Working 6-7 days a week?

SecondStar

Looking for some advice and/or anecdotes from people who have worked 6-7 days a week, either for a short period of time, or for an on-going length of time.

I’m a very junior civil servant, and work 38 hours Monday - Friday. 2 days at home, 3 days in the office. My job can be mentally taxing, but it’s also something I can stop and forget about when I close my laptop at the end of the day.

On my 2 at home days, I work 7:45 - 15:45; on my 3 office days I’ll leave the house at 7:45 to catch the train and arrive at the office at 8:45, I’ll leave at 17:00 and arrive in my front door around 18:00.

I am considering splitting up with my partner, and while it wouldn’t be impossible to manage on my single salary, it would be very uncomfortable, with <£100 left each month after essential bills and expenses. I’m applying for different roles, training, and promotions within the civil service, but there are no guaranteed pay rises or promotions lined up that I can rely on.

I was considering applying for weekend retail positions, maybe 6-12 hours a week, to boost my income.

I can’t deny that I need the extra income right now, but I was interested to hear from people who have experienced working similar patterns as to how difficult it might be?

MovingForwards

I worked about 36h in an office job and had an evening/ weekend retail one. It started off as 2 shifts a week and I'd snap up the overtime, if additional shifts became available on a permanent basis I took them on, bumping me to 4 shifts plus O/T.

It was fine after getting used to being on my feet and buying suitable footwear, I had a good crew, only left due to changing my daytime role as I wouldn't have got back in time; longer hours in my day job and a long commute.

Now is the perfect time to grab something!

TELLIT01

Don't forget that you will need to get permission from management where you are working for the Civil Service before you take on a second job.  On the basic question, I would start by working one additional day as you do still need downtime.

SecondStar

MovingForwards said:

I worked about 36h in an office job and had an evening/ weekend retail one. It started off as 2 shifts a week and I'd snap up the overtime, if additional shifts became available on a permanent basis I took them on, bumping me to 4 shifts plus O/T.

It was fine after getting used to being on my feet and buying suitable footwear, I had a good crew, only left due to changing my daytime role as I wouldn't have got back in time; longer hours in my day job and a long commute.

Now is the perfect time to grab something!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Roughly how many hours did you find you were working each week? Did you feel you were still able to keep on top of ‘life admin’ stuff, and fun things, or did it feel like just work all the time?

SecondStar

TELLIT01 said:

Don't forget that you will need to get permission from management where you are working for the Civil Service before you take on a second job.  On the basic question, I would start by working one additional day as you do still need downtime.

Appreciate the input, thank you!

Yes I’d speak with my manager, but given how many other people in our department also have second retail, hospitality, or self-employed jobs, I can’t see that being a problem.

1 day might be more realistic, and would still bring in an extra couple of hundred a month.

diystarter7

SecondStar said:

Looking for some advice and/or anecdotes from people who have worked 6-7 days a week, either for a short period of time, or for an on-going length of time.

I’m a very junior civil servant, and work 38 hours Monday - Friday. 2 days at home, 3 days in the office. My job can be mentally taxing, but it’s also something I can stop and forget about when I close my laptop at the end of the day.

On my 2 at home days, I work 7:45 - 15:45; on my 3 office days I’ll leave the house at 7:45 to catch the train and arrive at the office at 8:45, I’ll leave at 17:00 and arrive in my front door around 18:00.

I am considering splitting up with my partner, and while it wouldn’t be impossible to manage on my single salary, it would be very uncomfortable, with <£100 left each month after essential bills and expenses. I’m applying for different roles, training, and promotions within the civil service, but there are no guaranteed pay rises or promotions lined up that I can rely on.

I was considering applying for weekend retail positions, maybe 6-12 hours a week, to boost my income.

I can’t deny that I need the extra income right now, but I was interested to hear from people who have experienced working similar patterns as to how difficult it might be?

OP, please look at it like this and I and my OH worked at least 6 days a week for some years and hours all over the place.

If needs be, needs need to be met. Where there is a will, there is a way. 6 days is no big deal. aim for a job that pays the highest rates, best hours and the closer to your place the better.

Re the hundred quid, that is nothing, please have decent savings for the rainy days EG if you are sick, twist an ankle, lose your job, car/boiler breaks down/etc/etc.

Good luck

SecondStar

diystarter7 said:

SecondStar said:

Looking for some advice and/or anecdotes from people who have worked 6-7 days a week, either for a short period of time, or for an on-going length of time.

I’m a very junior civil servant, and work 38 hours Monday - Friday. 2 days at home, 3 days in the office. My job can be mentally taxing, but it’s also something I can stop and forget about when I close my laptop at the end of the day.

