Extremely anxious at the prospect of working 40 hours a week

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To make a long story short, basically, in less than a week's time, I'm going to be starting my very first job, working as a grocery cashier for 40 hours a week. When I went to my interview earlier today (really yesterday), I initially thought I was just going for a part-time position, but they offered me more hours, and I figured it was worth a shot.

Now, I'm lying in bed, and I just crunched the numbers in my head, and as it turns out I will probably be spending 8 hours a day, five days a week mindlessly punching things into a cash register. Worse, without putting too much thought into it I volunteered for evening and afternoon shifts. Now for someone just getting out of high school who would go to school 6 or 7 hours a day, this doesn't seem like a huge step, but for myself, I dropped out of high school a while ago, and I got really really used to having a huge pile of spare time.

Now, the prospect of having 8 hours in a 24 hour period to work, 8 hours to rest, and 8 hours of "free time" (much of which probably will be spent screwing around online due to my odd job schedule) really bothers me. I seriously regret not asking for a part-time position outright. As I am moving in with the family of one of my friends, I could have probably gotten away with going part-time as I would probably still be able to pay enough for what they expect for rent.

On the flipside of things, I've heard that the employer I will be working for has a high turnover rate, and is notorious for cutting employees' hours, so maybe I'll get more "free time" than expected.


TL;DR: I'm worried that in the near future I'll be living a soul-crushing existence of working a cash register and screwing around on my computer instead of hanging out with my friends and being lazy so that I can afford to live somewhere away from my parents.

See how it goes. If you find it's too much then ask your boss to switch you to part time. And look at it as a stepping stone to something better. Having a job opens up the opportunity to get other jobs.

Welcome to the real world.

It's not the end of the world though, I work 40 hours a week, sometimes more, and I still have time to go out with friends, volunteer, and sleep.

It's just part of life, growing up, moving out, supporting yourself.

Where I'm going to be moving, I'll still have room and board, though it will kind of suck that I don't have as much free time as I used to. I'm in the process of getting my stuff ready to move out of my old house right now, and I won't be at my new residence until a few days from now. As well, I told my employer that I'd be starting a bit later than I originally planned, since I want to have time to unpack and get used to my new room.

mr bigmouth, don't worry too much about it. But watch that first step, 'cause it's a lulu! The first day is probably going to be the toughest. I remember my first 8 hour day of a 40 hour week, and I just kept looking at the clock for it to be over; now, some of that was countered by the amount of training-on-the-job that I received prior to each of my tasks (I was working at a factory), but once that had been hammered into my system, the work could get a little tedious.

I felt tired after the first day. Then, as my first week went on, my body and mind seemed to be adjusting to the pace and rhythm. Seemed to.
By the end of the week, when came time to rest, I felt all my aching muscles, just because my body had been used to working 8 hours every day, and was now in a more stationary position.

Then, as weeks went by, that too did pass.

I think you're probably perfectly able to handle a 40 hour working week; it's not a daunting as it sounds, it does require a bit of a shift in mentality and how you look at your spare time. The funny thing about working more hours, is that you're going to appreciate your free time ALL THE MORE. Since there's less of it, you're not going to take it for granted quite as much, and you're going to want to make the most of it. That goes for your off hours on weekdays, as well as the weekends.

I say go for it. Try to stick with it as much as you can. The fact that the wage far exceeds your needs for paying the rent, is only a good thing. Just pay your monthly costs, and save whatever excess money you can; you'll never know when it might come in handy. When you do that, you can always change to a part-time shift a bit more comfortably, as it won't result in you ending up in a financially tight situation, and hey, you'll have some extra money. A lot of people underestimate how useful it is to have a bit of a financial back-up just in case times get rough.

I actually made a thread 3 years ago about a similar topic, when I first started working at the factory (I have since stopped working there, though): I would recommend you read the first 5 paragraphs of my opening post, as well as my post I wrote in response to DW_a_mom near the bottom of the thread:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt147106.html

I'd like to say you'll be okay, but I don't know you well enough.

I did cashiering twice...never had an issue with it...although my reviews said I was too free with my opinions, and I occasionally had complaints against me because what I said to the customer was interpreted as an insult/accusation.

Most any place should have a rubberized pad so your feet/legs don't hurt so much from standing in one spot all the time. Still, you may have to invest in a quality pair of shoes that are designed for people who have to stand in one spot all day. Standard shoes don't tend to cut it.

