Being fully committed to and engaged in one job can itself be demanding and tiring. But, if your situation demands working two full time jobs either for financial reasons or for fast-tracking your career and giving your resume a boost, you should be well prepared. Solely having the skills to fulfil the responsibilities of a job isn’t enough. You need to be mentally prepared for investing yourself in something that requires your undivided attention from 9 to 5 every day (or whatever your work hours maybe).
Over and above, if you are considering working two full time jobs, then pat yourself on the back for it is no ordinary feat. You need to be able to master your schedule, confront every risk and shoulder every responsibility while also giving yourself the self-care you require for keeping up with such a routine. You will need pro-level scheduling and pre-planning to weather this storm, and in this article, we will help you figure out how you can ace job planning when you are about to commit yourself to two jobs.
Make Scheduling Your Key Strategy
If you must work two full time jobs, you will have to work on scheduling both your shifts as well as your sleep time, family time, etc. One of the ways to go about it is by looking for jobs with alternate work shifts. For example, one job may have a 9 to 5 work shift from Monday to Friday and the other 6 pm to 2 am.
This will allow you time to run errands, catch up with your friends and family twice a week. You can also ask for compressed workweeks. This means that instead of doing four 5-hour shifts a week, you can do two ten-hour shifts twice a week. However, this greatly depends on your employer and the field you are in. For example, medical and emergency services have the option of choosing compressed work weeks.
Don’t Sacrifice on Performance
Working two full time jobs can often mean that you blur the boundaries between your two jobs, hence putting yourself in a precarious and often obvious position of making mistakes. Hence, you must keep the two completely contained and focus on each at its respective workplace. Carrying take-home work to your next workplace is inviting trouble and mistakes which could jeopardise your position in both the companies.
If Possible, Telecommunicate or Freelance
There are jobs which don’t necessarily require you to be at the office during your working hours. As long as you are turning in your tasks and being respectful of your team’s work timings as well, it shouldn’t be difficult to negotiate such an arrangement with one of either employee. Working from home when you have to make calls and be online for your job can save time and money on the commute and allow you to finish up fast and catch up either on your other job or other rest. If possible, look for freelance opportunities that do not demand you to report to the office and ask for a certain number of working hours each week. The latter is also great when you are working two jobs as you can charge per hour, get to decide how many hours you put in, and also concentrate on your other job.
Be Mindful of Your Long-Term Health
Aside from job planning, you must also plan how you are going to distribute time with your friends and family, taking care of yourself, catching up on rest, and eating healthy. Many people tend to overlook the long-term impacts of over-exertion on the physical and mental health apart from the immediate exertion and tiredness. Make it a point to set aside time every week and check in on yourself and your loved ones. This will keep you feeling energised and fuelled to carry on with your demanding work schedule.
Conclusion
The benefits of working two full time jobs are manifold. Apart from the obvious beefing up of the bank balance, it also adds considerably to your resume and also shows that you aren’t averse to taking risks and are a thorough hard worker. But, to reap the benefits of two full time jobs, you must have proper job planning in place. Make it part of your schedule to give time to yourself, eat timely meals, get eight hours of sleep a day, and also spend time with your dear ones.
Hacks like taking public transport instead of driving, making a note of all your tasks for the day, making phone calls during breaks, etc can optimise the limited time you have. When you divide your work hours between the two jobs, remember that working anywhere over 80 hours over a week is likely to reduce your productivity, efficiency, common illnesses and also long-term chronic illness.
