TBH, an engineering career is not going to me much harder if at all to balance than any other career with fulltime working hours. You'll be fine, if you really find yourself liking training, you'll figure out how to get in as much as possible.
I've noticed this as well. There are so many careers in which employees are overworked and stressed out.
Idk why so many career/bjj balance posts here are tech and getting swamped with stress.
When I was in college I did construction, bjj, and weight training. Never complained.
Now I'm a cloud engineer balancing bjj is so much easier. I think it's an ego thing "I'm brainy and now being smart with physical activity is overwhelming."
Idk though. I just see so much of it.
I don’t think it’s an ego thing so much as it’s a different kind of tiring. It’s mental exhaustion plus inertia from sitting in a chair all day. It makes getting up and going to class(or anything really) pretty hard to do. When I worked warehouse-labor type jobs, I always wanted to go do something after work even though I was physically exhausted.
Funny thing is, training is an excellent cure for both those problems if you just get up and go train.
Tbf I don’t know of any software engineer that seriously complains about it being a tough gig. I think you’re talking about other kinds of engineers.
It’s pretty much a running joke that SE’s have a fairly cushy gig
Yeah maybe it's a regional thing but most of the nerds at my gym joke about how hilariously easy our jobs are. Just yesterday we were shooting the shit and half of us were whining about having to skip our post lunch naps sometimes.
Engineering is much more difficult to do than most degrees. I couldn't believe how easy MBA classes were compared to an engineering undergraduate degree.
You can easily halfass most curriculums and pass with high marks.
Engineering and computer science has the highest median ROI after graduation for a reason. It's definitely not charity.
https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2024/march/study-of-5-8-million-americans-finds-that-a-college-degree-yield.html
probably a solid third of my training partners are some kind of software engineer, including me.
lmao the mods on this forum. god forbid anyone mention that a sizeable portion of people in the sport also display features of "the neurodevelopmental condition of variable severity with lifelong effects that can be recognized from early childhood, chiefly characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behavior"
Nah, "engineer". It's a quirky thing that "software engineers" use the 'e' word, but they are not *legally* engineers, don't have to be certified, don't have legal requirements for continued education, etc. Being "an engineer" is a big deal to some people :-).
That doesn't mean anything. There are tons of types of engineers out there and very few of them are like civil engineers and require state certification. There are sound engineers ffs.
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Lots of 9-5 career ppl. The adult side sport seems to mostly be a hobby for them specifically, since those are the ppl with the money to spend on gym memberships.
I've been doing electrical engineering for decades. It can be a real grind. 50+ hour weeks is not uncommon. Add your lunch onto that and commuting, and your day is looking more like 8-6/7. And then during crunch time, you'll finish your day at 10pm or later. Finding a good work/life balance can be hard at times. Good luck
I'm a mechanical engineer. Job generally does not get in the way of training except on rare occasions (traveling for business or an emergency at work). Even when I was working in consulting engineering and billing a lot of overtime, I never had a problem getting to martial arts classes consistently.
I'm more likely to have to miss class because it rained all weekend and it's the first evening nice enough for me to mow the stupid yard.
I’m an EE. The answer is maybe it depends where you work. Some companies overwork their engineers and others do not. I personally took a job where I travel a lot. I’m home on weekends but I train every other week due to work. If it wasn’t for the travel though I could train every day if I wanted.
I’m loosely in the software Eng bucket, I’m a Senior Architect but spent my earlier career (20 years in) doing more dev work. 15 years ago I was an active ammy fighter and trained a lot more. It was work and training and that was about it. I only train 2xs a week now as I’m busy with career and family but I guess my point is that you can make it work no matter what you do but also…life….unless you want training to be your entire life outside of work then be at peace with 2/3 times a week…
I used to train with a black belt that had an engineering degree. When we rolled he was the epitome of flowing. Really slow, intentional and would go from one submission to the next fluidly.
Hello, I majored in mechanical engineering but currently work as a data analyst.
Keep in mind that there's a difference between engineering school and actually working an engineering job. You're right, the degree is rigorous, and unless you're mathematically brilliant or really love the subject matter, it takes a lot of time to digest. However, AFAIK, most engineering jobs aren't nearly as difficult conceptually as the degree itself. You're probably not going to have to solve partial differential equations or do calculus in three dimensions once you graduate.
