When Drowning in Overtime Hours, Here's How to Stay Afloat

A good friend from college days told me about a recent dilemma. She's being offered so much overtime at her job in retail management that she's had to pull back on what she considers her real work, designing & creating hassle-free baby clothes. She'd just begun to experience some success in her new side business, selling at her local farmers' market, when an unexpected repair bill upset the balance. She feels like she should accept the extra hours but at the same time, resents the time they'd take away from her fledgling business.

The question of whether to work overtime (if there's a choice in the matter) always poses problems for those of us who have serious side businesses or activities. I haven't met anyone who's never felt the need for more money at some point. At times I've put in extra hours, often more than I've wanted, in order to pay off a bill or buy a big-expense item like a new computer. For some of my friends the "opportunity" for overtime never ends.

How do you set limits? And how do you keep slogging onward when you're discouraged because it seems like all you do is work, you miss practicing your art and worst of all, it feels like this particular stretch will never end?

Many years ago when I worked for an educational agency full-time while getting my freelance business off the ground, this was how I approached overtime:

• First, I decided to take extra hours only if I needed extra money for something specific. My regular earnings were enough to live on if I made thrifty choices. I'd noticed from observing friends in more highly paid industries that always having a lot of money didn't solve anything; high earners got used to certain amenities which then became necessities.
  
• When an actual need (such as new tires) or a justifiable expense (plane fare for family reunion or a desktop publishing program that would cut project times in half) came up, I calculated the amount I'd need to pay for it, then figure out how many extra hours I'd need to work for it. From there I could decide how many extra hours to accept.
• During overtime episodes I found it helpful to daily remind myself why I was doing this. A visual reminder such as a picture of what I was working for made it seem more real. And when the extra work was especially onerous, I'd count down the hours by crossing them off one by one in my calendar.
  
• After each spurt of overtime finished I immediately got the rest of my life, including writing & editing, back on track.
• If extra work came up when I didn't need the money or had a lot of freelance assignments, I turned it down. Among other things, this let my bosses and co-workers know that I was willing to go the extra mile some of the time but not every time. It insured that I didn't become the unofficial go-to person every time the office stayed open for an evening event. Precedents and expectations can be extremely difficult to change once they're in place.
• I always tried to keep the big picture in mind: while my day job provided an important service to the people who came to our agency, it was still only one part of life. The work I did at home provided an equally important service to my customers. I found that it helped to think of the job as one component of what some vocational counselors call Life Work. All the components need to work together.
  

It doesn't matter what you do during your off hours; if you're emotionally invested in it, it's important. Approaching overtime or extra-hours requests in a thoughtful way and using overtime earnings for a premeditated purpose may be the best way to show respect for yourself, your time and your work - all your work.