Surviving overtime

Kyougu

Just got out of a meeting where it was told that due to a plan upgrade pretty much screwing our workload (oh the irony) we're shifting into mandatory OT. The hours laid out were 6am to 8pm, with Saturday weekend shifts from 7am to 5pm.

So yeah, I'll be working at the least 12 hour work days, so any tips to surviving this without driving myself crazy would be appreciated. My biggest concerns are finding time and energy to still go to the gym, not eating hundreds of snacks at my desk, and trying to keep some sort of social life.

cabsy

For how long? It's easier to cope with if you have some idea of when you'll shift back to normal again. When I had a job that would do 60-75 hour a week workweeks in winter we would take a 'smoke break' every hour whether we smoked or not. Non-smokers would do laps around the building for about 5-7 minutes and then everybody would go back in together, which is a nice break plus a little exercise. If you know you're inclined to snack, bring in healthier snacks so that at least you're not spending $10 and a few thousand calories in the vending machine every day. Your social life is just sort of going to end up suffering to an extent, but let friends know what the deal is and if you're the type who can decompress from work quickly (if not, good time to learn I guess) make plans for Saturday nights primarily, or try to set up dinner 'dates' on weeknights; then you can have a social life but still have Sundays to do things like sleep in, housework, etc.

Veevee

Plan a vacation that these sweet fat checks will go towards, something grand that you've always wanted to do. Or spend it on gadgets you normally couldn't afford. For me, having a set goal for what my extra pay goes to helps me stay in a better mood during those times you ask yourself why you continue to torture yourself with work.

Edit: Your social life will suffer, but it doesn't need to disappear. Talk to your friends when you can, maybe learn to like facebook and twitter as a way to stay connected to your social circle.

see317

Don't avoid eating snacks. They keep your energy up and can help make it through a long day.
Like Cabsy says though, make sure you're eating healthy snacks, a good container of GORP trail mix can figuratively save your life.
I'd recommend avoiding going nuts with caffeine or energy drinks, you'll either lose sleep when you get off work from over consuming or crash out once the caffeine/sugar wears off.
Freeze a water bottle so you can keep a cold drink at hand without relying too heavily on vending machines. Maybe get some of that MIO stuff or whatever to add some flavor.
Get up and move around now and then, just to keep the blood pumping.

DevoutlyApathetic

You need to find out what you need to do on that day off. You might desperately need to just chill, be alone and do very little. I wouldn't feel guilty about that if it's what works best for you. You might really need to get together with your friends and be all social like. I'd talk a bit about it with your friends and try and set up something recurring so it actually happens.

AresProphet

Make nice with your coworkers

If you're usually friendly with them, this is the time to band together like you're going to war. Cheer them up when they're feeling miserable. Be positive when they bitch. Petty shit will make you hate work even more when you're pulling 60+ hour weeks

If you're on ambivalent terms or worse, now is not the time to stoke petty squabbles. If they try to start something, be the better man and defuse it. If you're just not that close to them, now is the time to make alliances.

It sounds corny because it is, but working as a team gets you through stuff a lot better than working as individuals

Some of the best friendships I have came from having to push through some 6-day weeks during summers with coworkers, and we've remained good friends ever since because you don't survive that without some camaraderie

Soggybiscuit

Kyougu wrote: »

Just got out of a meeting where it was told that due to a plan upgrade pretty much screwing our workload (oh the irony) we're shifting into mandatory OT. The hours laid out were 6am to 8pm, with Saturday weekend shifts from 7am to 5pm.

So yeah, I'll be working at the least 12 hour work days, so any tips to surviving this without driving myself crazy would be appreciated. My biggest concerns are finding time and energy to still go to the gym, not eating hundreds of snacks at my desk, and trying to keep some sort of social life.

Well, depending on how long your drive/ride/etc. is to and from work, a "12 hour day" could turn into a 14 hour day real quick. You will have to pick one or the other: gym or social life. You have to sleep, and yes, getting 8 hours is a big help when you are working 50%+ of the day. Don't eat candy and drink soda or energy drinks. Drink water and eat healthy snacks.

For some background, I work in construction/maintenance as a field engineer/PLC programmer. I usually do about 40-50 hours a month of overtime and have been doing so for the past 3 years now. A couple of months a year I might get away with only 20 hours or so extra, and sometimes I spike up to 180+ hours of overtime a month during a startup - in 2012, I did that 5 times.

silence1186

Kyougu wrote: »

Just got out of a meeting where it was told that due to a plan upgrade pretty much screwing our workload (oh the irony) we're shifting into mandatory OT. The hours laid out were 6am to 8pm, with Saturday weekend shifts from 7am to 5pm.

So yeah, I'll be working at the least 12 hour work days, so any tips to surviving this without driving myself crazy would be appreciated. My biggest concerns are finding time and energy to still go to the gym, not eating hundreds of snacks at my desk, and trying to keep some sort of social life.

Depending on how long your commute is, I would imagine you only have time to wake up, get ready for work (make sure to eat breakfast), go to work, work, come home from work, eat dinner, and go to sleep (make sure to sleep lots, your body needs time to recharge). At least that's how it works when I have to do 12 hour shifts.

DevoutlyApathetic

Oh, with the hours given think about anything that needs to be done during business hours now.

I'd also take some time before you're too burnt out and load up your pantry/freezer with food that is close to real now. It won't be as healthy as fresh food but it will be better than fast food.

Karrmer

How long is this going to last? I've been thrown into forced 16 hour shifts with no days off (due to large emergencies, wildfires etc) and it sucks but you just deal with it and ride it out until its over. You're looking at 12 hour days 6 days a week which is pretty brutal, if that's going to last for months on end... I don't know how people do it.

I would go with planning a fun vacation or something with the money you're making, and make sure to eat healthy food every day. I personally loved having a badass lunch whenever I was on long repeated shifts, it was kind of a ... One nice thing to have in the day I guess. But make it a healthy, badass lunch. Pound a bunch of sugar and refined carbs all day and your world will suck.

Social life will need to suffer. Don't let the gym slip, that will help a lot with handling the hours too and the fact that you're already into that routine makes me think you'll do just fine on these shitty (hopefully temporary) hours.

zepherin

Start doing exercises that can e done in a cubical spend 3-5 minutes on low intensity exercise every hour.

Also enjoy the extra money even If you are only doing 10 an hour. On a 70 hour week you'll see an extra 450 bucks, or 350ish after taxes, and more if you make more. Throw a party go to the beach. This is money for r&r not paying bills and saving, unless you are really hard up.

dispatch.o

Use a couple of days of vacation (put in your requests now) to take one additional day off (monday I would suggest) per month, so you can at least get the stuff that needs to be done during those hours done without shitting up your only day off.

Invest in a crock pot and make some black beans or something on your day off to take with you for several work days during the week, you will save a shit ton of money and time with a crock pot. Go to Costco and buy the 3lb jugs of almonds and mixed nuts. Keep them at work, you may make a few friends by offering them to folks who didn't have time to pack a lunch, or are in need of a snack. I would also suggest that if you and your coworkers are on friendly enough terms you guys pool some cash and keep healthy snacks on-hand in the break room.

You don't get a social life, sorry. That's just the way it is. If you try and sacrifice sleep for one, work will become hell and you wont enjoy what little free time you have.

Edit: I'd like to say it's stupid when companies do this, the diminished returns on productivity make it not worthwhile for more than a couple of weeks at a time. If the overtime shifts drag out for months you just end out with people doing the same amount of work in a longer timeframe.