In our series on lifestyles, four young people tell us how their work shapes the way they live.
A · Nadia Okafor, 26, night-shift nurse, Manchester
My week doesn't look like anyone else's. I work three twelve-hour night shifts in a row, then have four days off. On a working night I'll set off for the hospital at seven and turn up about twenty minutes early, just to get a coffee and hear how the day went. No two nights are the same — one night the ward is calm, the next I don't sit down for twelve hours — and honestly, that's what I love about the job.
The hard part is what happens afterwards. When I get home at eight in the morning, my head is still full of patients, and it can take me hours to switch off. And my social life? My friends tend to meet up on Friday evenings, which is exactly when I'm at work, so I miss almost everything. I spend my days off catching up on sleep and on my friends — in that order.
B · Leo Brandt, 22, professional esports player, Berlin
People think I sit around playing games all day and get paid for it. It's not like that. Our team trains eight hours a day, six days a week: we study videos of our opponents, practise the same moves again and again, and meet our coach. It's closer to being an athlete than a gamer.
The difference is that athletes move and we don't. For my first two years I led a completely sedentary lifestyle — I'd sit in front of a screen from ten in the morning until midnight — and my back paid the price. Now the team has a physiotherapist and I go running before training. I don't love it, but I've come across too many players who had to retire at twenty-five, and I'd like to carry on for longer than that.
C · Sofia Marchetti, 29, freelance translator
Three years ago I gave up my flat in Milan, and since then I've lived out of one suitcase. I translate websites and legal documents, so all I need is a laptop and a decent internet connection. I usually stay somewhere for two or three months: this spring it was Lisbon, now it's Tbilisi, and after that — well, I haven't made up my mind yet.
People ask if I get tired of it. Sometimes. There isn't much of a routine, and it's hard to keep friends when you keep moving on. My parents keep asking when I'm going to settle down, and maybe one day I will. But not yet — I'm still learning so much from every place.
D · Tom Hughes, 24, dairy farmer, Wales
I grew up on this farm, and so did my dad and my grandad. At school I used to say I'd never be a farmer — the early mornings put me off. I did a degree in computer science, came back "just for one summer" to help out, and never left. Last year I made my decision: I'll take over the farm when Dad retires.
The day starts at five with milking, and there are no weekends off — cows don't know what Saturday is. But I do most of the paperwork on my laptop now, which saves us hours. I also started filming life on the farm to show my university friends what I actually do all day. The videos caught on, and the channel now earns enough to pay for a new milking machine.
