welcome to the overextended class

A very prescient post Hugh.
Late nights, early mornings and still so much to do, but before I started overextending myself I wasn’t doing what I love.
With all the connections and resources available, and the possibilities for creativity and learning, there’s no time for slacking.

Enjoyed this post and read it as I sat in front of three monitors covered in post it notes. I dont have ten projects but seven, each outlined and piled in groups with specs, notes and requirements.
Overextended? Only if I can’t solve for the having to eat and sleep issue that keeps coming up. 🙂

Little confused. Is your argument that the ruling (upper) class having managed to find ways to convince us (working class) to keep working more than 40 hrs a week, slavishly producing for their consumption as close to 24/7 as possible, until we feel completely burned out (and it’ll only be getting worse)…and that this is a GOOD thing and we should be proud of it?
I dunno, man, but it just makes me feel that little bit more ‘taken advantage of’ when I feel (as you note) that just working a small handful of jobs is becoming less and less able to ‘make ends meet’.

Your “ten items” list reminds me of a similar idea/goal I’ve had, which is having multiple irons in the fire. Entrepreneurs tend to work long hours doing one thing and only one thing, or least working toward one single goal. I’d rather take a multiple irons approach. It might, and probably will, take longer to achieve success, but you can work each iron as you please. If you’re not in the mood to work on one, work on a different one. Some might develop into income, others might remain hobbies. You’ll drop some and pick up others. It’s a pretty fluid thing.
Combining this with the focus necessary to achieve success is the trick, and one I think you’ve figured out.

Very true. I stopped working for a second to make my own list, it only had 8, but it reminded me of just how “too hard” I’m working.
Wouldn’t have it any other way, though. I do watch TV, but it’s on my time, using a DVR, and I’m usually on my laptop at the same time, haha.

True, so many of us are working very hard at a variety of jobs. But this isn’t unique to our digital generation. My parents and grandparents definitely weren’t sitting in barcaloungers watching Matchgame. My father quit a comfortable corporate job to start his own business, while trying to also be a writer and artist. My mother raised us kids while holding down a job and volunteering at the Co-op, the church, the school. My grandmother raised 7 kids, all while working, providing, and being a force in her community.
I trace my “overextended” personality directly to my parents and grandparents, who did whatever it took to grow their family and community. If I can work half as hard as them, I’ll be a success.

Brilliant, thanks for putting a name to my feelings right now. Trying to get out of the corporate wheel, I find myself overextended at nights and weekends, doing the “un-work” that I love.
I agree A LOT with the last part (“You may opt out of it if you want, but over time it’s going to get harder and harder to make ends meet, let alone be successful, if you do”), but I can’t help to see everyone around me oblivious to this fact. Question for everyone: how to explain it to friends and relatives in simple terms?

I’m getting exhausted. I want my 4 hour work week!

Overextending yourself is a choice. You don’t need to do 10 projects to pay the bills. If you do, then maybe you need to reconsider your lifestyle.
I think focusing on fewer projects will bring better results.

I prefer being over-extended and free to be working on three, ten, 15 projects I choose than to be suffocating in a big corporation and over-burdened with politics, projects and deadlines over which I’d have no control. There’s hard work and torturous work.

Hugh – I’m very glad that you’ve created a life for yourself that you find fulfilling and lucrative (though the comment about the girlfriends made me feel a little bad for you).
Still, I’m not sure that working several jobs to make ends meet is really “the easy life” nor do I believe that the way people live is simply a matter of “personal preference.” A lot of where folks end up depends on where they started geographically, economically, genetically, etc.
I admire and applaud the accomplishments of heroic individualism as much as the next guy, but these accomplishments always take place and appear significant within a social context. To dismiss or overlook that fact may be “necessary false consciousness” or it may just be ego mania (I tend to suffer from both).

I think this is a good thing if you are doing all this work for yourself or something you believe in. If it’s for someone else…then I guess you get to figure out if its worth it.
Just a thought, I doubt this is as unique as you are making it seem. My guess is that small business owners and single parents would have something to say about being overextended.

