Thanks for posting such a great article!

My career has had a number of roles, positions and organisations over the years, involving day-to-day (ie 9-5), or 24/7 shifting, or a combo when events arise. Over the last 3 years though, as much as there'll be something mission-critical every few months, the majority of the time has been much as the article described: Mon-Fri working, not much free time in the arvos, weekends more precious than platinum, and most of it spent catching up on domestic duties, prepping for the coming week, then scratching-head wondering how Friday night became Sunday evening.

What struck a real chord is the point about unnecessary purchases, or as I'd say, buying shit. I'd be self aware of doing so, yet find myself doing it almost subconsciously on a daily basis, then weekly, monthly, etc. And it'd be crap, like going to a supermarket for snacks, takeaway lunches, or crap on evilBay I convinced myself I needed. As much as I'd be aware of it, I'd then wonder where my money would go, and have the rich-week/poor-week every fortnight.

I changed role again recently and have now gone to 10hr shifts (6-4pm earlies, 2-Midnight lates) and on a 5 On/4 Off roster. This is only the second week, and already I'm spending less on shit (expensive coffees, energy drinks, snacks) during the day, I'm doing more exercise by walking home, spending less on transport, making lunch/dinner in batches, and at the end of the block I get time to recover, do a domestic blitz, and then have 2-3 days of pure weekend relaxation. Which is great considering how many projects I have (and come up) at any given time.