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At 20 years old, a young man turned to Reddit with a serious quandary: “How do people work 40 hours?” Sure, his post might seem funny and a bit naive at first, but there isn’t a full-time worker alive who can honestly say they haven’t felt the same way. 

It can sometimes feel like working a standard 40-hour week consumes our lives. We wake up, go to work, come home, and do it all over again the next day. It’s monotonous and tiring, but none of us really has a choice. For this young man, the prospect of adding another 20 hours to his already painful work schedule is hard for him to “comprehend.”

The 20-year-old ‘can’t comprehend’ working 40 hours a week for the rest of his life.

In a Reddit post, the worker shared that he has been working at a gas station since he was 14, and he works an average of 16-20 hours a week. While this is typical for a part-time job, he believes that working 40 hours a week at a full-time job sounds unfathomable.

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The worker admitted that he’s tried talking to a therapist about it, but there wasn’t much she could do to help. He explained, “I hate going to work every day, I sit and watch the clock, and when I don’t, I’m thinking about watching it.”

He feels hopeless, and said, “No one I know understands and I’ve tried to find people who do but everyone seems to just think I’m being dramatic and it’s tearing me apart.” He also wondered if he would ever find a job that wouldn’t give him this feeling.

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Commenters were empathetic with the worker and shared tips on how they survive the work week.

One user summarized it perfectly, writing, “I think most people work 40 hours because they have to and not because they want to work 40 hours. My rent alone is $25k a year, and the car payment is 7k. I can’t work part-time, and I currently bring home two checks, making a little more than 80k a year after taxes. I enjoy not worrying about necessities, but do I want to work? NO.”

Others said it does get easier depending on what kind of job you do. Another user noted, “If you enjoy the work, time will pass quickly. If it’s cyclical, you’ll have easy periods throughout the year. If it requires a computer, you have easy access to the internet which is amazing to keep you occupied. And if you can listen to music while you work, it can make time fly.”

And while all the suggestions were great, the bottom line is, working is, well, hard work. It’s tiring. It’s stressful, and it’s extremely difficult to get used to.

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Research indicates that there are better alternatives to the conventional 40-hour workweek.

With advancements in technology and shifting attitudes towards work, many consider the traditional 5-day work week to be outdated. Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at London’s UCL School of Management, told CNBC, “There’s a growing annoyance with work tasks that add no value to our lives. People have a much lower tolerance for this, and are less afraid to say, ‘We don’t want to waste our time.'”

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A trial conducted in Iceland found that moving 2,500 workers to a 35-hour, 4-day work week was a massive success. There were no losses to productivity, and the workers reported that they were less stressed, at a lower risk for burnout, and saw improvements in their health and work-life balance. One of the study researchers, Gudmundur Haraldsson, said, “The Icelandic shorter working week journey tells us that not only is it possible to work less in modern times, but that progressive change is possible too.”

Working less during the week allows workers to take more time to relax, recharge, and devote more time to other areas of their lives. They may also come to work with better attitudes and more motivation, making it a win-win for everyone.

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Kayla Asbach is a writer currently working on her bachelor’s degree at the University of Central Florida. She covers relationships, psychology, self-help, pop culture, and human interest topics.