Donovan Freburg said: “Is “fun” and “interesting” more important than secure and safe? Me thinks not. What has happened to this world? What did we trade and did we get shafted in the deal?”
[My opinion only] I don’t believe the concept of “secure and safe” truly exists. There is no amount of money or security I could achieve in my lifetime, that one catastrophe, medical or otherwise, couldn’t wipe out.
Why should I not spend the best, healthiest years of my life striving towards a passionate life, instead of torturing myself, working for a nebulous future retirement scenario; in which my health is too poor to enjoy it?

Hugh, I think especially for creative people, having many irons in the fire is pretty normal. There are just too many things to be done and not enough time to do them.
However, I wonder if an overextended state is a signal to focus and refine what we are aiming to get done. I know for me it’s very easy to keep adding things to my list, so I’m starting to feel that the solution for me may be to prune and refine those projects down.
Having many things is not necessarily a bad thing, but if you were to reduce those 10 projects to 7, with more focus on each project in the same amount of time, the results may be much better.
Each person has their own limits, so it’s not a hard or fast rule. However, I think at some point being overly-overextended can work more to diminish the work quality you’re producing than being very intentional about choosing fewer, more impactful projects to focus on.

So many people working so hard, whether they love it or not, to get ahead in life. And saying that we all have to be doing that. I just don’t agree. I do not feel in the least bit overextended. I’m a mother of preschoolers, I have a day job as an engineer and a side job as portrait photographer, both because I like them and want to do them not because I need the money. But I highly value non-working time…time sleeping, enjoying good meals, playing with my kids or even *gasp* watching TV. Keeps me refreshed, focused when I am working, balanced and full of positive energy rather than nervous energy which is what I have when I do work too much and rely on too much caffeine 🙂
Just offering an alternative perspective.

Hugh, thanks for ‘calling it’.
As a fellow overx10, everyday I struggle up Mt Debtna, pushing my trolley of ideas (the one with the wonky wheel), only to see Mt Neverrest in the far distance.
The company of fellow travellers is reassuring.
Best, Robin

Yes I’m one of those 50% of folks. I always say to my friends that sleep is over-rated and my brain is on fire. I’m a creative. That is my life and I love every darn minute of it. Won’t stop until they put me in the box!
maddison

I wanted to briefly respond to Donavan Freberg’s comment about my post. I don’t think that Donavan is being naive, as much as perhaps idealistic. I think most people want safety and security, but do they even exist anymore? Did they ever exist? Our world has changed so much and continues to change at a rapid pace. It’s up to each individual to keep up in the way he/she feels is most in line with his/her personal convictions. But just because one chooses to live a life that is fun, interesting and challenging doesn’t make safety and security any less important. Frankly, I’m happier living my life on my terms. In the end, it’s really up to the individual person. Whether you choose a life that is “safe and secure” or “overextended,” the important thing is that you are happy with the path you have chosen for yourself.

Rebecca, that was beautifully said.

I don’t get it. One bestselling author’s telling us to work our buts off 24×7 while another’s touting the “4 Hour Work Week”? It will be interesting to see over time which lifestyle most of us end up following.

Cognitive Surplus is such a great phrase its too bad I have none of it. I very much relate. As a stay at home dad of 4 that also has a consulting business and an additional full time job I can completely relate to this. When i explain what I do to people they usually look at me in complete shock and awe or they look at me like I am stupid. Actually that may be the same look I am not sure.

Ten jobs? Ten?!
I thought two was hard enough!
I’m feeling exhausted enough from trying to plan the launch events for my novel around a fairly demanding job while still leaving time for my other interests.
If I tried adding another project to the mix, I’d probably collapse from sleep deprivation in a month.
Adding to the discussion about safety & security verses fun & interesting: isn’t it more secure to have options? If one project becomes an absolute flop, your plan B is already in operation so you’re never at the point where you’re so desperate for money that you’ll agree to any job.

One man’s cognitive surplus is another man’s meal ticket, and so keeping people in bondage is too good a business model for it change any time soon.
But at what cost? Sell your soul to the Devil or risk poverty, is how most people still view choice.
It takes a brave heart to walk off into the other direction, but IMHO that’s where the real juice lies 🙂