A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Coping with 2 jobs - how do you all do it? - sm

Posted: Nov 04, 2009

Have managed to schedule myself for 64 hours a week, spread out so it can be done and still have supper with family, but..... Already feeling like I don't have a minute to call my own.

The second job I took on is a company that has NUMEROUS posts about people running out of work. I thought, what the heck, I really didn't want to work 24 hours a week on a PT job anyway. Well, guess what - I got the lucky area that has plenty of work.

Then to make matters more complicated my main job is offering OT on most of the accounts I do with them. So tempting to quit PT and pick up the OT, but have done that before and the OT doesn't last long.

So much of the time work is slim and we have to flex, I should feel lucky to have the complaint of too much work right now.

I know many of you work this many hours per week and survive. Tips please... Maybe 10 more years until retirement, too old to retrain careers.

TIA

I work FT for an MTSO and then have an - ht

[ In Reply To ..]
IC job with a small MTSO. With the 2nd job, I work when I want, therefore I can take off from it when the other is offering OT. I work 40 hours for the FT, and then proably average 10 hours a week with the IC job, working 1-1/2 hours a couple of nights a week and then the rest on Sat. morning and Sunday afternoons--IF I feel like it. I am one of the lucky one with an actual, real IC job that lets me dictate when I want to work.

Me too... I have a real IC job. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I have 2 accounts on my own and then I work for an online company and take as little or as much as I want. These companies are few and far between. There are never any openings. It just flows that well. The MTs all love it.

As far as tips: I would not worry about OT for your first company. As the 2nd company for more flexibility in scheduling or line counts, etc. If you have been there a while, they would probably be happy to work with that.

I don't have much a minute to myself either, but I make that minute or it would never happen.

It's also good to take breaks.

Coping with 2 jobs - Pauline

[ In Reply To ..]

Been there, done that. I do not have small children at home for one thing, but 2 grandchildren stay with me for about 3 hours after school til Mom picks them up after work. I used to have a hospital job that was 40 hours per week, plus I did 15-20 hours for a PT company. Basically I just let my house go, husband did not like not having supper on the table and having to get fast food a lot or I would put in a crock pot. He would comment, do you want me to bring your food to your jail cell. That is what it felt like, but we needed the money and it did come in hand to pay bills and buy food without having to struggle and watch my money when I went to the store. It did get the best of me though. I had no social life and I still do not. Well lost my hospital job to outsource company, now working more than 40 hours a week just to get the line count in, lost my PT MT job because that hospital decided not to send work out anymore. I used to make good money, hospital job paid almost $16 an hour plus incentive, made about $500 a month off PT job. Now my pay went from about $42,000 down to about $20,000 by years end and it has been that way for over a year now. Makes me sick, depressing and so broke now. I am just barely making enough money to stay afloat. Things do not look good for MTs here lately and I still feel that most of my work is going overseas. I just keep looking. I think though as some of my MT friends feel they are just tired of looking and trying to find anything and are just burnt out on the whole thing. It is my feeling that grab every dollar you can while you can because I thought mine would last for a longtime, but it was gone in a second. I feel like I am just like a newbie out of school now. I try to do whatever it takes to keep my insurance benefits with the place I am now. There is no perfect job anymore. I love this type of work, but if I were younger I would have went into a different field for sure. Best of luck. I have done this for over 30 years.

Used to work 2 or more jobs years ago when the money was good - L

[ In Reply To ..]
I made really good money then. I wanted to have what I wanted, nice vacations, giving the children what they needed, etc. I am now to where I am not working 2 jobs anymore and if I had to with the way pay has dropped, probably could not make it on 2 with endless hours per week. This work takes too much from a MT to drop the pay like it has been. Before long people are going to strike, don't know when but the pay cannot just keeping going down and having people to stay.

2 jobs--Pauline - nicki

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you Pauline for the truth. It is surely lacking in MT field nowadays with the services. Cherry picking, all foreign doctors and nothing extra and cheating at 7 cents. I have been in your
boat too!! I feel like now we are those slaves down in the bottom of the boat with the big guy whipping us. I too worked over 40 years and we covered the entire Medical Records departments. Now we were all sold out to the cheating services and nobody cares. I feel the same. There was no time to even use the incentives for schooling. I loved the challenge of the hospital work and eventually you caught on. Now, it does not pay as you are let go. I did not feel I could be a nurse but now having been exposed to so many people who don't care, I wish I knew then what I know now. Patch Adams should have hospitals all over the US, maybe we'd all be job guaranteed!!??

2 jobs - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I have one full-time and one part-time job. I easily get in more than my required lph with my full-time position and so, I scheduled my part-time job split with 2 hours at the start and 2 hour towards the end of my full-time shift hours. I just go back and forth between the two during those times. I've never had a problem doing it this way with either job. As well, when one is low on work during my double-time hours, I can just work at the other one and get in those missing lines there. My supervisor(s) have told me this is not a problem as long as I get my lines in.