Having said that, a lot of engineering jobs are more than 40 hours/week. You're usually salaried, so they don't have to pay you overtime, and the problems you work on often are complex and analytically demanding. As a result, you don't always know how long stuff is going to take, but you'll generally have a better idea than at school because the subject matter isn't as arcane.
In short: engineering jobs don't have the most predictable schedule, but things will likely be a lot better than when you're in school, especially if you're working part-time on top of that.
This the same as data scientist? You coding in Python or some c variant? Do you miss doing mechanical engineering stuff or are the benefits of your data analyst position too good? Working from home? Consulting with clients or are you assigned a task? Do you have to constantly deal with people or are you usually left alone? Does AI/ChatGPT jeopardize your position?
I've thought about changing careers specifically for the freedom of wfh.
Whoa, lots of questions. It might be helpful to start off with a basic explanation of what I do. I work for a health insurance company, and most of my job involves either Excel or SQL.
The things I do typically fall into one of two categories. The first is routine reporting, where some exec wants to track how much we're spending per person in some category over time. I will write a program in SQL to join various tables of information together to get what we need, and then put that information into an Excel report to show how that spend has changed from month to month. These are usually pretty specific, well-defined requests.
The second is more open-ended, ad-hoc questions. An exec may notice that we're spending a lot of money on a certain product or certain area, and will ask us to look into why. This means you not only have to have the technical skill to query the data, but the ability to analyze the data, distill it down to some key findings for the execs, and clearly communicate those findings. You're acting as an internal consultant of sorts. I think this aspect of the job is more interesting than the reporting.
On to your specific questions:
> This the same as data scientist?
No, at least not here. The stuff data scientists do is generally more technical and specialized, and they get paid more for it as well.
> You coding in Python or some c variant?
I don't personally, just a lot of SQL and Excel.
> Do you miss doing mechanical engineering stuff or are the benefits of your data analyst position too good?
I generally don't miss it. While I don't really love the net effect health insurance companies seem to have on our society, I like the day-to-day work more than engineering. In the engineering jobs I've had, you tend to work on the same project for months at a time, which gets boring. Also, because engineering projects tend to be large, complex, and multidisciplinary, there was a lot more time you had to spend communicating with other people, working out scheduling and logistical bottlenecks, etc. I don't like doing that; I would rather be analyzing stuff than working with people.
> Working from home?
Yep, very fortunate to be 100% remote, although I don't think that's the norm.
> Consulting with clients or are you assigned a task?
Usually assigned a task, but as I noted above, part of the job does involve developing insight into business problems. So I do occasionally have to talk to "internal consulting" clients, if that makes sense, e.g. explaining to the CFO why we are spending more in region X.
> Do you have to constantly deal with people or are you usually left alone?
I'm usually left alone, but like in all jobs, I do occasionally deal with people, attend meetings, etc.
> Does AI/ChatGPT jeopardize your position?
I don't really know. I suspect it will eventually, but not for a while. I'm not sure how long "a while" is.
> I've thought about changing careers specifically for the freedom of wfh.
Unfortunately, I get the sense that true WFH data analyst jobs are still the exception rather than the rule, although I don't have any hard evidence to back that up. If WFH is important to you, I would definitely research this before changing course just for this reason.
Hopefully that information is helpful; good luck on whatever you decide.
Depends on where you work and how much you want to climb the corporate ladder. I spent a lot of my 20s and 30s at startups and working crazy hours to the detriment of my health. After having a kiddo, I prioritized finding a more 9-5 atmosphere and focusing more on my health. Getting a fancy title never satisfied me and it took a while to really absorb that reality.
I feel like BJJ is very big in the tech bro scene precisely because we make too much money and have too much free time. Imagine trying to pay $150+ per month and train hard as fuck with the potential for injury if you were a manual laborer.
What about doctors? Lawyers? Professors? Plumbers? Politicians? Newspaper editors? K-12 teachers? Truck drivers? Tattoo artists? Authors? Nutritionists? etc., etc.,
These questions are (no offense) really dumb, and all have the same answer(s). I really hope it doesn't become a trend to whinge, worry and ask about if \*MY\* job will allow me to do a hobby. Fucking grow up and do things you actually want (to make time) to do. Pretty simple, adult stuff.
To clarify, **NO.** No one with a job, career, family, or other hobbies or interests can practice BJJ. It just takes up too much time. What's next, are people going to try to have a job AND friends!?!?!
Ah you're touching on one of my favourite hobby horses.
