Are you one of the 6 million who does unpaid overtime for your employer?
Yesterday the BBC interviewed Nicola Smith – the head of economics at the TUC – where she reported that almost 6 million workers put in an average of just over 7 hours of unpaid overtime each week to their jobs. (Article on the BBC)
Whether the decisions taken by employees to do this is down to the commitment to make things work at the place of employment because times are tough, fear of losing their jobs if they are not seen as committed to it, or indeed a squeeze put on by their bosses, have a think about what you could be doing with those extra 7 hours a week if you are one of these work-a-holics.
Nicola also reported that in their research, that 6 out of 10 employees that do work the voluntary unpaid overtime, would like to reduce their hours. So what is stopping them?
I used to be one of the 6 Million
Last year I gave up my job, where I know that in some weeks I put in lots of extra time and even some evenings, to help win more business, do more work and grow the company. I was rewarded with a fairly good salary, I loved the people there and I did enjoy the job, but it was only when I noticed that my whole work-life balance was out of kilter that I had to do something about it. Work was impacting on my life in a negative way and I needed to re-address this. Did I live to work, or work to live?
Deciding on coming in to the office at the right time, not too early, and leaving on time was one step. Taking lunch breaks was another. I noticed that in myself I was more attentive to the job at hand, the family were happier because they were seeing more of me and I had time to breath – And relax!
It was dangerous for me though. When I sit down and relax, my brain doesn’t. I am always thinking about what I can achieve next.
The few extra hours that I saved each week from not working overtime was spent seeing more of the family and taking lunch breaks, but I also made time to invest in myself. In the time that I then had free, I spent thinking about what I really wanted to do with my life – and work. I was reading loads of books, websites and information about working for myself and was investing in getting as much knowledge about it as I could.
My thought was, “If I could work for myself, I believe that I could earn more than I am now, in less time – then I would have even more time for my family.” The decision in my mind was made. Learning about how to take the jump into ‘self-unemployeness’ (as Del-boy would say) again was what I needed to do.
As I was already into blogging and social media, I started writing on another couple of blogs about the things that I enjoyed. Wine and Social Media – separate subjects that did sometimes cross over. I eventually got the point that both blog websites had a good audience and it was now time for me to monetise it and see what I could do with them.
Self-unemployedness
Within 6 months of spending just 3 hours a week on these two sites, the income generated from them was enough for me to be able to leave my job – and now I work with businesses to help them achieve more from Internet Marketing and also individuals just like you to help them do the same.
As an Internet Marketing coach, I am working with a small group of people that I call the IM Elite. Two of my private coaching clients are in full time work – they have a job – but not for long. They are already earning an income online by positioning themselves as experts in their own field, engaging with an audience and selling their own products that they have created out of their knowledge and experience.
Find out more about my Internet Marketing Coaching here.
If you simply want to understand more about Internet Marketing and how you could stop working those extra hours of unpaid overtime for your employer, spend more time with your family and friends, but also invest that time in yourself and discover how you could use the power of the Internet to generate you a full time income – start with listening to my Internet Marketing podcast that you can subscribe for free in iTunes – click here to listen to my Internet Marketing podcast.
I stopped doing those extra hours of unpaid overtime and ended up where I am today. If you want to you could too.
