With having multiple jobs comes multiple time-lines.
The key to this is being able to manage your workload in a way where you are always letting people know that you are “on it”, as well as making your multiple jobs as easy to manage as possible throughout your day.
The following are things, that I found that I needed to pin down to make sure I was always on top of everything:
Make sure you communicate to someone what you’re up to. This way if someone is questioning what you’re doing; XYZ will say “oh but they are working really hard on it, I’ve seen it myself”.
Sandwich in meetings at your other jobs so that you can also be active there. Often there will be times in your job where you don’t have to be online. Use this as an opportunity to check in with people at your other jobs.
Your desk set-up has to be perfect to allow you to do this seamlessly. This means a desk with multiple laptops and screens (these are often provided by the employers). Buy a KVM – a button that allows you to switch between computers while using the same mouse and keyboard (you will most likely be sent at least one set by one of your multiple employers).
From my own experience, I would recommend only have one job that is very high octane, where your attention is needed more than others – the other jobs can be administrative/writing/managing.
For me the following was how it worked out:
Job 1: was a very laid back job that I was quite senior in, this meant high pay little work.
Job 2: management based: making sure other people were on top of their tasks; also high paying, but very little actual input from my side – I quite enjoyed this
Job 3: task based: meet the deadline – low-mid pay; this is not my favourite type of job. I like being in leadership type roles, and this particular job was fairly junior, with no leadership requirements.
Job 4: management: again as long as the ball is in someone else’s court, you’re fine; mid-high paying
Job 5: Bit more hands on – requires meetings with international clients; but often have hours at a time where I have a lot of empty space because of the international timezones – can sandwich my other jobs in. Very high paying. I really like this role; I get paid well, I manage my time well, I have a leadership role.
Another thing that’s really important to figure out early on in your overemployed journey is to determine how long it ACTUALLY takes you to do the job at hand. Guess what, it’s NOT 9-5. You do not need 8 hours to do your job; it takes far less than that. But you need not tell your employer(s) this, and I would strongly recommend that you didn’t. You interviewed (possibly multiple times) for a job, they offered you the role based on your skills, qualifications – that is what they are paying you for. They are not paying you for your hours, but for the task you’re able to complete. Now if there’s a disconnect between management/corporate who think they need to give you x amount of time, but you know you only need x/2 or x/3 then let this be a secret you keep to yourself.
How long will it take you to do the task? – Really; give the time that your line manager gives you and add tax; give yourself another day. Your line manager will want you to do the work in the shortest amount of time possible, always. This is not really up to them, though, but more to do with you. Having an extra day to do something will not do anyone – let alone your employment – any harm at all.
The above allow you to manage expectations at prospective jobs appropriately: Provide deadlines early when YOU think it will be done, provide daily updates to let them know of any set backs that are not your fault.
I have countless times where I was given a two-week deadline for a task I knew I could do in 3 days. I used the entire time regardless. I won’t be given less salary for it. The manager was quite happy, the task was done, and I was still employed. Wins all round.
The best advice I gave myself at the start of my overemployment discovery was to stagger my start times. Every role has a “core hours” clause. This, at least in the UK, means that as long as you’re present or active in the hours of 10-4, the start and end times of your day are variable – I take this word as “up to you”. You wouldn’t be outside of your contract if you were doing so, and they cannot remove you or flag you up for having different start/end times at your role.
I have done this:
Start:
Job 1: 9am
Job 2: 9:15
Job 3: 9:30
Job 4: 9.45
Job 5: 10am – everyone is so lax here, because of the global nature of the company; everyone’s times are out of sync anyway
End:
Job 1: 2pm-4pm : purely because I was so senior in this role, and I was calling the shots on my staff (yes, I’m a firm believer in reaping what I sow, they also had this real flexibility. I would be a complete hypocrite if I asked my staff to constantly be present. I held the idea of; as long as you’re delivering the results, I don’t care if you’re delivering this from a hammock on the beach. I don’t need to see my staff, I just need the tasks done. Show me I can trust you, don’t tell me.)
Job 2: 5pm – literally 15 minutes do not matter, don’t beat yourself up about this
Job 3: 5pm – because the majority of the other junior staff would also log off at this time.
Job 4: 5pm – everyone clocked off at 4pm at this organisation. Nobody looked
Job 5: 5pm – international timezones mean I keep to my strict hours; they wouldn’t stay up until 12 midnight for me, neither will I.
I may have mentioned this before, I maintain my work/life balance because I won’t look back and be all hey I should have definitely worked more. No, I’d rather be outside. Obviously you have the odd occasion where a deadline is upcoming – this is more so for the high attention jobs; not the management jobs, nor the junior jobs. So it’s very much manageable. At least it has been for me.
See you at the next post.
Love and Laissez-Faire x