I was thinking the other day as a person was saying how he worked so much overtime this month that he will be getting a healthy paycheque. For the most part he seemed like he was going to spend it on some luxury items. That made me think of the contrast on how some people view overtime as an essential part of their income where they rely on this extra pay to maintain their current lifestyle. While it sounds crazy, would that actually be better financially than saying working two jobs with the extreme case being you work say 9 to 5 at one place and then a graveyard right after with another company?
In that case it sounds better to just work overtime at one job. However, with that said it’s not like most companies want to work people overtime as the cost can add up. So stability wise that wouldn’t be a good idea for the worker. I personally have always treated overtime as simply having to stay to get the job done due to circumstances such as other people not showing up. With that extra money I have always saved it up to invest in something that would help make my life easier or allow me to do side projects. For example, early on I used it to buy my own computer.
Some people dread overtime and just want to get out as quick as possible. I have been fortunate enough where for most of the jobs I have worked in I actually enjoyed them where I wouldn’t mind working for a long time as I was passionate about it. A lot of the overtime as a result wasn’t from me working say a sixteen-hour day versus working on what should have been my days off to fill in for others. Perhaps that’s a key too where if you find something you enjoy eventually you will end up making more due to being more open to the opportunities when they present themselves.