Working 9 to 5 is a huge shock in first job but working shifts is far harder and there's no ideal work routine

It comes as no surprise to me, therefore, that a TikToker called Brielle has gone viral this week for posting a video to her channel during which she bemoaned the 9 to 5 working schedule and cried because she had “no time for anything”. It also doesn’t surprise me that opinion was divided on the topic from fellow TikTokers. Many agreed with Brielle and said they also felt like they had no time for themselves. One said: “It’s so repetitive and depressing.” Others, however, couldn’t understand why Brielle was upset. One person, in what came across as a rather condescending tone, said: “Omg, poor baby has her first job. Like…she has to commute?? Like…she has to cook dinner??”

I do think Brielle has a point, but I also think there’s a couple of major points that she’s missed. I’m approaching my ten-year work anniversary, during which time I have been fortunate enough to work across many NationalWorld titles and take on many job roles. I’ve done everything from death knocks to court reporting to e-commerce and fashion and lifestyle feature writing. Along with that, I’ve also worked many different shift patterns.

My first job for the Doncaster Free Press was, surprise, surprise, based in Doncaster. I lived in Sheffield at the time, so every morning I had a train journey to get to work. If I was lucky enough to get on one of the fast trains, it would take 25 minutes from Sheffield train station to Doncaster train station. But, there were often issues with the fast trains, (that’s another story), so I was forced onto one of the slow trains that took 40 minutes from station to station. There was also a 25 minute walk to Sheffield station from my house, and then another good 10 minute walk to the office when I arrived in Doncaster. So, it could take me up to an hour and a half to get to work in the morning, and the same back in the evening. I would be out of the house for around 12 hours per day.

I’m aware that this is common, and that some people face an even longer commute, but it was exhausting. Brielle said she has no energy to do anything when she gets home. I know what she means, I can remember cooking tea, taking a shower and then, after trying to keep on top of some other household chores, I barely had an hour to try to relax before I had to go to bed so I could do it all again the next day.

Once I had settled into my routine - which I tried not to moan about too much because I was very grateful for my job - I realised that I had to start thinking a bit smarter so that I could still do things in my evenings that brought me joy. So, I’d use my downtime on the train to reply to text messages - something which we all know can take a while, especially when you’ve got a few to respond to! If there were no messages to reply to, I’d do other things such as write my supermarket shopping list or book trains or activities for upcoming weekend trips.

I started asking friends, who all lived in Sheffield at the time, to meet me off the train and then we’d go out for tea so we could socialise while we had our necessary evening meal. It wasn’t always possible to go out for tea as eating out does get expensive, so sometimes we’d take turns to cook for each other. We may have only had an hour, or possibly two, together but it was better than nothing. If meeting up just wasn’t possible because time was too restricted, I’d plan a phone call with them instead so I could still feel like I’d got a social outlet. It turns out I was unknowingly preparing myself for what would need to happen during the Covid-19 pandemic. I’d urge Brielle to do the same and find joy where she can.

I also worked weekends. That wasn’t easy, but I loved my job so I just got on with it. It was all worth it anyway when my pay packet came in at the end of the month. My first job had, of course, come with my very first wage and I was overjoyed to earn it. I suppose I also didn’t know any different. It was all I’d ever known, and it was what generations of people before me had done. Working 9 to 5 is something we have always just accepted as the norm.

Let’s not forget though that our first jobs are the first time that most of us have had to do anything consistently for around eight hours per day. The school day tends to be around six hours long at most, but includes an hour-long lunch break and at least one other break besides. A lot of workers who work for the standard 9 to 5 will only get a half an hour lunch break, which really isn’t much time to prepare food and eat, and it passes by in the blink of an eye. It’s no wonder that the 9 to 5 is a shock to the system and people are left exhausted by it when the concept is completely alien to anything we have known before. 

Years later, I found myself working in a role for the Sheffield Star that did not require weekend work, and neither did it require office working. This was before Covid-19 made working from home commonplace so it felt very novel. I was amazed by how much more free time I had. With no commute to contend with, I could meet a friend in the city centre by 5.30pm or I had plenty of time to do my household chores and relax and watch some TV. These are small things, but they made a huge difference to my happiness. I wasn’t unhappy before, not by any means, but that new routine certainly made me much happier.

The best thing for me though was that I had my weekends back. I always knew that journalism, on the whole, wasn’t a Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 job, and I’d gone into that willingly. But, all of my friends had gone into professions that were so I struggled with the fact that when I had to work a weekend I wasn’t able to see them. I had serious FOMO. I don’t know Brielle’s schedule, but if she does have her weekends free I’d urge her to plan lots of lovely things for her weekends as I found that knowing I had something to look forward to really helped when the work routine was becoming a slog.

I remained with this working pattern for many years, and I’ve often said that I don’t know now how I ever did that commute to Doncaster. I would really struggle if I was suddenly asked to do that again as I’ve got so used to setting my alarm for an hour before I have to walk into my own home office at my house in Barnsley and switch on the laptop. But, I was in for another shock this summer when a work restructure meant that I was asked to return to shift work for the first time in around six years. Now, I not only work weekends again, but I also work early shifts and late shifts. 

I am used to it now - just about - but again I’ve had to try to be smarter with my time. So, I’ll catch up on chores in the morning before I start an late shift, or go and do my food shopping or make a hairdresser's appointment during that time. This then means that I have as much free time as I can when my friends are free outside of their usual 9 to 5 to see them. I am also grateful that I work from home full-time now because I can’t imagine doing shift work and commuting. I know plenty of people do this and if you’re one of those people I applaud you and I have so much admiration for you.

This brings me to the major points that Brielle has missed. She claims in her video that everything would be fine if she worked from home, but I do disagree with her on that. Back when I was doing my 9 to 5 and working from home, I would agree with her, but now I’ve realised it’s not so much about where you work, it’s the hours that you work, both in terms of length of hours worked and timings worked, and also the pattern of your hours. It then depends on how those hours work, or do not work as the case may be, with your lifestyle. If you and your partner or friend both work shifts from home and can both have Tuesday afternoons off, for example, then that works really well, but if one of you works 9 to 5 from home and the other works from 7 to 7 from an office then your time together will be minimal. I’ve found that, no matter what the time of location, it’s also far easier to get used to a working pattern that is consistent but one that requires change on a regular basis is difficult to adapt to.

There’s no such thing as a “perfect working pattern” or “ideal working environment” as it varies widely from person to person and job to job. We know, for example, that some people, like Brielle, have to commute to and from an office on top of their standard 9 to 5 working hours, while others can work from home, like me, but sometimes have to work unsociable hours. Some people can’t work from home at all, of course, and there are those who also have to work unusual hours in an office environment. 

Many companies have tried to restore some balance by offering a four-day working week or a working from home arrangement to their employees, but not every person or company can do that. That’s because all the various wheels of society have to keep turning, and for that to happen people simply have to go to work - wherever and whenever that may be. There’s also pros and cons to both of those approaches (click on the links to read more about that). But, we all just have to do the best we can and make the most of the free time we do have. We also all need to be aware that there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach to a working routine and be a little kinder to each other.