Tribune: How do you make long office hours bearable?


Tax season has officially kicked off and for many of us that means arriving at the office before the sun rises and leaving long after it sets. Working 12+ hours every day, six or seven days a week for three months straight is a hell of a grind. How do you get through it?

Here’s what works for me:

  • Good snacks that change weekly (with a combination of healthy and some not-so-healthy);
  • Mixed coffees and teas to break up the monotony of the same hot drinks;
  • Keeping a good rice cooker in the kitchen so I can make a hot meal in an office environment;
  • Keeping a pillow, blanket, and sleeping pad handy because there will inevitably be a couple of days where I just hit a wall and need to shut my eyes for an hour;
  • Putting a weight machine in my spare office for a quick lunch-time workout (although, if I’m being honest, my consistency needs a lot of improvement); and
  • Large-screen TV mounted in my office – When I’m alone at the end of the day, I’m kept company by my old friends, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Lately, I’ve had a lot of tension in my neck, so I’m considering a massage chair. It’s depreciable, right?

Send your best tips (and massage chair recommendations if you have them) to mikeg@spidell.com.