Unfortunately, that is part of modern life and one of the "joys" of working a service industry. His hours simply must fit around the hours of his clients, which means inconvenience to the both of you, since most clients hit the gym either before or after their own work day is finished.
You can't change that. If he wants to get ahead, which he does, he needs both the face time and the near constant availability to create a demand for his specific services. So on his day off - assuming he gets such a thing - he is going to be exhausted. Not good for quality time with you. You have to accept that.
StiII, it is not an ideaI situation and you want to fix it.
First off, bear in mind that yes, he is bIoody tired aII the time. WhiIe he wants to spend good time with you, he'II be more tempted to just sIeep. So if you are Iooking for quaIity time, you are going to have to arrange it, rather than wait for him to do so.
SecondIy, don't go too ambitious. SimpIy being together and doing something with each other is your aim at the moment. A nice meaI then a cuddIe on the couch whiIe watching a movie you both Iike is a good way of starting to get the magic back. Just eIbow him once in a whiIe to keep him awake.
You need to gentIy remind him that work is not the onIy aspect of Iife. It is easy to forget that sometimes.
Good Iuck to both of you.
My boyfriend is also currently spending long hours at work so I can sympathise! MM's advice is pretty much what we do. We organise things in advance, we set aside a time we can both spend together and attempt to stick to it and then make the most of it.
I know how much patience it requires, and the fear of starting to sound nagging, but he needs to be reminded that you'd like at least a small amount of time from him as you're part of his life too. However you'll have to accept that that amount of time will be shorter than you're used to.
Also little things like him texting you or calling when he has a break can make things easier, I know some couples don't feel the need to keep in contact when they're apart but when there's not much time to spend together small things like that are great to let your SO know you're still thinking of them when you're not there.
Welcome to adulthood and the modern workforce! Get use to the situation, it's gonna be like that for just about anyone with a job worth having.
You'll both have to work around your schedules. Can be a pain but it can be done. I've heard of couples who would go on "dates", at 2:00AM because it was literally the only time they could get together.
Just remember, he's not happy either about not being able to spend more time with you, so PLEASE, don't amplify his bad feelings by nagging him over something he has little control over (aside from quitting and joining the ranks of the unemployed), that won't improve the situation and will only increase bitterness and resentment.
I've gotten this from time to time because of the hours I work. Sometimes I can run a 14 hour shift from 7am to 9pm, and have to do the same thing the next day. What does this mean? It means I gotta go to work all day, get home and go to bed so I can do it all over.
My girlfriend has never really given me a hard time about it just expressed that it sucks from time to time. But thats why we always plan things for weekends and when we know we have time, and during the work week we just suck it up.
I mean it would be great to spend all day every day together, but if we did that we'd be doing it living out of a fridge box.