My doctor gave me two weeks off. His office said that two weeks was the standard for laproscopic gallbladder surgery. I have a desk job and I needed every bit of that time off. When I went back to work, I still had some soreness just from moving around, and was tired. I took half of a pain pill (vicodin) each day that first week when I went back to work. If you have a physical job, I think you should take four weeks off.