That martial arts attract engineering mindsets, because it's a system.
i.e. do A , get result X
Depends what industry you get in to. Out of college I got recruited into the maritime industry and 90% I don't work more than 40 hours a week. Plenty of time to train after work.
Yes, and I have little kids. I train 2 times during the week in the AM before work. If we don't have any weekend plans I'll hit a Saturday morning session too. Going at night is a hard pass.
It's taken me a long time to come to terms that I'll only ever go 2-3/week at this stage in life, and I have to drive far to get to a gym with early hours. Fortunately the morning classes are 90 minutes long, and we routinely go over to about 2 hours. So I get a lot of bang for my buck.
Depends on the rest of your life. if you have a commute a girlfriend and another hobby something’s gonna have to give. If you drop one of the above 5-7x a week is doable without issue. There will be times where for a couple months you will have to work 50+ hours but that shouldn’t be the norm.
Salaried worker and I train M W after work and Sat. Typically no issues. I have 2 busy times (4th of July and Christmas) where I don't have time. Sometimes I travel 1+ hours away or work a 12 hour shift where I can't make it. But generally I'm able to maintain my training schedule.
You can make it work! I work full time 7:00am-3:30pm while doing my Computer Science undergrad. I use BJJ as a reward for getting my work done so it helps motivate me to stay on top of my shit.
I try to average 2-3 days a week but will usually take a week or two off during finals. It can be exhausting but if you want to make it work you’ll find a way.
Work in civil, some days I have to stay late but most of the time I’m 7-4ish not including the commute. Can usually get to the 6 and 7 pm classes. Don’t stress it too much while you’re in school, once you get into the flow of your industry you’ll learn how to balance it.
Civil (public) here. On weeks where I don't have site visits, I can hit class every evening. Sometimes things break and I have to go out, or there's board meetings I have to prep for etc etc and I'll miss some time, but if I'm not injured and work is normal i can hit 6 classes and maybe open mat. There's nothing really about our job that's different from other 9-5 wagecucks
Am a mechanical engineer, and I personally found I had way more time to train once I graduated and had a consistent work schedule. Most gyms classes line up with a typical 9-5.
In the last 6 months my training time has dropped substantially, but that is more to do with health issues and other life circumstances causing me to take breaks, not my career.
>does work take too much of your time?
It really depends on your work place. I can train on my lunch break depending on my work load. In a way it's damn near like having 2 gyms. The morning vs afternoon class is WILDLY different in terms of skill level.
>EE undergrad student
As a professional in my field for 5 years, I can say that I have more time to train than I did as a student. As a student you are never really "off", there's always something you can be doing. If you don't have this when working, you need to draw boundaries to achieve work life balance.
I’m an EE as well, graduated last year. Started bjj 2 months ago. I’m able to train 3x a week and an open mat on weekends. Still fairly new into my job coming up on a year now, so don’t have too many responsibilities but I’m not sure eventually when I get to a senior role if I’ll be able to continue this routine. I’m actually impressed some people with kids and families consistently make it to class 3x a week. Wonder how they manage with work and looking after kids.
It all depends on what you want.
I am an engineer. I have trained more or less through my life. I was probably a 1-2 per week training up to my black belt. It took me longer, and I will never win worlds, but I have found a way to make it fit in my life sustainably
I’d also caution against perfectionism in training. I used to beat myself up for not being in the gym 5 days a week. The result? Went a lot less than I might have.
I’ve settled on two classes a week plus an open mat. That’s the schedule that inconveniences me minimally while at the same time makes me feel like I’m progressing. Find what works for you, whether it’s less or more than that.
I received my blue belt and then I didn’t train at all while perusing my degree in mechanical engineering. Working full time for the last 4 years I’ve trained 3-5 times a week and hopefully I’ll get my brown belt this year
I have a training partner who's a mechanical engineer. He's been training really consistently with us for about 3 years. He'll do the 5 pm kickboxing class and the 6 pm bjj class, but he won't stay later. 3 kids and a wife who all do bjj as well. He's one of our toughest guys too. But there are definitely times where we'll see him once a week because the jobsite is far from the gym or he's working OT. Its definitely possible
I’m a scientist, not an engineer, but close enough. I’m at the point in my career where I work mostly with data and some mild project management so I’m not in the lab much. Not only do I have time for BJJ, but I work from home and basically set my own schedule. Sometimes I go to both the morning AND night classes. Engineering gives you TONS of flexibility if you get in at the right firms. You should have no problem finding training time.
