Seeking What-Work-Cuts Stories

To better imagine the lives of future ems, I want to learn more about the lives of people who work near eighty or more hours per week today. Since I haven’t found much academic work, I thought I might ask readers here directly.

If you, or someone you know well, has spent a year or more doing “work” (including commuting, school, and childcare) in the ballpark of eighty or more hours per week, I’d like to hear (in the comments below) about how your/their non-work priorities change as a result. Compared to similar folks who work only forty hours a week, high-work folks must spend less time sleeping, eating, socializing, watching TV, etc. But which of these activities take the biggest hit?

One clue might be the ratio of time spent on activities on weekdays vs. weekends. On weekdays we spend about as much time as on weekends on grooming, phone/email, eating, and sleeping. But we cut way back on art, religion, social events, and home maintenance. Here are the stats: a 2010 breakdown of weekday and weekend hours per activity, for US civilians age 15+, from the American Time Use Survey:

Personal care activities 9.20 10.11 Sleeping 8.38 9.34 Grooming 0.70 0.65 Health-related self care 0.10 0.08 Personal activities 0.01 0.02 Travel related to personal care 0.01 0.02 Eating and drinking 1.20 1.36 Eating and drinking 1.10 1.20 Travel related to eating and drinking 0.10 0.16 Household activities 1.68 2.06 Housework 0.53 0.67 Food preparation and cleanup 0.54 0.60 Lawn and garden care 0.18 0.28 Household management 0.12 0.14 Interior maintenance, repair, and decoration 0.05 0.09 Exterior maintenance, repair, and decoration 0.05 0.07 Animals and pets 0.10 0.09 Vehicles 0.04 0.05 Appliances, tools, and toys 0.02 0.02 Travel related to household activities 0.04 0.05 Purchasing goods and services 0.71 0.82 Consumer goods purchases 0.32 0.49 Professional and personal care services 0.10 0.03 Household services 0.02 0.01 Government services 0.01 ~0 Travel related to purchasing goods and services 0.26 0.29 Caring for and helping household members 0.54 0.43 Caring for and helping household children 0.42 0.36 Caring for and helping household adults 0.03 0.02 Travel related to caring for and helping household
members 0.09 0.04 Caring for and helping nonhousehold members 0.20 0.23 Caring for and helping nonhousehold children 0.06 0.08 Caring for and helping nonhousehold adults 0.08 0.09 Travel related to caring for and helping nonhousehold
members 0.06 0.06 Working and work-related activities 4.40 1.33 Working 3.96 1.18 Work-related activities 0.01 ~0 Other income-generating activities 0.03 0.04 Job search and interviewing 0.06 0.02 Travel related to work 0.35 0.10 Educational activities 0.60 0.18 Attending class 0.39 0.02 Homework and research 0.16 0.15 Travel related to education 0.04 ~0 Organizational, civic, and religious activities 0.26 0.56 Religious and spiritual activities 0.09 0.31 Volunteering (organizational and civic activities) 0.14 0.18 Travel related to organizational, civic, and religious
activities 0.03 0.07 Leisure and sports 4.67 6.40 Socializing, relaxing, and leisure 4.19 5.67 Socializing and communicating 0.55 1.07 Relaxing and leisure 3.58 4.45 Watching TV 2.52 3.23 Arts and entertainment (other than sports) 0.05 0.15 Sports, exercise, and recreation 0.31 0.40 Travel related to leisure and sports 0.17 0.33 Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail 0.18 0.16 Telephone calls (to or from) 0.10 0.10 Household and personal messages 0.07 0.06 Other activities, not elsewhere classified 0.35 0.34