On my 2 at home days, I work 7:45 - 15:45; on my 3 office days I’ll leave the house at 7:45 to catch the train and arrive at the office at 8:45, I’ll leave at 17:00 and arrive in my front door around 18:00.

I am considering splitting up with my partner, and while it wouldn’t be impossible to manage on my single salary, it would be very uncomfortable, with <£100 left each month after essential bills and expenses. I’m applying for different roles, training, and promotions within the civil service, but there are no guaranteed pay rises or promotions lined up that I can rely on.

I was considering applying for weekend retail positions, maybe 6-12 hours a week, to boost my income.

I can’t deny that I need the extra income right now, but I was interested to hear from people who have experienced working similar patterns as to how difficult it might be?

OP, please look at it like this and I and my OH worked at least 6 days a week for some years and hours all over the place.

If needs be, needs need to be met. Where there is a will, there is a way. 6 days is no big deal. aim for a job that pays the highest rates, best hours and the closer to your place the better.

Re the hundred quid, that is nothing, please have decent savings for the rainy days EG if you are sick, twist an ankle, lose your job, car/boiler breaks down/etc/etc.

Good luck

Thank you, I really appreciate it!

In short, my head is all over the place at the moment.

I don’t know if I *want* to split up with my partner, or if I’m just too scared to leave because of uncertainty about money, and expenses, and housing.

I’m weighing up a lot of different options around housing at the moment, but whatever option I look at, the crux of the whole matter is that I only, barely, earn enough in my 1 job to cover essential bills & expenses.

Having <£100 left after essential bills and expenses is terrifying, but I also don’t want money to stand in the way of me leaving, if that’s what I actually, deep in my heart, want to do.

So I suppose, working at least 6 days a week wouldn’t be all that bad, if it would give me more of a buffer each month. At least until I’m able to get slightly higher up the ladder in my civil service role, and add a couple more grand to my salary.

MovingForwards

I think it was 12 hours pw to start with, plus o/t, by the time I left it was about 24h pw plus o/t. I still had time to do things.

My 2nd job was fun, spent each shift laughing and joking while working therefore it never felt like hard work, long days etc.

Jude57

Like others I've worked 38 hours at my full-time job and evenings or weekends to top up income. I found working evenings somehow easier than doing a full Saturday or Sunday. As to personal admin. or a social life, I was too exhausted to do either after a while! You're in a better position because with hybrid working you at least have a couple of days without a commute. And of course, factor in the commute/ expenses of any second job. 

As far as your relationship is concerned, of course only you can decide whether to stay or go. Perhaps think about what it would take to make you stay and think about whether that's going to happen. If it would take a major change, is it realistically EVER going to happen?

If you decide to leave, you could think about a flat or house share, which is likely to be somewhat cheaper than a flat by yourself. Or think about a two bedroomed flat where you could have a lodger (with the landlord's permission) to help with costs. If you decide to do this, have a look at the Buying, Selling and Renting board here for advice on how to avoid any pitfalls. 

If you do end up working 6 days a week, I'd put a limit on it, say, a year at most. It's my experience that we can all push ourselves to do things we'd really rather not have to do if there's an end in sight. For you, that end could be building a savings pot, completing the training or gaining the experience you need to get that promotion. If, after a year, you're happy doing 6 days or whatever, then of course continue if you like, but just having an end date worked for me.

stinky_daddy

Adding my tuppence for what it's worth.

I work Mon - Fri in an office environment (37.5hrs)
I also work both days on a weekend (24 hrs), with the benefit of having unplanned days off with only giving them a short notice (if possible I try to give them at least 2 weeks' notice of me being unavailable, however, this isn't always possible, if it is illness or something that happens fairly quickly, such as a problem with the family).

So total time worked is 61.5 hrs (this obviously doesn't factor in travel time although it is no more than 15mins each way from my main job and about 5mins from my second job).

I have plenty of downtime in the week evenings as I start / finish early during the week, so plenty of time to decompress.

As long, as you are prepared to forego the weekends (as going out on a Saturday night when you know you have a shift on the Sunday is not appealing (certainly not to me anyway)) so generally, I get in on a Saturday after the shift, eat and then unwind for a few hours and then go to bed as I have to get up early for the Sunday shift - it might well be different for you of course.

s_d

gwynlas

I worked 6-7 days a week starting whilst I was at school, then college then HMRC in total seven years and my second job was weekends in an hotel where I could clock up 25-30 hours from 6pm on a Friday. Come to think about it I had a bar job of 3 shifts on top of my NHS role later. It is fine for a while and the different enviroments mean it is not like working extra hours in your main role in fact at ertain times I would prefer to be behind a bar rather than in front of one. However do not neglrct the passive income you can receive tax free from renting out a room/