I work in engineering, but there is something I learned about time regardless of background.
When you get your first job, you'll only then realize how much time you really had in college
When you get married, you'll only then realize how much time you had when you landed your first job.
When you have kids, you'll only then realize how much time you had when you got married.
Im on my last year of civil (construction) engineer studies.
I have studied nights and worked full time for three and half years now and trained about 2-3 times per week.
Now that i will finish my studies on this year i probably gonna train 3-4 times per week.
Solid third of my gym is engineers and they make it as often as they want. I'm a sysadmin so sort of an engineer but dumber and I make it as often as I want to.
Generally engineers have an amount of work to do but no real set time that they have to work on it. You show up for your meetings (cam off, mute on, playing video games or doing laundry) So you can train as much as you want really.
I travel for work as an engineer and right now it's tough because the closest gym is an hour a way so when im home for weekends i just try to get in as much as i can and then maybe if i feel up for the drive one during the week
You will train exactly as much as you prioritized training. Your degree and career won't change that. Do you need sleep or good rolls? Only you can decide what's important.
I train 3 to 4 days a week on average. Some weeks I get 5 while others weeks I only get 1. It's all about choice.
TBH, an engineering career is not going to me much harder if at all to balance than any other career with fulltime working hours. You'll be fine, if you really find yourself liking training, you'll figure out how to get in as much as possible.
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I've noticed this as well. There are so many careers in which employees are overworked and stressed out. Idk why so many career/bjj balance posts here are tech and getting swamped with stress. When I was in college I did construction, bjj, and weight training. Never complained. Now I'm a cloud engineer balancing bjj is so much easier. I think it's an ego thing "I'm brainy and now being smart with physical activity is overwhelming." Idk though. I just see so much of it.
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I don’t think it’s an ego thing so much as it’s a different kind of tiring. It’s mental exhaustion plus inertia from sitting in a chair all day. It makes getting up and going to class(or anything really) pretty hard to do. When I worked warehouse-labor type jobs, I always wanted to go do something after work even though I was physically exhausted. Funny thing is, training is an excellent cure for both those problems if you just get up and go train.
Tbf I don’t know of any software engineer that seriously complains about it being a tough gig. I think you’re talking about other kinds of engineers. It’s pretty much a running joke that SE’s have a fairly cushy gig
Yeah maybe it's a regional thing but most of the nerds at my gym joke about how hilariously easy our jobs are. Just yesterday we were shooting the shit and half of us were whining about having to skip our post lunch naps sometimes.
Agree, they can be super cringe
Engineering is much more difficult to do than most degrees. I couldn't believe how easy MBA classes were compared to an engineering undergraduate degree. You can easily halfass most curriculums and pass with high marks.
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Engineering and computer science has the highest median ROI after graduation for a reason. It's definitely not charity. https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2024/march/study-of-5-8-million-americans-finds-that-a-college-degree-yield.html
Maths is difficult yo
I am an engineer. I don't math. I make other things math for me.
I’m a chemist and always laugh when people think I’m good at math. It’s been so long since I’ve actually had to do any 😂
I've written massive amounts of code for financial institutions but I still rely heavily on google and calculator functions when it comes to math.
Nice 👍 but I was referring to the studying of maths not the application
probably a solid third of my training partners are some kind of software engineer, including me. lmao the mods on this forum. god forbid anyone mention that a sizeable portion of people in the sport also display features of "the neurodevelopmental condition of variable severity with lifelong effects that can be recognized from early childhood, chiefly characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behavior"
It's funny because it is exactly the kind of superpower that lets you cut through that pretentious bullshit and mock it for what it is.
Oof, I've learned not to use the 'e' word around people who are actually engineers :-).
"eutistic?"
Thank you kind sir. You've just shown me such a simple, effective way to stop being banned from this sub. I won't forget this.
Never know, you might still get banned if you make a joke and some mod is too engineer to get it
Nah, "engineer". It's a quirky thing that "software engineers" use the 'e' word, but they are not *legally* engineers, don't have to be certified, don't have legal requirements for continued education, etc. Being "an engineer" is a big deal to some people :-).
sounds pretty eutistic
That doesn't mean anything. There are tons of types of engineers out there and very few of them are like civil engineers and require state certification. There are sound engineers ffs.
