destination 5 mins after that, work till 9,30 ten min tea break , then to 12.30 half an hr break then finish at 5, nip home grab tea then away back out the door at 6 and on average finish at 10 , but can sometimes be later like there was 2 days two weeks ago me and my joiner mate finished at 12.30am ,,, thats been a while ive been doin this and everyone tells me to slow down all the time but im at a cross roads of either finding a good hand which these days is really hard or start saying NO,, but my downfall is planning out and booking customers i sometimes find im always phoning canceling as one has taken longer and its a knock on effect,,

 

[SimonG]

I always take at least half an hour for lunch. I go sit in the van, radio on, read the paper and grab my food.

 

[Millsy 82]

I used to all through the winter I couldn't wait for the summer to come around. Then on my last job it was all year round!

The money was good and during the week I never did anything at night so didn't mind it but it started interfering with the weekends as in I found I was shattered so had a long lie in on Saturday so lost half a day off.

The rest of the Saturday I spent cooking my meals for the rest of the week doing my shopping and cleaning (I lived alone and got fed up of living off pizzas and other rubbish I could just throw in the oven) on Sunday was pub day which never helped the week ahead as I felt like rubbish all day Monday and it had a knock on effect for the week.

If you work on the books then knock it on the head ASAP I did about a year ago said I'm not working past 6 unless I was on call, all of a sudden I started enjoying my life again although money got a bit tight whilst I got used to losing £200 a week overtime.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Lunch is for wimps. I haven't stopped for lunch in 28 years.

On the other hand, at the moments when I used to go for a cigarette, I now just go for a walk around the estate to clear my head. When its raining, I miss that.

 

[oz-plumber]

Yeah....me!

 

[SimonG]

Through the summer I have a seperate alarm on my phone set for 5pm, sometimes I can get carried away

 

[villa_tom]

I don't do any of this long day madness

I leave my house at 7:45 and walk back through the door no later than 16:30, most days I'm back at about 4 o'clock.

I dont one have a dinner though, I work straight through and get my work done and go home

 

[GasmanxxxR1]

I don't do any of this long day madness

I leave my house at 7:45 and walk back through the door no later than 16:30, most days I'm back at about 4 o'clock.

I dont one have a dinner though, I work straight through and get my work done and go home

Pretty much what i do on installs. All my best work is done in the mornings by 4pm ive just had enough

 

[LPC]

Yeah, I only ever stop to actually purchase a sandwich and then I eat that in the van on the way back to the job. Never ever stop during a working day 9 - 6pm.

 

[mfgs]

Yeah, I only ever stop to actually purchase a sandwich and then I eat that in the van on the way back to the job. Never ever stop during a working day 9 - 6pm.

That's pretty much what I do, except I start at 8.

 

[zeebeedee]

Absolutely no chance. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it

I mean seriously what's the point. You can't take money with you ;-)

 

[LPC]

That's pretty much what I do, except I start at 8.

I used to start at 8, but found that so many people would say 'ooh, could you make it a bit later?'. So I just started starting at 9. Also gives me time to mooch around the merchants and get what I need before the day.

 

[TFGplumbing]

Leave house at 9, Ill stop for tea & a biccy for lunch & home before 6 usually.

I'll not have the rush put on me, custards will get a nice tidy job whether they like it or not

It takes the same amount of time to make a rough job as it does a good job - I was once told by some wise plumber haha

 

[solutions]

I wont chase my tail anymore. Dont need the stress. I schedule most weeks so I dont work Fridays anymore as I like 3 day weekends. What is the point of running your own business if you are not going to take the perks. I take the freedom of controllimg when, where and how long I work for over more money any day of the week.