An Ode to Moonlighting, Sunlighting, and All Kinds of Lighting To Keep Your House Lit

If you aren’t yet aware of the term “Moonlighting,” here’s the definition – it’s you working for another company once your regular day job is over. Lately, many CEOs in India are losing their cool over their employees moonlighting. They feel cheated because they want their subordinates to function at their best capacity during day time. Yes, it’s mostly the CEOs and the high-level management already receiving big paychecks who are vociferously campaigning against moonlighting. Any surprises there?

I can’t help but think, why would companies want to micromanage the after-work life of an employee? The office in itself is a breeding ground for micromanagement. If the employee’s daily work is suffering because of the extra responsibility they took up, yes, they should face the consequences. Quality of work shouldn’t be compromised. But in companies like Wipro, employees aren’t getting sacked because of their work quality – it’s purely for the reason that their employers found out their “dirty” little secret. Employees should be warned if their quality of work is far below expectations – whatever reason it may be – moonlighting, sunlighting, or rainlighting. But snooping around to see which employee works secretly to earn an additional income is downright obnoxious and toxic.

Some founders and CEOs are partners in multiple firms but do not face the consequences. The culprit is always the layman trying to earn those few extra bucks. Money and power rule the world. This universal truth holds even here.

The empathetic approach would have been to ask the moonlighting employees at Wipro how much they would need to stop working two jobs. This wish is idealistic since companies would be unwilling to pay that much. The companies want to have the cake and eat it too. They will do bad (paying low) but do not want the bad consequences (employees looking for better opportunities).

Let’s look at the positives of moonlighting (if done correctly):

The employee gets additional income.
A creative person needs an outlet. A second job that fulfills this criterion can boost such an employee’s spirit. It would make them happy to continue the daily grind the following day, even if the current job is not fulfilling those creative needs.
Employees will not be frustrated that their company is unwilling to pay extra. Frustration and financial stress can deteriorate work performance more than moonlighting.
A company that accepts its employees’ needs will earn a good reputation overall. Its employees would be willing to work much harder for them.

The cons of moonlighting:

If done incorrectly, i.e., the employee doesn’t get enough time to rest, the quality of work can suffer in both jobs. This is something that can easily be corrected, however. Balance is key.
The high-level management. I am unsure whether the big bosses will ever come to terms with it. It might be because they are overthinking it. It’s only recently that companies have deviated from the usual archaic work style and are embracing the digital. Previously, the high-level management used to overthink work from home because they were worried if work would ever get done. But covid taught everyone that it is possible to complete their work at home by leveraging the power of the internet.

On this world mental health week, let’s hope our employers reflect on what an employee’s mental well-being actually means to them. Does it mean cutting off their freedom? Does it mean micromanagement? It’s certainly not free yoga classes or an unlimited amount of eatables. “A happy wife makes a happy life” is a famous adage. In the case of organizations, “A happy employee makes a happy company” would be apt.

Maybe it’s high time our companies stop being preachy and finally walk the talk. Sometimes we need more than just freebies.

Update as of 18th October: TCS has been the most empathetic so far. To quote the COO, “The consequences (of taking action) will be that the person’s career will be ruined. Background check for the next future job will fail for him…We have to show some empathy.” Kudos to them for pointing this out.

Update as of 21st October: Employees at Infosys are now allowed to take up external gigs under some conditions. Better something than nothing!

An Ode to Finding a Passion Outside Work

Recently, I talked about the distress I experienced due to excess work. I felt exhausted, working day in and out, and was in severe need of some me-time. I had been “at it” for two years since the start of the pandemic, and I was close to burning out.

Thankfully, I got some time out recently – when my manager went on vacation. I was ecstatic at first. There was no urgent work; it almost felt like I was also on holiday. But then I started experiencing something that I had never experienced in my two years of pandemic-induced erratic work hours – the insufferable boredom that comes with having no work. Was it a withdrawal symptom, a side-effect of having burnt a copious dose of after-work oil? When you finally get some breathing space, you have no clue what to do with it. You are left grasping at straws.

The first few days of zilch micromanagement felt like a dream to me. But by the second or third week, boredom took precedence, and I started actively looking for tasks to self-initiate. A few questions that crossed my mind –

Is this what retired people go through? They are relaxed and happy the first few weeks of retirement, but many develop a sense of despair later on.
How can I stop myself from feeling this way?
Why do we always have to be on the move? Why are we so averse to relaxation?
What is the optimal amount of work you need daily to keep yourself happy?

Of course, I do not have the answers to all questions. I am not a researcher or scientist. I apologize if you came here looking for answers. However, I can tell you something from my personal experience:

I am happiest when I have at least half a day’s worth of solid work. The type of work that requires my complete attention, work that takes my mind off all kinds of distractions. When I am consumed by an optimal amount of work that meets my skills, I enter this state of flow that ignites my happy hormones. This “work” that I am talking about is not just restricted to office work; it can be anything – cooking, playing a sport, writing, learning, dancing, singing. The point is that it should be something that is immersive and consumes your entire interest.

It might be why experts recommend having a passion outside work. Once you’re retired, this passion will keep you alive and kicking. For workaholics, finding that excitement outside work might prove challenging. They hardly get the time to pause and seek activities that may have the potential to improve their quality of life in the future. One possibility for such plodders is to go part-time post-retirement in context to their work (maybe consulting). But if you have decided to step away from office work, as most of us plan to do post-60, finding yourself a cause or a passion becomes imperative.