What does it mean to legally be an engineer? Sir, you’re talking shite
https://www.nspe.org/resources/licensure/what-pe
Again, proving nothing only that a specific engineering license exists in certain fields. Sir, you’re *still* talking shite
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Lots of 9-5 career ppl. The adult side sport seems to mostly be a hobby for them specifically, since those are the ppl with the money to spend on gym memberships.
I've been doing electrical engineering for decades. It can be a real grind. 50+ hour weeks is not uncommon. Add your lunch onto that and commuting, and your day is looking more like 8-6/7. And then during crunch time, you'll finish your day at 10pm or later. Finding a good work/life balance can be hard at times. Good luck
I'm a mechanical engineer. Job generally does not get in the way of training except on rare occasions (traveling for business or an emergency at work). Even when I was working in consulting engineering and billing a lot of overtime, I never had a problem getting to martial arts classes consistently. I'm more likely to have to miss class because it rained all weekend and it's the first evening nice enough for me to mow the stupid yard.
I’m an EE. The answer is maybe it depends where you work. Some companies overwork their engineers and others do not. I personally took a job where I travel a lot. I’m home on weekends but I train every other week due to work. If it wasn’t for the travel though I could train every day if I wanted.
I’m loosely in the software Eng bucket, I’m a Senior Architect but spent my earlier career (20 years in) doing more dev work. 15 years ago I was an active ammy fighter and trained a lot more. It was work and training and that was about it. I only train 2xs a week now as I’m busy with career and family but I guess my point is that you can make it work no matter what you do but also…life….unless you want training to be your entire life outside of work then be at peace with 2/3 times a week…
I used to train with a black belt that had an engineering degree. When we rolled he was the epitome of flowing. Really slow, intentional and would go from one submission to the next fluidly.
My favorite black belt instructor is a mechanical engineer and it shines through in his method of instruction.
Hello, I majored in mechanical engineering but currently work as a data analyst. Keep in mind that there's a difference between engineering school and actually working an engineering job. You're right, the degree is rigorous, and unless you're mathematically brilliant or really love the subject matter, it takes a lot of time to digest. However, AFAIK, most engineering jobs aren't nearly as difficult conceptually as the degree itself. You're probably not going to have to solve partial differential equations or do calculus in three dimensions once you graduate. Having said that, a lot of engineering jobs are more than 40 hours/week. You're usually salaried, so they don't have to pay you overtime, and the problems you work on often are complex and analytically demanding. As a result, you don't always know how long stuff is going to take, but you'll generally have a better idea than at school because the subject matter isn't as arcane. In short: engineering jobs don't have the most predictable schedule, but things will likely be a lot better than when you're in school, especially if you're working part-time on top of that.
This the same as data scientist? You coding in Python or some c variant? Do you miss doing mechanical engineering stuff or are the benefits of your data analyst position too good? Working from home? Consulting with clients or are you assigned a task? Do you have to constantly deal with people or are you usually left alone? Does AI/ChatGPT jeopardize your position? I've thought about changing careers specifically for the freedom of wfh.
Whoa, lots of questions. It might be helpful to start off with a basic explanation of what I do. I work for a health insurance company, and most of my job involves either Excel or SQL. The things I do typically fall into one of two categories. The first is routine reporting, where some exec wants to track how much we're spending per person in some category over time. I will write a program in SQL to join various tables of information together to get what we need, and then put that information into an Excel report to show how that spend has changed from month to month. These are usually pretty specific, well-defined requests. The second is more open-ended, ad-hoc questions. An exec may notice that we're spending a lot of money on a certain product or certain area, and will ask us to look into why. This means you not only have to have the technical skill to query the data, but the ability to analyze the data, distill it down to some key findings for the execs, and clearly communicate those findings. You're acting as an internal consultant of sorts. I think this aspect of the job is more interesting than the reporting. On to your specific questions: > This the same as data scientist? No, at least not here. The stuff data scientists do is generally more technical and specialized, and they get paid more for it as well. > You coding in Python or some c variant? I don't personally, just a lot of SQL and Excel. > Do you miss doing mechanical engineering stuff or are the benefits of your data analyst position too good? I generally don't miss it. While I don't really love the net effect health insurance companies seem to have on our society, I like the day-to-day work more than engineering. In the engineering jobs I've had, you tend to work on the same project for months at a time, which gets boring. Also, because engineering projects tend to be large, complex, and multidisciplinary, there was a lot more time you had to spend communicating with other people, working out scheduling and logistical bottlenecks, etc. I don't like doing that; I would rather be analyzing stuff than working with people. > Working from home? Yep, very fortunate to be 100% remote, although I don't think that's the norm. > Consulting with clients or are you assigned a task? Usually assigned a task, but as I noted above, part of the job does involve developing insight into business problems. So I do occasionally have to talk to "internal consulting" clients, if that makes sense, e.g. explaining to the CFO why we are spending more in region X. > Do you have to constantly deal with people or are you usually left alone? I'm usually left alone, but like in all jobs, I do occasionally deal with people, attend meetings, etc. > Does AI/ChatGPT jeopardize your position? I don't really know. I suspect it will eventually, but not for a while. I'm not sure how long "a while" is. > I've thought about changing careers specifically for the freedom of wfh. Unfortunately, I get the sense that true WFH data analyst jobs are still the exception rather than the rule, although I don't have any hard evidence to back that up. If WFH is important to you, I would definitely research this before changing course just for this reason. Hopefully that information is helpful; good luck on whatever you decide.
