Unless you were lucky enough to be born into a very rich family or to win the lottery, you know you’re going to have to work for at least 50 years of your life, if not more. Spending 40+ hours a week at a job is pretty much the norm for most employees, but it’s also soul-sucking and can leave you feeling drained, overwhelmed, underappreciated, and full of despair. A TikToker named Brielle (@briellebelly123) is certainly feeling that after taking on her very first 9 to 5 job and realizing how little time she had for anything else in her life.
It’s very hard to strike a work-life balance.
You know you have to be able to support yourself and pay your bills, but there has to be more to life than your job, right? Brielle knows this, but on October 19, she shared a video in which she revealed how impossible she’s finding the effort to strike a balance. It’s her first job after college and it’s already hitting Brielle hard.
In the clip, she admitted that many people would find her “dramatic and annoying” since this was her first job after graduating from college. However, adjusting to the realities of adulting has been a real struggle. “I’m in person, and I’m commuting in the city, and it takes me f—— forever to get there,” she began. “There’s no way I’m gonna be able to afford living in the city right now, so that’s off the table.”
Brielle leaves the house at 7:30 a.m. and doesn’t get home until after 6:15 p.m. every night.
@brielleybelly123 im also getting sick leave me alone im emotional ok i feel 12 and im scared of not having time to live
That’s nearly 12 hours of her 24 taken up by her job and job-related tasks, meaning she now doesn’t have “time to do anything” fun or to even take care of other responsibilities. “I wanna shower, eat my dinner, and go to sleep. I don’t have time or energy to cook my dinner, either,” she says in the video. “Like I don’t have [the] energy to work out, like that’s out the window, like, I’m so upset!
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She clarified that she does like her job.
Nevertheless, the chunk of her life it’s taking up is already taking its toll on her. She added that part of the problem is that she has to work in the office rather than at home, and the commute is oppressive. “If it was remote, you get off at 5, and you’re home, and everything’s fine. But, like, I’m not home. It takes me [so] long to get home,” Brielle explained.
“And I know it could be worse. I know I could be working longer, but like, I literally get off [and] it’s pitch black. How do you have friends? How do you have time to like meet a guy? How do you have time for dating? I don’t have time for anything, and I’m so stressed out.”
Plenty of TikTokers empathized with Brielle and know exactly where she’s coming from.
After receiving more than a million views, it was clear that plenty of people relate to what Brielle is going through. “The 40-hour work week is beyond outdated, and your feelings are totally valid,” one of the most popular comments read. Another person wrote, “No, this is so real, and any time I bring it up, everyone just kinda shrugs and says, ‘Welcome to the real world.’ Surely, there is more to life??????”
A third person admitted that it only gets worse from here and that you eventually have to adjust to it. “Tbh, it doesn’t get better,” a fourth TikTok user commented. “You just learn to force things in after work despite being exhausted [because] u feel like ur being cheated of time.” How sad is that?
