I’m an ‘overworker’ and have 3 FT jobs - AMA

[SallyGs]

Ive had a few people now mention on the careers topic to do an AMA so am taking the plunge.

An overworker is someone who holds multiple full time roles at the same time. Started in the US and became big during COVID - for obvious reasons as it’s pretty much impossible to do with non remote work.

I currently have 3 full time jobs, at my peak I had 5 during 2020. And am working towards buying a rental property with my additional income.

So for anyone who has wondered about it or are interested in trying it themselves - AMA

So interesting to see how people are desperate to disbelieve this. I could definitely do this in my job! I only have the one job but am currently in a teams meeting with myself!

OP - have you had any close calls or issues before, where you’re needed in multiple places at once?

I also don’t use recruiters, I’m typically head hunted directly

Really - someone is approaching someone in a senior £120k job and offering them a a much lower 35k roll? Hmmmmm

‘Head hunted directly’ 🤣

I bet you are.

Bitter.com over here

Your title is missleading:
You are an underworker.....being paid in 3 roles where there is an acceptance (at least by you) of your delivery of 1-2 hours of actual work per day per role.

I would argue that an over worker is someone who delivers for all their hours of employment and some. Usually but not always for minimal reward (seeing you all the HCAs, cleaners, teachers, TAs etc)

Honestly I don’t believe a word of it. Absolute tosh.

Never said I was head hunted for my secondary roles.

goodness me, reading comprehension is low today

Unfortunately many on here struggle to see beyond their own world view.

I love the solo teams meeting tick!

I wouldn’t get worked up about this, because I doubt that any of this is real. The name change slip up on page 1 was quite telling.

So how are you getting the sub jobs if you aren't headhunted and you aren't using recruiters? According to you posts you aren't job hopping in your primary so where does the 'mostly headhunted' actually come into play?

Good for you, OP. I'm curious about your routine abs your strategies to be so productive. I'd love to be able to focus more intently at work. What are your top tips?

People are telling the OP that she’s dishonest and have no integrity like she cares, she doesn’t! And I wouldn’t either! It’s a dog eat, dog world and if you want to be 100% loyal to a company that doesn’t care about you, then go ahead. Not everyone feels the same.

My cousin does something similar OP. She has a very serious job with a HA and does another full time role which is WFH. I have no clue how she does it so hats off to both of you. I hope you can string it out for as long as possible.

My only question is, what made you get an additional job in the first place? Did you do it for additional money or did you realise that you were probably able to get away with it?

Its fine to not care (well.... ) but the sticking point as I see it, is the OP cannot admit they are dishonest, and a bit scummy

I totally believe this and am quite impressed. The more senior you get, the more you are consulting than actually doing. If anything just surprised you don't need to do more in the more junior roles that normally have more oversight.

Plus most marketing people I know are trapped in endless meetings so amazed you get out of that.

So interesting to see how people are desperate to disbelieve this.

I don’t believe it because it’s literally incredible. It’s the embellishments like never having had a job from age 18 that takes up much time, industry awards and 5x bonus. Could someone have multiple jobs? Yes. But the overall picture here is too extreme to be believable. Add in the tone of the op’s replies, relishing whipping up everyone’s righteous indignation and envy…

For those doubting it- there is a whole subreddit dedicated to it, it’s called ‘overemployed’.

What name change? Weird post

I am a little bit in this position with 2 PAYE jobs & then some self employ contracts that take me to over 1.0FTE. It's not a secret though, no one thinks they own 100% of my time (although no one knows just how much time everyone else should have ).

So I guess my questions are more about can you share tips for success?

How do you not get stressed / worried about not giving each job everything it needs?

How do you manage your diary? I have several emails & calendars and find it difficult sometimes.

Can you mentally switch tasks quite quickly? I sometimes struggle to remember where I was with one thing having done something else totally different in the middle.

By applying direct

Have you genuinely never heard of the concept? Of companies listing their own roles?

I have hopped in the primary in the past, and if I lost that role (hence why context is key) I’d be able to find another primary role pretty easily. I’ve had 4 head hunting messages in the past week and a half on LinkedIn, I’ll be fine

What’s your specialism?

The PP to whom you replied you were headhunted (then backed away from that claim and said you applied direct) had clarified that by recruiters she wasn't referring to recruitment agencies but hiring staff. You might want to take a moment out of you not too busy schedules to check your reading comprehension.

How to not get stressed - I think for me it comes from genuinely not worrying anymore. If one catches on, I can get another. Also getting a routine in place to ensure you feel secure is really my top tip.

I have a primary diary on my personal phone, I sync all my work calendars (easy since they’re all using outlook) and use that to make sure there are no clashes. If there are clashes I have a pretty standard mental system of how to decide who ‘wins’ and the primary role always comes first

I can mentally switch tasks very easily, tbh sometimes a bit too easily as I struggle to focus for too long, so this way of working has really helped me maximise my time.

It also helps my two secondary roles are very similar, I do the same tasks for each So it’s more like switching clients than switching roles for those.

OP has already said,

The others yes I do a lot less hours than contracted, but I get paid still so meh

Two have clauses about declaring outside work. I just don’t declare them

and more. It’s very clear that she knows she’s being dishonest in order to work 3 different roles. You think she’s scummy and I think she’s great. We can all have opinions

Aren’t you at risk of being taken to court for fraud and breach of contract? It could be a mighty mistake if the judge upheld the complaint and made you pay all the unworked hours back! Might want to make an example of you.

Daily Mail will be along any minute turning this into a story so you better watch out!

I do have ADHD so might be a bit biased in that I really find it beneficial to be able to switch tasks frequently in the day. So this method has actually improved my overall working ability I’d say instead of making it worse.

I work based on ‘focus’ time, I do all my tasks in 20 minute bursts, if a task can’t be done in 20 mins I split it and plan it in to ensure I can maximise my time. I find it easier to focus for 20 mins than sit there with brain fog for hours getting a large and time consuming task completed.

Since it benefits me though I do push myself to do 90% of any task within 20 mins. I set aside 2 x 20min focus periods each day for email responses (one at the start of each day and the other 2 hours before the end of the day) across all roles, I also keep most meetings to 20 mins as well where possible.