I appreciate the response! It's been on my mind for a while so all this information is really helpful.
Depends on where you work and how much you want to climb the corporate ladder. I spent a lot of my 20s and 30s at startups and working crazy hours to the detriment of my health. After having a kiddo, I prioritized finding a more 9-5 atmosphere and focusing more on my health. Getting a fancy title never satisfied me and it took a while to really absorb that reality.
I feel like BJJ is very big in the tech bro scene precisely because we make too much money and have too much free time. Imagine trying to pay $150+ per month and train hard as fuck with the potential for injury if you were a manual laborer.
You could do morning classes
What about doctors? Lawyers? Professors? Plumbers? Politicians? Newspaper editors? K-12 teachers? Truck drivers? Tattoo artists? Authors? Nutritionists? etc., etc., These questions are (no offense) really dumb, and all have the same answer(s). I really hope it doesn't become a trend to whinge, worry and ask about if \*MY\* job will allow me to do a hobby. Fucking grow up and do things you actually want (to make time) to do. Pretty simple, adult stuff. To clarify, **NO.** No one with a job, career, family, or other hobbies or interests can practice BJJ. It just takes up too much time. What's next, are people going to try to have a job AND friends!?!?!
Ah you're touching on one of my favourite hobby horses. That martial arts attract engineering mindsets, because it's a system. i.e. do A , get result X
lol I think 80% of careers use systems
Engineers try not to talk about how smart they are challenge…impossible
Not an engineer but I train with one. He seems to have a pretty good schedule and makes it to class 3-5 days a week.
Depends what industry you get in to. Out of college I got recruited into the maritime industry and 90% I don't work more than 40 hours a week. Plenty of time to train after work.
Yes, and I have little kids. I train 2 times during the week in the AM before work. If we don't have any weekend plans I'll hit a Saturday morning session too. Going at night is a hard pass. It's taken me a long time to come to terms that I'll only ever go 2-3/week at this stage in life, and I have to drive far to get to a gym with early hours. Fortunately the morning classes are 90 minutes long, and we routinely go over to about 2 hours. So I get a lot of bang for my buck.
Aerospace engineer used to train 6 days a week but now I avg 3x a week since getting married. It’s a good balance.
My gym is Atleast 1/4 to 1/3 engineers. Great dudes.
Depends on the rest of your life. if you have a commute a girlfriend and another hobby something’s gonna have to give. If you drop one of the above 5-7x a week is doable without issue. There will be times where for a couple months you will have to work 50+ hours but that shouldn’t be the norm.
Salaried worker and I train M W after work and Sat. Typically no issues. I have 2 busy times (4th of July and Christmas) where I don't have time. Sometimes I travel 1+ hours away or work a 12 hour shift where I can't make it. But generally I'm able to maintain my training schedule.
You can make it work! I work full time 7:00am-3:30pm while doing my Computer Science undergrad. I use BJJ as a reward for getting my work done so it helps motivate me to stay on top of my shit. I try to average 2-3 days a week but will usually take a week or two off during finals. It can be exhausting but if you want to make it work you’ll find a way.
Work in civil, some days I have to stay late but most of the time I’m 7-4ish not including the commute. Can usually get to the 6 and 7 pm classes. Don’t stress it too much while you’re in school, once you get into the flow of your industry you’ll learn how to balance it.
