It took me way too long to realize chasing a high pay, high stress career wasn't worth it. I envied my friends and family for being able to enjoy weekends, evenings, and holidays when I couldn't. I missed my best friends bachelor party, I missed Christmas and New Years parties. If i didnt miss them entirely i would show up late or leave early from every occasion. I realized I was going to reach the end of life never having lived it.
Yup, I gave up my 70 hour work weeks. My 50 hour weeks grew my salary and position, then my 60 hour weeks put me in charge of massive projects, which drove me to 70 hours during a couple ERP implementations. I took a paycut overall, but now I work 40 hours.
By law in Germany you cannot work more than 40 hours per week. There are some exceptions but usually it’s downright illegal for employers to request it.
I'm currently working a job in IT at a lower than median salary, but I also can fuck around (within boundaries of reason), adapt my work schedule to myself and work from home 100% of the time. I wouldn't have it any other way. My team and managers are some of the chillest people I've met
IT and WFH here also. On an average week I do maybe a handfull of hours of actual work and I earn about the same as a doctor. I'd still prefer to do no work at all and I get major anxiety every time I have to go back to work after summer vacation.
This is exactly what I'm looking for right now. The hurdle is that it's getting harder to find non-contract jobs in IT anymore. So every hour I take off from work is an hour coming out of my pocket. Either way I've come to accept that my sanity and free time are things worth paying for.