We feel our best when we are in service or when we can provide help in some way. Finding your “Ikigai,” as vouched by the long-living Japanese, is essential to one’s overall well-being and happiness. I am not yet sure what my Ikigai is. I enjoy writing, but I haven’t yet sat down to see if I could write for half a day, nor do I know if this exercise would cater to my emotional health eternally. I did some sewing the other day. It made me feel alive. Maybe Ikigai can be a bunch of things – a heady concoction of multi-colored magic beans that contribute to our general well-being. You can embrace each of them as per the mood and season, mix and match, exercise portion-control, and tuck them away in your customized, personalized happiness jar. All it takes is some time to figure out what those magic beans are.

An Ode to Surya Namaskar & How It Helped Me Manage My Heavy Periods

Since it is International Yoga Day, I thought I should narrate my own experience with Yoga. I have an on-and-off relationship with it. The irregularity has nothing to do with the practice but my own laziness. I prefer walking. But each time I do Yoga, I am impressed by its benefits.

I started Yoga as a form of exercise to supplement my walking. At that time, I was unaware of the health benefits as the only reason I chose Yoga was to tone my body. I initially went through some basic asanas for beginners and then slowly shifted to Surya Namaskar. It involves 12 steps akin to providing sun salutations.

In one month of doing Yoga, I noticed the following:

It strengthened my neck muscles and helped prevent a stiff neck
My back pain reduced
And the most relieving of all – my periods became more manageable

I cannot comment on whether Yoga helped tone my body because I wasn’t committed enough to try it regularly. The stress is on the third point – how it helped ease my period flow.

I recently shifted to menstrual cups, so half of my period-related issues got resolved with that step. Before Yoga, I used to have 3-4 days of heavy flow. During the months I diligently practiced Yoga, my heavy flow reduced to 1 day. My period cycle was shorter and more manageable. This is a big win for me. But mind you, you cannot do Yoga just once and think your periods are manageable for life. I have to do it at least twice or thrice weekly to see the positive effects. I skip Yoga during periods because I do not wish to subject my body to stress and stretches at that time.

If you are facing any of the problems I mentioned, I would highly recommend trying Yoga.

Happy International Yoga Day!

An Ode to Retiring Rich

I have seen senior citizens in India struggling 5-10 years post-retirement because they didn’t have enough savings. Their financial freedom is ultimately compromised as they become dependent on their children.

One example is my own father.

My dad was the only earning member of the entire family. My mother derived her happiness by not involving herself in financial matters. Numbers made her anxious, and she was fine letting dad make all the financial decisions. He enjoyed a plush job in the Middle East, and we had a wonderfully privileged life. I am eternally grateful for everything that he has provided for us. I went to the best of schools/universities and worked for a bit in the Middle East. Then we all decided to pack our bags and head back to India after dad’s retirement – a much-needed rest for him after 30+ years of service.

Everything went on fine until the 5^th year of my dad’s retirement. His anxiety was apparent; he was concerned whether his corpus would last his entire lifespan. I had already started working by then, and I started pitching in. Slowly his mental health deteriorated. It may have been due to a combination of stress and disappointment in his financial matters and his physical health issues. The doctors were unable to help him. My dad, who was an active, cheeky, energetic man, turned silent, desolate, and serious. Since I stayed near my parents, I was a witness to all that they went through concerning their finance. My dad wanted to resume work in his mid-60s, despite his physical limitations, no thanks to his depleting retirement corpus.

I am unsure what went wrong because I never discussed it with my dad. He’s no more (he passed away a couple of years back). When I look at his bank balance, I have so many questions. The most glaring one was – “Where did all the money go?” Then there are others “Did he not save?” “Maybe he saved, but it was not enough for inflation?” “Did he make any bad investment choices?” “Did he not invest in the right retirement schemes?” “Would it have helped if he had invested in some equity, mutual fund, or pension scheme?” My dad had only invested in Fixed Deposits.

You learn by observing the people around you. It was only after I saw my dad’s financial condition that I became aggressive with my own savings and investments. I have no idea whether my plan will work for me in the long run, but I can try. I do not have many lifestyle demands, and I am a minimalist, so that helps.

In the quest to achieve financial independence, I have been reading a lot of personal finance books. My initial few reads were meant for the American audience and they did not help me much. I wanted to read books specific to India. That’s how I first landed upon Monika Halan’s Let’s Talk Money. This has to be my favorite Indian personal finance book so far. Everything is explained clearly and concisely. I have re-read it a couple of times in the hope that her words would sync in deep and become second nature for me. She offers instructions on how to invest for each age group.

The next book that is good for Indians looking into learning personal finance is PV Subramanyam’s Retire Rich. He is a Chartered Accountant who gives some good, solid, no-nonsense advice on how you can carry about your investments. His policy is investing in yourself first, before anything else. Keep aside some money for your retirement and invest in other people and things only after that.

A non-Indian book that greatly impacted me was “The Psychology of Money.” My favorite quotes from the book are also listed on this blog.

Retiring rich is undoubtedly a priority for me. Keep in mind that the word “rich” is subjective. I want to retire “rich” enough for my own needs, but that amount might not be “rich” enough for you. So the first step is to calculate your retirement corpus based on your annual expenses. There are enough online retirement calculators to help you out. If you are in your 20s, start saving/investing now. I am in my 30s now, and my only regret is that I did not start sooner.