How is the new job and schedule going?
Frankly, harder than I had anticipated.
The new job itself is going well. Nice people, good project, engaging work. Lots and lots of engaging work - in short, lots of forward momentum in my area got cut short when the department essentially all left, so there is a lot to catch up on. The bright side is that the days really fly now instead of dragging. I look up once and it is noon; I look up again and it is time to go home. Plus, they provide snacks.
The contrast between working at a company that has forward momentum and a company that is effectively dead is stunning - you forget that such a difference exists until you change companies. Suddenly everyone is excited - maybe not always for the best of reasons - and there is a flurry of activity. One almost forget what anticipation of a success was actually like.
That said, it has added another hour or so to my day due to the commute. The commute itself is not an issue as it is fairly benign and gets me a chance to catch up on listening to things, but it is time that I used to have.
The balancing act is really with working my other job.
On any given week now I work two to four days there. During the week, my shifts can be Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1700 to 2000. To hit this time, I have to leave my first job at 1630, drive 15 minutes, change in the car, and work. I will get home around 2020 or so in the evening, followed by a quick bite, some kind of relaxing, and then to bed. On Saturdays, my shift will be 1330 to 2000.
What that has all played itself out to is that - in its most busy form - I will be either at work or at Iaijutsu six nights a week. It always tends to compress my sleep time, which tends to compress my free time.
This has not been an ideal outcome, but it is the outcome that is.
Is the second job helping? It is. But oddly enough (I say oddly - this was a predictable outcome) there is no desire on my part to spend any of it. Part of it is what would I spend it on when I am already a bit short on free time; the other is that given the state of things, I am wise not to spend it at all.
I keep working to parse down what I am doing and spend my time more wisely. I will say that having this much less free time (ah, those times earlier this year when I thought I was "bored") focuses the mind wonderfully. It also has the very real outcome that less can be done.
The thing I keep reminding myself is that this adjustment would have to made sooner or later. And I am still miles ahead of people who are under significant financial stress and having to do this sort of thing.
It is hard, in a way, to "go back", pick up, and move forward. I am only a month or so into this adjustment and am trying to be patient with myself as I continue to struggle to adjust. Better to harden myself now for the future though, rather than to pretend somehow I cannot do this sort of thing.
Flexibility and the ability to work hard at whatever one does is not a guarantor of success - but it does at least move one in the right direction.
I love these updates because you share your inner mental workings. I always appreciate how you analyze any given situation and keep it in perspective. I don't know if that skill comes naturally for you, or if you've worked to cultivate it, but it's extremely useful (in other words, it's too bad more people can't do it.)
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting, is that I've been mulling over the topic of balance myself. I'm working on a blog post on it to hopefully get up in a couple of days. Perhaps, periodically, it's just a good thing to do.
I really appreciate that Leigh - To be honest, sometimes I feel posts like this are more just me grumbling, thinking out loud and muttering to myself, or (frankly) things that are really self evident to everyone and I am just missing the boat.
DeleteI am going to guess that this is a skill that I have had to cultivate - when I was younger, I cannot remember having any sense of being able to put things in perspective (things were either great or awful with no middle ground).
I think it is a good thing to do, periodically. This "life change" thing has been a good but unexpected opportunity to do it for me.
Great update and very promising.
ReplyDeleteSweat now so we don't bleed (as much) later.
ERJ, thank you. Honestly, sometimes I feel sorry for myself, but then realize that a great many more people have had to make far more difficult changes and persevere through. This is a relatively mild adjustment (if for no other reason because there is climate control at both locations).
DeleteTwo jobs taking up more of your time really can focus what's important to you and the extra $$$ helps. Change always requires a period of adjustment. Oh......watch the snacks, they are the enemy of the waistline, ask me how I know.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, that is exactly what I am finding out. Time when I am not working now comes with the question "What should I really be doing now?" There is no "time to be wasted", only time to be spent - even if it is in something relatively benign and "wasteful".
DeleteSnacks - I have to police myself, but having a part time job where I am on my feet and moving seems to be helping.
Forward momentum versus effectively dead.
ReplyDeleteI rarely experienced the forward momentum part of my work career(s) and in the next go around of life I will try to avoid being in dying skills.
The work-life balance seems always tilted more to the work side, and as you spend the majority of your woke time doing work things, the time spent away from work becomes even more precious.
John - I struggle with forward momentum, or at least feel like I do (a lot). I will say that, interestingly enough, a lot of skills I learned long ago - customer service, stocking, just being a decent employee - are far more applicable in my part-time job than all of my years of "job" experience.
DeleteTo your point, I have never heard anyone say their work-life balance was too much tilted toward "life".
Wow. That is something I haven't heard of in a while. Keeping the second job... Well done. As long the missus remembers what you look like, and still allows you in the door.... Like Leigh, I appreciate the inner conversation you write about.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a younger man, my favorite employer said he was going to be out of town all summer. I'd better find something else to do. I got a job cleaning a 5 story bank building at night. (Custodial work is a bit cleaner than mucking out the hog market. I've done both.) Then, my fe changed his mind and started building a car port, storage building, traveling beam crane. I got to work at 0800 for that, ran back home at 1700 for a snack, then off to work at the bank till 2200. Made for a fast summer at college that year...
STxAR - Your comment makes me think. I do not know a lot of people in my situation or circle of acquaintances that have a second job, or at least a second job I know about (to be fair, I really do not talk about it except here). I am sure in many cases it is due to the fact that the first job is all consuming (mine could be, but I am trying to reign it in). I also wonder if we as a society have gotten use to the idea of single job situation (I certainly did, before Hammerfall 2.0. I should have paid more attention). Interestingly in speaking with the coworkers in my area (who are younger), they have multiple jobs. Perhaps the two job shuffle is more of a young person's game.
DeleteI have put in a request to scale back my hours a bit; I find that I need more than one evening off. As long as it is a 4.5 hour shift it does not impact my earning that much, but the extra evening to catch up on my own life would be welcomed.
I have always admired those who could hold down two jobs. I am not one of them. For me, the handful of hours I am not working or sleeping are so precious that spending them working for someone else is inconceivable. I think I would burn out in short order.
ReplyDeleteEd, I am working to find some sort of balance. That said, one seems to adapt to it, as with other things in life.
DeleteI admire your attitude, TB. I'm also glad that you have such a better work situation than the one you left (or that left you). FWIW, Nylon12's comment is exactly where my mind went when I heard one of your work places provides snacks. lol
ReplyDeleteBecki, the work atmosphere is so much different than before - busy, yes, but different.
DeleteThe snacks are indeed a hazard.