Sometimes, you need to work over-time. Be it a proposal that needs to be in before the deadline, or a scramble to get a presentation together

Photo credit: Flickr/ jDevaun

for your boss, it’s inevitable that you’ll be putting some time in after 5PM (and possibly before 8AM, too). It’s a fact of life as a professional.

What’s even more brutal is that you can’t typically say no. That’s OK though, because it it can be a big opportunity to strut your stuff and shine under pressure. That’s the kind of thing that can definitely turn some heads early in your career.

I’m writing this now because I just came off a two week stint where I was putting in a ton of overtime, and I realized there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way to tackle it.
When you are faced with having to blow past the 40-hour mark, you need to make sure you:

• Don’t burn out
• Use your time effectively
• Communicate your results

Without doing these things, you’re liable to have a terrible time, stress out, and not get much done.

Bad times.

Today, I want to teach you how to do all three of these things, and rock overtime.

Don’t Burn Out Putting in Overtime

Tell your spouse and make sure your other commitments know what’s up. Don’t just disappear one day. Also, don’t try calling your husband or wife or significant other at 4:45PM to let them know they’re eating supper alone because you’ll be at the office until midnight. I promise you that I’ve tried that a dozen times, and – surprisingly – not once has my wife been thrilled about that, and I can’t blame her. Not recommended. It’s important to keep friends and loved ones in the loop, because you’re not just an engineer. You (hopefully) wear a lot of other hats, too, and you’ve got to remember that.

Make sure you know whether you’ll be getting paid for your overtime. If you’re not, it’s important that you know that. If you are getting paid, make sure you understand the rules around it. Where I work, there’s a 6-hour “deductible” on OT, which means you only start getting paid once you’ve hit your 7th hour that week. As a professional, you’ll probably be paid straight time, if you get paid at all.
If there’s no budget for paid overtime, you can ask for time in lieu. Most businesses have peaks and troughs in terms of how busy they are. Many managers are happy to give you time off later in exchange for working extra now. It’s important to discuss this before you start putting in extra time, though.

If you see the need for overtime on the horizon, talk to your manager about it. You don’t want to surprise your manager with this kind of thing – especially if there are budget implications for them, or if their presence will be needed as well.

Be sure to keep track of your hours and share with your manager. This ties into the previous points about getting paid for your time and not surprising your manager. If you submit a regular time sheet, this is a no-brainer. If you don’t, then a simple email to your boss should suffice.

Use your time effectively

Have a plan and write it down. If you need to be putting extra time in, make the most of your time. You should have as clear a plan as possible so that you know what needs to be done, so that you can go home once you’ve met your goals, and so that you meet any deadlines you’re working towards.

Make arrangements ahead of time for the tools and other people you need, as well as access to relevant facilities. I’ve been burned on this a few times – especially on weekends. Imagine waking up early on a Saturday to put a long day in at the test lab, drive half an hour to get there, just to realize you can’t get in. Ugh. I’ve even been locked inside my company’s campus because the guard closed the gate across the front driveway, thinking everyone had gone home. Make sure you have everything in place to do what you need to do. If you don’t you risk wasting a lot of time.

Write everything down. Often, OT is high-paced stressful work. You need to keep track of what you did and what the results were so that you can present what you’ve done to your boss, and to help troubleshooting when things don’t go so well. Jot notes can also be a huge help in creating open item lists later on.

Communicate your results

Write a memo summarizing what you’ve done for your manager. Just like site work, overtime is expensive. You need to prove that you’re making efficient use of your time. You boss will also appreciate being kept in the loop for things they can’t be present for after hours. Protip: if relevant, you can take pictures of progress too. That tends to go over well in most cases.

Moving Forward

What tips do you have for making the most of overtime? Tell us what you do in the comments section below!