How to keep your sanity while working a second job.

This article is about keeping your sanity when you work a second job. Sometimes, for whatever reason, a person chooses to work a second job. Be it because they can't make ends meet or they're trying to get ahead on bills or savings.

I have seen people push this online, particularly in the PF blogosphere, as a means of getting extra money. Moonlighting at a second job is a great idea to bring in some extra cash, but what these folks rarely talk about is the ramifications on your personal well-being. D, over at 2 Nickels Making a Dollar (also, check her other blog), finally tells it like it is: working a second job does a number on your health and it f*cks with your relationship like you wouldn't believe.

I have been in this situation before and, let me tell you, it sucked ass!

So, what are you to do if you find yourself in this situation?

First things first, make sure you're good in the health dept. I don't mean like going to the dr and stuff, that's a given. What I mean is the stress. The stress of dealing with everything can get to you and screw you up royally.

Listen to your body. If it's telling you to take a break, TAKE A BREAK. Remind yourself that whatever money you are going to get for that day or those 4 hours is not worth screwing your body/mind up for a long time in the future. I like to think of it in terms of money: This $48 dollars is important to me and it will get me closer to paying the credit mofos, but it's not worth it to mess up my health or my day job. (This is a hard one, sometimes.)

Take time for yourself. Carve out some time in your day that is just for you and only you. It doesn't have to be much; very likely, it won't be that much what, with working 2 jobs and all. It can be while you're eating breakfast in the morning, your lunch at work, hell, even your time on the family throne (that's the 'potty' and my #1 choice). Take the time and breath, reflect, read, play video games, do a crossword, whatever. Seriously, 15 minutes will make a load of difference. There was a period for abt a month recently where I was working ft, pt and going to grad school. I was SO stressed out. I had to make time for myself or I would have gone nuts. So, I allowed my throne-time just for me to read a magazine or solve a sudoku puzzle.

Make time for your relationship! This is extremely important! Set some time each night to catch up with your honey and schedule a date night once a week or 2 weeks. You can do free stuff or just have dinner at the house. Try to make sure your SO is on-board with you working the 2nd job, or they will make your life hell on top of all the stress. If they don't agree to it, try to work a compromise where you work less than you were going to originally or maybe they can pick up the slack at their job, etc. I didn't do so well in this dept and my relationship suffered greatly. I still work pt now, but at a less demanding job and I always make time for my GF. We have a date night every week and when I move in, we'll adjust our schedules so that we have max time together. (I don't have kids, so that's a non-issue with me.)

I hope this helps!

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