J1, J2, J3.....Wild Wild World Of Over Employed

I was hanging out at my local watering hole Millie’s in Washington DC and chatting with the bartender who had multiple jobs. At the time I had three jobs, although none of these were lucrative, and was stressed out about juggling three positions. He suggested the subreddit over-employed at r/overemployed for tips on managing J1, J2 and J3.

Alternatively, this subreddit could be titled: ‘my job loves me but I don’t love it back’. 

A website dedicated to the over-employed offers 12 rules for success.

1. Don’t Talk About Working Two Remote Jobs

The golden rule. First and foremost, don’t talk about working two remote jobs, not even with family members outside of your household. If you can’t keep a secret to yourself, how can you expect others to do the same when they’ve no skin in the game? We made this rule for your own protection. Most who got caught working two jobs were because of a shared connection inside their network. Remember, loose lips sink ships.

Here’s a prime example from the New York Times, and why you should never tell anyone, ever. Not even your dog. Ok, we went too far there. But you get the point.

2. Don’t Fall In Love (with your second burner job)

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. For example, decisions you might make on what job you want to show on your LinkedIn, whether to leave the job, or whether to stay. You want to be deliberate in your career story and how each job will fit (or not) into your timeline. If you start off with a 2nd job for money and then want to list it on your resume for the brand name, you’re not going to have a good time.

3. Do Your Own Research (DYOR)

No one has skin in the game more than you. As you’re considering Overemployed, filter the signal from the noise, and watch out for confirmation bias (rationalizing to reinforce how you feel). People will give you advice based on their own experiences. And everyone will think they’re right. This includes what you read on this website. It’s always better to have more inputs, but don’t go paralysis by analysis. You should have already done your own research. Now ask hard questions no one else is asking to see if you have missed anything.

4. Have A Clearly Defined Goal

Go into two jobs with a goal and operate off of that goal. Is it early financial freedom? To pay off some debt and buy a house? Being indecisive and losing focus is a recipe for anguish, burnout, and stress. The greatest tragedy is you let lifestyle creep lock you into working two jobs indefinitely. Ouch.

Don’t start this journey without knowing why you are doing it in the first place. Remember (sic) yourself of this goal every day.

5. 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. Having an exit strategy helps you stay ahead and save you from a lot of stress, like when a co-worker is about to rat you out. It will help you stay calm and composed as the juggling act is about to blow up.

6. Get What You Want By Giving People What They Want

Success in two jobs is all about perception. If you feed into people’s perception of what they want from you, you’re more likely to get what you want from them. It may be the job, a promotion, or in our case, keeping the job. Act, say, and do things with purpose and give people what they want so you can get what you want from them.

7. 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 bring 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.

8. Take Care Of Yourself First

No matter what, you should prioritize your health. If the pandemic has shown us one thing, it is that life is full of unknowns. Know the reason why you decided to do two WFH jobs. Is it for money? Happiness? What is happiness? It’s all worthless if we do not take care of ourselves to enjoy the outcome. It’s important to always remind yourself of the tradeoffs of the why and what you are doing.

PS — the subreddit has 127,000 members who are mostly men and employed in the tech sector. Two of my three jobs were my own projects and done post-working hours and weekends.