Busy Week Ahead - Second Job Income

I might be a little scarce around here as I'm working evenings at one of my part time temp. jobs this week. It's theatre related, so I will be working 5:00 p.m. to about midnight each night. Since I'll be pretty busy, there might be a few less posts. Here is how I am leveraging my 40 hour regular job to allow me to work the part time job, and receive income from both:

I normally work slightly odd hours - 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.. I've been working this schedule for five or six years now and I just love it. It is one of the great non-monetary benefits of my job. However, I need to be at the theatre at 5:00 or so each night. Now, I could try to go into work at 8:00 a.m., take a half hour for lunch and leave at 4:30 (my boss would let me switch schedules for a week) and I have done this in the past, but I found it burned me out really quickly. Even just a week was rough - since I get out of 2nd job at midnight (or later) by the time I get home, relax and get to bed - I'm getting less than 6 hours of sleep. I don't function well that way! It is just part of my make up. I can do it for a day or two, but I found that by Friday and Saturday. when I had to be top of my game, I was exhausted, cranky and muddleheaded. Not a good condition for a job that requires concentration and the ability to work well with others!!

Fortunately, I get quite a bit of vacation time from my salaried job. Since I am perpetually low in funds, I won't be taking any trips in the near future so even with taking a few days off here and there for personal days and whatnot, I still have plenty left. I decided to use 20 of those hours this week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday I am working 10:00 -4:00, which will give me time to run home, change, eat something fast and head to the theatre. I am taking Thursday off completely. Why? Because that will give me a chance to get "caught up" on sleep, dishes, and laundry before the big weekend.

I have tried other variations on using vacation time for this work (I do it three times a year.) This will be the first time I try this out. I am hoping it will go smoothly. The advantage I have is that I will be getting my full 40 hour salary as normal and will be adding on the income from this other job. That part should work out nicely.

I also spent a fair amount of time this weekend doing some cooking in preparation for this week. I absolutely hate fast food - it isn't fast, it isn't cheap and it is barely food. When I head home from the office though, I won't have time for a lot of cooking. I will need to heat and eat. I made up a casserole, a low perishable salad, baked bread for sandwiches made with some leftover chicken, and have some veggies that just need reheating. That should keep me set through Thursday and then I can see what I will need for the weekend.

This may sound like a lot of work for one job, but really all it is is preparation. I love the 2nd job work, but I'm just not a kid anymore - 12-14 hour days are hard. By thinking ahead and making just a little extra effort I can make this fun - rather than a drain. The first year I did this I would speed out of work after working 8 hours, grab fast food on my way to the theatre, eat it in the car, rush into the theatre where I would change my clothes and then start working. At the end of the week I was totally wiped out. If it had to always be that way, I couldn't do it. This way though, I can - and not go insane in the process!


Photo of footlights by: routemaster_fan