Comments on: Overloaded corporate employee w/entrepreneurial dreams needs your advice

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:22:17 +0000

I was in the same boat 5 years ago. Your company doesn’t deserve you. You need to get out of corporate america PERMANENTLY. Put on your gameface. Work ferverishly on a priortized list. Get your household situation in shape. Become a consultant…. do projects for one or two companies so some cash is coming in and you’ve got some flexibility….and start working on your dream….there’s my two cents……

By: Julio Blanco

Julio Blanco — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:29:44 +0000

I am pursuing my own entrepreneurial journey after an 18 year stay in Cubicle Nation and will never again live life any other way. I feel the crush of this situation on you and support with this advice. First, take 100% responsibility for yourself. It’s easy to slip into the role of the victim here, but don’t. Set your own priorities and boundaries with the situation and live by them. Taking this attitude will actually start to lead you down the road of being an entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs are not victims; they retain 100% responsibility for their life.

The second idea is to look for the opportunity in the situation. It may look bad now (and it is), which may be just what you need to step into your true purpose in life. If it kicks you in the butt now and motivates you to take bold steps, be thankful that your true life is calling you.

Health and prosperity to you.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:58:33 +0000

Rent the movie Office Space.

Then Quit. Use the power of desperation to do what you love. and maybe make money at it.

Screw corporate Murica and what they want you to believe (and apparently have plenty of people in these comments believing) about what you have to do to get ahead. Serve them? For what? Maybe next week they’ll find some green kid out of school who will do those three jobs for 2/3 the pay you require. Think they’ll hesitate to get rid of you?

Corporate life is not life, it is death. It is not organic, it is not healthy, someday maybe humans will evolve out of it. For now, use this experience as a zen wake-up bell. Ding! and get out NOW.

By: yanninbj

yanninbj — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:40:35 +0000

I agree to prioritise is the key. But I disagree to ask the ‘employer’ (or direct line manager) to prioritise the tasks/responsibilities from post-it notes, 5 max, FIFO style. Prioritise YOURSELF, then inform your manager of your plan on how to cope, and try get some guidelines on how he sees the big lines. You are in the end in the same boat, and your manager is also freaked out wondering how to handle this, so your proactive help is essential; you’ll just both have to learn to do more with less, a usual request in any industry anyway.

The real question is probably HOW to prioritise. Good news: less people also means less interfaces thus less meetings. Good time to consolidate them from the 3 jobs and make them more efficient (try standup meetings, always faster). Then try focus on what makes a difference in the long term. What is burning is most likely already too late anyway.

Finally view this as a learning opportunity, not a chore.. Good luck

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:39:20 +0000

80 hours a week? Nobody would accept or even require such thing in Europe. What happpend to you, America? Very sad story.

By: Sarah Pick

Sarah Pick — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:59:38 +0000

Lots of fantastic advice & posts -
One more additional thought that I didn’t see written -
Don’t know if your intended Future Venture has applicability to current company but, when you do move forward w/ your entrepreneurial thing, this dysfunctional company could be one of your first clients.

I agree w/ all the prioritization advice. But, also see if while balancing those 3 jobs, you learn more re: what this company values, what positions they’re retaining and how you might “package” your entrepreneurial services when the time comes.
(I am assuming there’s a connection between what your current work is and what you dream of in future)
Asserting yourself in managing these tasks will be a good practice for pitching this company as a client, if that’s a possibility that you see in the future.

Even if the next round of layoffs get you, you may be laying good groundwork for future consulting. If you handle this as many people have advised, you are building up your entrepreneurial & consulting skills.

Good luck!

By: jimtown

jimtown — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:35:52 +0000

Mathilda, I see lots of good advice about prioritizing and bringing that list to the boss. That is great advice but have a more radical approach that might just get you going on your own business venture faster.

How about starting your own consulting company today?
Take your current hourly rate and triple it to cover insurance, benefits and well deserved raise. Let you boss know you are going out on your own and would be happy to work all the hours they would like as a contractor. If they give you 80 hours a week, you can do the work and not be financially exploited. With 80 hours you can stockpile tons of cash. On the other hand if they only give you 20 hours you would be making close to what you are making now and you would have time to work on you own venture. I think it is a Win/Win either way.

Keep in contact with everyone that was laid off and let them know what you are doing and available for other consulting jobs.

By: Sujan

Sujan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:16:16 +0000

Hopefully this is a positive spin on Mathilda’s situation: Starting your own venture / business is probably like working three full-time jobs anyway (if not more), so perhaps you can learn from this experience (how you work under pressure, how you handle three different jobs, how you have to communicate with different parties in different roles, how you schedule and prioritize work, etc.). In the process you may learn a lot about yourself and what works for you and what doesn’t.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:48:38 +0000

I would recommend her to check out resources for being an entrepreneur. I know that FiredNetwork (www.FiredNetwork.com) has a lot of them, plus it includes the ability to get “FiredUp” with people in similar situations.

By: David

David — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:30:32 +0000

There are many ways to deal with this horrendous (tho sadly common) situation. Other posts here are full of excellent advice for managing the new job. But let’s look at your stated goal: “I want to be focused on getting my new venture up and running so I can ESCAPE this place.” That means the three jobs on your plate are purely a means to an end.

First, figure out what elements of this super job matter to your new venture- connections to make, conferences to attend, skills to learn- and work on those areas. That way when you work 60-80 hours you’ll get more than a paycheck and bloodshot eyes.

Second, remember that everyone is over worked just like you- they won’t have time to care about all of your responsibilities either. Everyone is working on Plan B; you should work on your B-plan.

Third, and most important, remember that this job doesn’t love you. It doesn’t care about your dreams or what you are having for dinner. This job cares about itself. You need to care about you.

Enough of the sermon! Good luck.