At first I tried working two totally different shifts for each, but I just felt too stressed out all the time. I too was able to eat dinner with my family and spend some additional time with them. However, after a while, those additional 24 hours simply wore me out.

I don't know if working 2 jobs at the same time would work out for every MTSO, but I've been lucky enough to work for MTSOs that are all about the lines and nothing else. However, I have been told if I don't get my lph in, I would have to change the situation. So far so good....knock on wood.

How on earth can you type 12 hours a day?! My hands kill me - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
after a few hours. I just can't do it anymore.

12 hours - sm

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I only type 8 hours a day. I do double-duty the first 2 and last 2 hours of my 8 hour shift.

3 jobs at least - 7DayMT

[ In Reply To ..]
and no time for living,, but need money.
I have myself scheduled most of the hours from 6 am to 12 am every day of the week. I have 2 full time jobs that have lots of work. One of them I work 4 days a week including boht weekends. The other I work 5 days, mostly weekdays. I also have M-F part time job which usually has enough work. Also have another PT job but there appears to be little steady work so won't stay. Used to work for one company, at a good line rate, and could work as much as I wanted to make what I needed - no longer the case.

how do you stay focused and motivated? - MT20

[ In Reply To ..]
xxx

focus - 7DayMT

[ In Reply To ..]
because I need the money.. I think about what won't be in my bank account if I don't work hard.. and what I will not be able to pay for. and.. my son likes to eat... quite a bit.. he is a teenager. The rent is pretty high where I live.

It helps a bit to have multiple jobs. like a change of scenery.

Hope in a few years to do something else.. when my son goes to college maybe I will go back too. I like MT, but it's something to look forward to. I'm tired of staying home all the time.

All the same, difficult to keep it up constantly.

2 jobs - Stephanie

[ In Reply To ..]
I love working at home and have done it very well for years at home. I really have no desire to work at a job outside of the home. I also keep in mind all the costs associated with going to and fro as well as the fact that no job is secure. What I do not appreciate, however, is that a lot of companies seem to want to jerk MTs around. That pisses me off as I love what I do and the unneeded aggravation takes away from that.

I just tape my monthly bills all around my monitor. - IAMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Real motivating;-) I date these, batch them by the week and payperiod, pull them off and pay them. Kinda gratifying to accomplish this monthly these days. If there is anything left over, I get to treat myself to a little something, usually a real little something.

LOL! nm - flybye

[ In Reply To ..]
too funny!

I enjoyed your time management and inspiring message below. - IAMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Guess we do what we gotta do, right? You did inspire me and bless you. Hope all goes well and you can enjoy your holidays. Bet you will though. Sounds like you make the most of every day.

168 hours a week=10080 minutes to balance wisely... sm - flybye

[ In Reply To ..]

Weekly, I work MT full-time home-based 40 hours, run a part-time coaching business from home 10 hours, and provide 10 hours of care for my elderly mom; 60 is the max I can handle because I'm still single parenting (now one teen at home, two adult children).

It's a matter of self-discipline, weekly planning, daily scheduling, organization, and time management.

You're working 64 hours a week. There are 168 hours in a week; that leaves you 104 hours to accomplish everything else. Self-care is important...can't stress enough how much you need to take care of yourself when you're working this many hours...plan on at least 7 hours of sleep a night and 3 hours of exercise a week (=52 hours); 104-52=52 hours; that leaves another 52 hours for everything else; add 3 hours per day for planned-ahead meals and cleanup (=21 hours); 52-21=31; add an hour a day for your household tasks (chores, bills, mail, shopping=7 hours); 31-7=24; add 1 hour a day for family time (=7 hours); 24-7=17; add an hour a day for community time (MT Stars, social networks, email=7 hours); 17-7=10; add 7 hours a week for spiritual needs (church, quiet times, journaling, etc.=7 hours); 10-7=3; allow 3 hours of "margin" a week for the unexpected (flat tire? drop-in guest?=3 hours); 3-3=0

time's up...and your mileage may vary... =)

Keeping a balance between work, home, family, community, and personal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual roles is an ongoing process; find areas where you can combine roles (taking a walk with a friend balances your community and physical roles in the same timeframe)...Simplify your routine and your meals as much as possible; use weekly time zones to establish habits (always grocery shop on Thursday evenings, plan your weeks on Sunday nights, for example).

Especially with the holidays approaching, working 64 hours a week is definitely going to impact your life. I tell my clients, "You must 'make room' for LIFE; establish your values, define your roles, set your goals, plan your tasks, manage your time, honor your rest, review your results, keep first things first, and simplify, simplify, simplify."

With a lot of hard work and planning, you can accomplish anything.

