The Art of Overworking Yourself.

[Cory Wolfe]

As I've alluded to previously, I recently found myself a second job to give myself more security, financially. Now having a loan payment and feeling obliged to upgrade to full coverage insurance, I can't live off my part-time hours at the Pharmacy, alone. The idea is that one job will cover those new expenses while I have the other for miscellaneous spending and saving.

Essentially, I've jumped right in and am now logging 50 hours per week, working 7 days a week. Alot of times, I will work both jobs in one day for starting at 4 am and generally lasting until 5-7 pm. It's mentally draining, especially when I'm not able to get the sleep I need.

I just had a day like that today and I am thoroughly shot. I'm beginning to think I should try to cut back on hours to something less stressful. As is, I feel like I'm overworking myself without being able to give myself a break between jobs. At this rate, I'm going to get caught up in work for longer than I bargained for. I still have college to consider once I figure that out for myself. This year has started off with some pretty sudden shifts in what direction my life has taken. I could have certainly done without that snowplow incident.

Alas, I might as well get used to it and value having more hours than I bargained for rather than being laid off, like many others.

[longtooth]

Do you feel that the financial reward was lacking?

Was there a financial reward?

[Camino LS6]

It's good for you right now.

Trust me on this one.

Just don't do it forever.

[Intrepidation]

Yeah, that sounds pretty draining, I'm sure Sixty8 can relate.

If you feel you can handle it I would hang on to what you you've got. Many others aren't so lucky.

[Nick]

I'd be doing the same thing right now if my schedule allowed for it, though with college I can only do so much.

If you are starting to get mentally/physically drained from it, then you may want to look into cutting back. Start looking into going to school. The worst thing to do would be to get set in your ways and find yourself years down the road in the same exact spot.

Edited April 15, 2009 by Nick

[Satty]

Work? Whats that?

[mustang84]

I would stick with it unless you feel it is affecting your personal or social life, at least long enough to save up some money if you plan on going to college. I used to work at a meatpacking plant and would get there at 5:30 AM and leave anywhere between 3:30 PM and 6 PM (depending on the order size), so I know the feeling. You come home not wanting to do anything except plop down on the couch.

But, if you're in that transitional period before college it's best to make as much as you can so you can cut down on the amount of loans you will need to take out, IMO.

[balthazar]

You have to pay attention to how you feel, of course. 50 hrs, in & of itself, is not a great deal... I would think the 7 days/wk thing is a lot more taxing than the hours, per say.

I've worked 85 hrs a week, and on another job I worked 30 days out of 31 (that was my breaking point- I started to suffer from periodic brain fogs around day 28). But if you are functioning well, keep stackin' up dem dollars.

[daves87rs]

It's good for you right now.

Trust me on this one.

Just don't do it forever.

+1

[Justin Bimmer]

In college, I worked for a Beer Distributor and would lift about the equivalent of 2500 cases of beer a day from 4:30AM to 6:00ish and I had Tuesdays and Thursdays off.

SPLIT DAYS OFF SUXORS!

[intrigued]

I wish I could make enough to only work 50 hours. but when your saving for an engagment ring and have tons of other expense 65 to 75 hours has been my norm.

That said it sucks that you cant stack it up so you dont have to work on the weekends. Not having one or two days a week all to your self, even resulting in rediculous hours on the weekdays is a real grind.

[Cory Wolfe]

You have to pay attention to how you feel, of course. 50 hrs, in & of itself, is not a great deal... I would think the 7 days/wk thing is a lot more taxing than the hours, per say.

I've worked 85 hrs a week, and on another job I worked 30 days out of 31 (that was my breaking point- I started to suffer from periodic brain fogs around day 28). But if you are functioning well, keep stackin' up dem dollars.

I think the lack of days off is exactly what's getting to me. Especially with two part time schedules that aren't set. My shifts for both change day by day, week by week. That and those double days where I work both.

[Drew Dowdell]

50 hours a week? That's my standard work week for my day job... then in the evenings and weekends I manage my rental properties... somehow in between all that, I have to come on here and babysit you miscreants. *shakes cane*

[Intrepidation]

crotchety old man alert!

[balthazar]

>>"My shifts for both change day by day, week by week."<<

That's what's doing it, IMO, and that blows. Any chance of setting a schedule, at least weekly ??

Otherwise, I would try and find something else comparable money-wise, but more set time-wise, if at all possible.

[Robert Hall]

I try and stick to a standard 40 hr work week, M-F 7:30-4:30, since as a contractor I bill by the hour and avoid overtime. This week, I'm working 6:30-3:30 a few days, which is nice because it makes my commute quicker.

When I've been a corporate salaried cubicle dweller, I did way too much overtime, too many 50-65 hr weeks. I like to disconnect and avoid thinking about work when I leave the office..working through the weekend and evenings sucks.

[regfootball]

work your ass off when you're young and try at the same time to figure out how to not have to do it once you get older.

[siegen]

Work smarter, not harder.

In college, I worked for a Beer Distributor and would lift about the equivalent of 2500 cases of beer a day from 4:30AM to 6:00ish and I had Tuesdays and Thursdays off.

You can't complain about a job that involves being in close proximity to beer. You simply can't.

[intrigued]

^^^

I beg to differ. I hate when I was working fulltime as a bartender. I'm a pretty damn good bartender but after I lost my day job at the end of last summer I had to start bartending every night to make ends meet (up to that point I bartend once a week for extra cash and free drinks) Dealing with the same drunk assholes day in and out sucked. Your friends can be even more anoying when yo let them get wasted for cheap then your run of the mill drunk assholes.

Cleaning up puke and the general bar grind at the end of the night and throwing out people who are acting like dickwads gets old real fast. And while a slow night may be easy it also means you didnt make much money.

Conclusion: Bartending sucks even though you are around beer

(I actually used to really like it before I had to do it 6 days a week)

[knightfan26917]

Wow ... I really don't know how some of you put in so many working hours. I have trouble with my 40. By the time I get home, I'm so damned tired, I don't want to do a darn thing ... and then I get frustrated for not accomplishing enough.

*rolls eyes*

Course, sadly, I have to remember that I have never and will never have the energy that others have. So, I tip my hat to those of you who can put in those hours ... and still survive.

Cory ... agreed about getting used to it. So many people I know have been laid off. In some ways, I feel a bit guilty for having a job that is stable (for now, anyway) ... yet, I also know how ruined I'd be if I didn't have the job or the health insurance.

It is scary out there....

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