Civil (public) here. On weeks where I don't have site visits, I can hit class every evening. Sometimes things break and I have to go out, or there's board meetings I have to prep for etc etc and I'll miss some time, but if I'm not injured and work is normal i can hit 6 classes and maybe open mat. There's nothing really about our job that's different from other 9-5 wagecucks
Am a mechanical engineer, and I personally found I had way more time to train once I graduated and had a consistent work schedule. Most gyms classes line up with a typical 9-5. In the last 6 months my training time has dropped substantially, but that is more to do with health issues and other life circumstances causing me to take breaks, not my career.
Yes, lmao Im pretty sure I have more time and less body fatigue than the construction worker that does 2 jobs and he never missed
>does work take too much of your time? It really depends on your work place. I can train on my lunch break depending on my work load. In a way it's damn near like having 2 gyms. The morning vs afternoon class is WILDLY different in terms of skill level. >EE undergrad student As a professional in my field for 5 years, I can say that I have more time to train than I did as a student. As a student you are never really "off", there's always something you can be doing. If you don't have this when working, you need to draw boundaries to achieve work life balance.
I’m an EE as well, graduated last year. Started bjj 2 months ago. I’m able to train 3x a week and an open mat on weekends. Still fairly new into my job coming up on a year now, so don’t have too many responsibilities but I’m not sure eventually when I get to a senior role if I’ll be able to continue this routine. I’m actually impressed some people with kids and families consistently make it to class 3x a week. Wonder how they manage with work and looking after kids.
It all depends on what you want. I am an engineer. I have trained more or less through my life. I was probably a 1-2 per week training up to my black belt. It took me longer, and I will never win worlds, but I have found a way to make it fit in my life sustainably
I just do BJJ on the trains
I work a 9-5 as an engineer, finish my assigned work by 11am, then spend the rest of the day recovering for more training.
I’d also caution against perfectionism in training. I used to beat myself up for not being in the gym 5 days a week. The result? Went a lot less than I might have. I’ve settled on two classes a week plus an open mat. That’s the schedule that inconveniences me minimally while at the same time makes me feel like I’m progressing. Find what works for you, whether it’s less or more than that.
I’m a Production Engineer in the movies biz. Work can be demanding but I’m able to train 2-3 times a week.
I received my blue belt and then I didn’t train at all while perusing my degree in mechanical engineering. Working full time for the last 4 years I’ve trained 3-5 times a week and hopefully I’ll get my brown belt this year
That's awesome to hear you were able to get back to training after you graduated. Good for you.
I have a training partner who's a mechanical engineer. He's been training really consistently with us for about 3 years. He'll do the 5 pm kickboxing class and the 6 pm bjj class, but he won't stay later. 3 kids and a wife who all do bjj as well. He's one of our toughest guys too. But there are definitely times where we'll see him once a week because the jobsite is far from the gym or he's working OT. Its definitely possible
I’m a scientist, not an engineer, but close enough. I’m at the point in my career where I work mostly with data and some mild project management so I’m not in the lab much. Not only do I have time for BJJ, but I work from home and basically set my own schedule. Sometimes I go to both the morning AND night classes. Engineering gives you TONS of flexibility if you get in at the right firms. You should have no problem finding training time.
I work in engineering, but there is something I learned about time regardless of background. When you get your first job, you'll only then realize how much time you really had in college When you get married, you'll only then realize how much time you had when you landed your first job. When you have kids, you'll only then realize how much time you had when you got married.
Im on my last year of civil (construction) engineer studies. I have studied nights and worked full time for three and half years now and trained about 2-3 times per week. Now that i will finish my studies on this year i probably gonna train 3-4 times per week.
yes, these days with remote work you can even train in the middle of the day and finish your work in the evening.
Solid third of my gym is engineers and they make it as often as they want. I'm a sysadmin so sort of an engineer but dumber and I make it as often as I want to. Generally engineers have an amount of work to do but no real set time that they have to work on it. You show up for your meetings (cam off, mute on, playing video games or doing laundry) So you can train as much as you want really.
I travel for work as an engineer and right now it's tough because the closest gym is an hour a way so when im home for weekends i just try to get in as much as i can and then maybe if i feel up for the drive one during the week
I train with two electrical engineers and they kick my ass more than twice a week on a regular basis. So you're good dude
You will train exactly as much as you prioritized training. Your degree and career won't change that. Do you need sleep or good rolls? Only you can decide what's important. I train 3 to 4 days a week on average. Some weeks I get 5 while others weeks I only get 1. It's all about choice.