Wishing you balance,

Flybye, Thanks for your input on managing time. - ak

[ In Reply To ..]
It definitely helps to see how others tackle the same issue.

you're welcome...like Homer says...sm - flybye

[ In Reply To ..]
"There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep."

=)

I love helping people find balance in their lives, especially in today's virtual-now, rapid-fire, information-overloaded global society.

I like this quote from M. Scott Peck, "Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it."

We all have to find creative solutions to our common life issues and time-crunched schedules...especially during the holidaze.

Wow... you rock Flybye - wordlady

[ In Reply To ..]
I had to read your post twice because I am just amazed at your organizational skills, time management, spiritual, and everything. You don't have a minute to spare but you are doing it. I happen to be 61 years old, been doing this for 20 plus years making good money up until the last couple years, and getting worse and worse with the pay. I also was in a very bad car accident exactly 1 yr ago that left me with some disabilities but I am a "survitor" and one that picks myelf up each and every day I don't even have much emotional support with "healthy" people in my life.

I feel blessed that I am able to still work, lucky to be alive since my accident. My worst injury was that I had an orbital blow-out fracture of my right eye. The doctors were not even that concerned about that as much as all of the other fractures in my face, like a fractured mandible, maxillary area and antrum, oh and my left foot was almost severed. Very bad fracture of both sides of the ankle and calcaneus, of which I now walk with a cane. The bad thing about the eye is that I am typing (now also) with that eye closed, because if I have it open while reading and/or typing the vision is blurred and double vision.

You are an inspiration to me, maybe I'll see if I can pick up more than just a 40 hour job. I really need to get a car, of which I need to save money for, because that also is a big loss of my independence. Life is what one makes of it isn't it? Cheers!

thanks! so happy I could inspire you! sm - flybye

[ In Reply To ..]
thanks wordlady,

and yes! life is what we make it!

i'm so sorry to hear about your accident. isn't it amazing how a split second can change your life...forever?

you've suffered a lot of loss and injury; kudos to you for being a survivor and choosing to not let your disabilities stop you.

since 2005 i too have seen pay cuts, severe injuries to my children, personal life-threatening illness, family deaths, home damage from two fires, and another pay cut in my MT job in 2009; i just choose to never, never, never give up. =)

i started my coaching business as a way to pay off debt from medical bills, and to eventually phase out of MT, but for now i'm juggling both jobs and caring for my aging mom; i recognize it's only for a season, and that "this too shall pass."

often our thinking is limited; "i can't" "I should" "I have to"...but i encourage my clients to accept their limitations while at the same time PUSHING OUT the boundaries of those limitations, "I can" "I will" "I choose to"

let me encourage you to stretch yourself without forgetting to take care of yourself; you might be surprised at the results!

just remember balance is the key, and you can always email me... =)

take care and thanks again!

I have four jobs! - busy bees

[ In Reply To ..]
It is extremely hard to juggle them all, but if you are IC, like me, and cannot afford to sit around and wait for work to come to you, you have more than one job. If my fingers are not hitting the keyboard on one job or another, all day long, I am losing money. It is rough sometimes, but with the holidays coming, I wouldn't have it any other way.

2jobs - DMZ

[ In Reply To ..]
You work 64 hours a week? I wouldn't do that with a job outside the home even! I have 2 jobs also - and barely work 3 hours a day on 1 and maybe 1-2 on the other - how good is your glossary? That is the key to a good line count, at least I think so....I won't work an 8 hour day because then you depend on that money coming in - rather, I set a goal for myself, commit to it and we are doing just fine here at the moment. Do you have to work a set schedule at these jobs? 64 hours sounds like an awful lot of typing. My hands couldn't do it at this stage in my life. Whew. God bless you.

64 hours a week here also. Adding a second - part-time and will be 84.l

[ In Reply To ..]
Not sure if I can do that number of hours per week or not, but am going to try. The 3 jobs are completely different so should be possible. FT is radiology, current part-time is MME MQ but can't earn enough money with it due to either getting minimum wage all the time or NJA. The new PT job will be straight typing acute care like the good ol' days - no ME or MME.
Good thing I don't have to get supper on the table for anyone ! If you are managing to do that, you are superwoman.

a 50/50 split...working half your total week? sm - flybye

[ In Reply To ..]
wow
i'm not sure you can do that many hours a week either, different work or not.

you only have 168 hours in the week; if you work 84, that's 50%.

let's subtract an average sleep time (you WILL be tired) of 7 hours a night; that's 49 (7 hrs x 7 days), which only leaves you 35 hours for EVERYTHING else.

you might consider cementing some self-care into your schedule; otherwise, you'll be at high risk from burnout...

i commend you on your attempt, just take care of yourself...keep asking yourself what's more important, long hours or longevity?

take care,

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