To impress your boss, learn to do things WITHOUT having to be asked to do it. In my situation, a cashier was responsible for cleaning and straightening their station, so when you don't have customers, keep on top of that. If bags need to be refilled, get it done. Don't take an attitude that it's someone else's job. That'll go a long way to impress your boss. If it's slow and a fellow cashier is working on an order and you are not (and policy allows it), lock your station and go and help bag the order (most places schedule fewer baggers than cashiers because one bagger can usually cover two stations on a normal day. Be sure when someone shows up and is waiting to wave to them and have them come to your register so they don't have to wait.

A part of your job COULD be to reshelve "orphans" (items picked up and set down in the wrong place). Normally someone will go about with a cart and pick them up and bring it to the front end for later reshelving. If it's slow and you've tended to your station, let your front end manager know that you're going to reshelve the items and they can page you if you're needed to the front. Your store will have policy on this. It's a nice way to break the monotony and get to stretch your legs. It also lets you get used to the store layout...which is how you can easily direct customers to what they are looking for.

Otherwise, if you're stuck on the register all day because it's busy, do whatever you do to keep your mind "occupied" when it's not being challenged. I thought a lot on political and philosophical things. To be honest, I ultimately asked to go back to bagging because I couldn't stand being stuck in one place all day and baggers rounded up carts from the parking lot and were more free to roam the store and do chores.

If you're working 8 hours, you will probably be scheduled for 8.5 or 9. In my state, you were entitled to a 30 minute meal break and two 15-minute snack breaks. By law, they couldn't let you just work a straight 8 hours and go home.

Hopefully, your place has a decent break room with a microwave/toaster oven, etc. so you can buy something in store (like a Lean Cuisine) and make it for lunch so you don't have to always buy a deli item (costs more) or pack a lunch. When I worked as a cashier they just had a break room...not even a fridge.

I hope this helps.

I've always worked more than 40 hours a week and still have time for adequate rest and actually having a life. Go into it with a positive attitude and keep an eye open for opportunities to progress your career!

you probably are so used to having free time that you will find yourself wasting the time you have left after work on dumb stuff like i did,Just pray that you never have to work a night shift like I do, it is horrible, I can't do anything in the morning because that is when I a primed for working and night always used to be my own quiet time to think read and watch movies. but now I am seriously getting dumber by the day, dealing with unreasonable spoiled morons by night and catching up with my chores by day, by then I have no time for any private time. The worst part is I work till 11pm, so I only have a an hour or two for my self before I have to go to sleep. TIME MANAGEMENT IS GOING TO BE KEY AND ROUGH AT THE BEGINNING.

Well, I've been working for a few days now, and honestly, I actually kind of like it. The management at my store is fairly lax, the work itself is easy, but not boring, and best of all, I'm getting paid! As well, I'm FINALLY making new friends again, which I find is much easier to do in a structured environment like a workplace or school than outside of one.

As for my schedule, I find that working 40 hours still affords me a lot of time to relax and such at home, though I don't spend prolonged periods of time screwing around on the computer like I used to. It works out well for me because I find that whenever I have too much "unstructured" time, I get really bored and start to feel terrible.

Anyway, I basically discovered that I'm somewhat of a workaholic, provided I have something tangible to work towards.

I know exactly how you feel! Initially the job search and interview process is extremely taxing. Once you actually land something, a whole other plethora of anxiety surfaces (especially if you have been unemployed for a while or have never worked full time). In my case, I suffer from insomnia so my sleep schedule is not geared towards an 8-5 shift. I fear not getting enough sleep and my anxiety goes into a whirlwind. Fear of not getting enough sleep keeps me from sleeping....tragic irony!

One thing I have learned over time is to not give up when it gets tough. A quote I always tell myself is "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone," Always remember the positives of working: income, independence, and a chance to prove the naysayers wrong.

Over the last few days, I haven't been enjoying my job as much as I did the first few days, mostly because the awe of being paid to push buttons and talk to random people is starting to wear off. I'm already starting to think of other places where I could work and make more money and have a bit more freedom. To show future employers that I have a serious interest though, that means that I'm going to have to stick with my current job for at least another while.

At some point, if the problem my workplace has been having with being understaffed improves, and if I can afford it, I may ask my boss to cut back my hours somewhat, or at least get him to put my days off together. I've been doing the whole "eat, sleep, work" thing for about a week now, and I'm not sure if I can continue with this lifestyle for a prolonged period of time. I want to have more flexibility so I can start pursuing more hobbies, and have a bit more time to relax.

When I was a cashier I would make it a game to see how fast I could move my line while still giving good service.

It was actually fun to check out 3 customers while others did 1.