Tech dad juggling two jobs with the help from his baby assistant
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Are you curious about what other people have been doing while working from home during the pandemic? It’s always interesting to find out about how people really spent their time, and not what they tell their bosses, family and friends.
At the early onset of the outbreak, we learned that there was a lot of alcohol consumption, eating, pot smoking and watching porn while quarantined.
About a year later, a study showed that people working from home are having sex, taking naps, dating, shopping online and doing side-hustles on company time. Around 50% of the respondents to the survey said that they’ve worked for another company while on the clock with their employer.
Last week a Wall Street Journal piece reported on a scintillating new remote work trend. It appears that “white-collar workers, in industries from tech to banking to insurance, say they have found a way to double their pay.” Their schtick is to “Work two full-time remote jobs.” Like Fight Club, the first rule for these folks is “don’t tell anyone,” and “don’t do too much work, either.”
The WSJ checked the workers’ offer letters, employment contracts, pay stubs and corporate emails to see if they were being honest. The dual-jobsters told the paper that they “earn a total of $200,000 to nearly $600,000 a year, including bonuses and stock.”
Outside of the office and watchful eyes of supervisors and nosey coworkers, the multi-jobbers “toggle between two laptops” and calendars. It’s almost a third or fourth job to juggle everything. You need to log into two meetings at once at times. Use time off from one job to work on projects for the other role. Navigate the never-ending Zoom meetings. Keep track of your LinkedIn profile. Remember who you are sending emails and texts to so as not to mix up people and send an important document to the wrong company executive.
The schemers say that they generally don’t put in more than 40-hours a week for both jobs. They are unrepentant. Post financial crisis, massive layoffs during the covid-19 outbreak, the lack of loyalty from large corporations and watching the billionaires mint more billions during the pandemic, they feel fine with playing the system too.
The genesis for some of these people was born from a site called Overemployed. The entertaining site fairly recently started and offers insider tips on how to carry out this game. If you are interested in trying it out, Overemployed suggests you possess these traits and experiences.
- A person with some moxie and risks taking; willing to be contrarian to the YOLO economy
- Has been with one of the companies and role for a couple of years now, and is reasonably competent and efficient with their work; ability to work smarter not harder
- Acquired some specialized skills, allowing them to land roles that let them set their own schedule, minimizing inbound meetings in at least one of the two jobs
- You should also have self-discipline, be a good communicator and have the ability to compartmentalize context switching.
Here are some of their highlights that the company says you need to succeed in holding down two or more jobs.
Don’t talk about working two remote jobs
The golden rule. First and foremost, don’t talk about working two remote jobs. Yes, even family outside your household. If you can’t keep that secret yourself, how do you expect others to do so that have no skin in the game? This is for your own protection. Most of the people that are found working two jobs are found from connections that share the same network.
Don’t fall in love with your jobs, specifically your second job
It is harder to make logical decisions when there is attachment. This attachment includes the role itself, the company brand on your resume, and coworkers. The more attached you are, the more you make emotional rather than rational choices.
Have a clear and focused goal
Go into two jobs with a goal, and operate off of that goal. Is it for financial freedom, is it to pay off a house or car? Being indecisive and losing focus of your goal is a recipe for anguish, burnout, and stress. Don’t start on this journey and not know why you are doing it.
Have an exit strategy
Having an exit strategy is complementary to having a focused goal. Things are not always going to turn out the way you want. Have an exit strategy when it doesn’t. It will save you a lot of mental anguish having your exit routes all planned out. Know when to get out, know what you want (goal), and have a plan when things do not go as you planned.
Be Average
Don’t cause attention. Try not to be recognized. Don’t add more work for yourself. Think about work dynamics from your experience. The more attention you cause more to yourself the more people will remember you. Going back to rule 1, you don’t want people talking about you and tripping on a common connection to your other job.
Live to work another day
Taking a book from Trading Psychology. The rule here is “survive” to work another day. Do your work, meet expectations, don’t do extra, and don’t get terminated. Need I say, “another day another dollar” or “another day 2x the dollars in our case”.
Although this sounds wild, many people have already been doing this in other ways for years. Think of working parents who have to also tend to childcare and sic relatives. Low-wage workers have been forced for decades to handle two or three part time jobs to make ends meet. Unable to secure permanent full time jobs, many Americans had to take on multiple gig-economy jobs driving Ubers, delivering food via DoorDash or shopping for others at supermarkets through Instacart. This latest trend is a white-collar, primarily tech-centered, spin on trying to bring in an extra income.
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