Working hours

Anything to do with the traditional world of get a degree, get a job as well as its alternatives
Lemon
Posts: 261
Joined: Sat May 30, 2015 2:29 am

Re: Working hours

Post by Lemon »

CL is Exactly right and certainly also true of the UK. Although there is a preference for full timers most places are so short if you push you can pretty much dictate terms if you don't mind where you do it. Or, work agency and DIY it.

I have plenty of colleagues who have done at least a few years of 6 months on/off (normally work long enough to take the desired holiday rather than a fix contract) or a variation. Obviously can't comment on the mainland.

As a trainee currently I have to work 48 hours on paper, more in reality. It sucks.

thrifty++
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sat May 23, 2015 3:46 pm

Re: Working hours

Post by thrifty++ »

Ok I am resurrecting this subject again as I have recently been asked by another company to do some work for them.

They found out about my side hustle and started asking questions. The work would probably be another 5 hours per week on average. So I will be doing probably an extra 10 hours a week for both clients. I am kind of exhausted thinking about it. But it will also be highly paid (and highly taxed) and would probably bring in another $10k/$11k after tax a year. Im going to meet with them to discuss it at least. It also another type of remote work I could do from anywhere in the world so I like that too. Building a little portfolio of remote work.

So I am tossing it up but also don't want to stress myself out with too much work or get unhealthy. I need to make time to eat well and exercise regularly.

Any thoughts on whether I should bang on ahead with it?

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Bankai
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:28 am

Re: Working hours

Post by Bankai »

Is it $10k for just the new gig? If yes, how does the hourly rate ($40 assuming 250 h per year) compare with your day job? If it's substancialy better (at least 50%) then you can consider it. If it's $10k for both gigs, it's not worth it.

Another factor to consider is how much money you already have. The more years of expenses you already saved, the less you need to trade time for money. With only one year of expenses saved I'd definitely do it, with more than 10 I'd stay clear.

Another thing to consider is how it will affect your savings and free time in percentages. If 5h per week represent 20% of your free time but the extra money will only add 10% to your annual savings, it doesn't make sense. If however your only losing 5% of your free time for 25% boost in savings, that's a good deal.

Ultimately though your health is most important and since you are stresses by just thinking about taking this extra job on, it seems to me it's not a good idea. Even if the numbers add up

classical_Liberal
Posts: 2283
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:05 am

Re: Working hours

Post by classical_Liberal »

Bankai wrote:
Tue Aug 06, 2019 4:30 am
Another factor to consider is how much money you already have. The more years of expenses you already saved, the less you need to trade time for money. With only one year of expenses saved I'd definitely do it, with more than 10 I'd stay clear.
Same concept, but framed differently. If you're already near 10 years of expenses, how close would the totality of this contract work come to covering all your expenses? Does it have the potential for more scalablity? Do you prefer it (and the side benefit(s) of location freedom, etc) to the institutional employment? Maybe you should consider quitting the FT work instead?

2Birds1Stone
Posts: 1596
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:20 am
Location: Earth

Re: Working hours

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

Personally I value time > money after you get to a certain income/NW.

Is what c_L mentioned a possibility? Would it improve your quality of life?

Personally my work hours have fluctuated a lot over my career. Per Seppia's comments on page one, I count commuting hours as work, this includes flights. I don't count free time on a weekend if on a work trip, as 99% of the time I enjoy it.

2010 - 2014, averaged ~45 hours a week with commuting time included. (retail management)
2015 - 2017, averaged ~50 hours a week with commuting time included. (inside sales/outside sales)
2018 - 2019, averaged ~30 hours a week with commuting time included. (outside sales, flexing that FU$)

BMF1102
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2018 5:26 pm

Re: Working hours

Post by BMF1102 »

I'm with 2birds I time > money.
I'm chiming in since you asked what everyone else's arrangements are. I generally work 7 days a week 12 hours a day with commutes of 10 minutes to an hour, for about 3-4 months every spring and fall. Sometimes it's only 6 days a week and perhaps up to a week off between jobs. For 2018 I worked approximately 1800 hours total but I had about 18 weeks with zero work and the remainder weeks not working full time were a day or 2 of work. I was off work from July through the middle of September.
I know what it's like trying to have a life outside of working 50-60 hours all year long as well. I far prefer my current arrangement.
I like the suggestion of perhaps replacing your "real" job with the side hustle, rounding up a couple more clients to make it lucrative but giving you more time to pursue what ever your heart desires.

CS
Posts: 709
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:24 pm

Re: Working hours

Post by CS »

Augustus wrote:
Tue Mar 19, 2019 8:41 pm
Personally I think it would be preferable to work full time for a few months, then take the rest of the year off.
From my experience doing both (for several years each), it is far more preferable to work full time for a short stretch of time than part-time year round. What's the use of having six weeks vacation and only working three days a week when you can never use the vacation because your boss is a jerk who hates part-timers?

More part-time problems:
-The employer deciding that they can choose *any* of the 24hours/7 days to place your work. Changing by week, or even day sometime. I quit one job when I was not allowed to say I had two set days off a week. Seriously. And they were surprised.
-Not fitting in with everyone else and getting picked on, intentionally or not (this happens less with full time occasional - I think people's minds fill in that you're always working like everyone else, just someplace else.)
- I personally have a hard time switching gears. My forty hours in a row are more productive than forty hours spread over two weeks.
- Stuck in one location to keep costs down since traveling weekly is expensive and wasteful in time, money, and mental stress.

But I hate others having control over me, so perhaps these are more issues for me than they would be for others.

Stahlmann
Posts: 1121
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2016 6:05 pm

Re: Working hours

Post by Stahlmann »

I'm gonna check what you do, because some posts look... depending on perspective... at least interesting.

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