Is getting anxious at doing overtime to do with Aspergers?

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I'm not the sort to assume everything I do is because of Asperger's, but I was wondering if this was to do with it. OK most people dislike doing overtime, but that's not the point I was trying to make. Everybody probably feels like they don't want to do overtime to some extent, but the way I feel about it really affects me big time.

I know a few people who do a lot of overtime and don't seem to mind about it. They just say ''think of the money'' and just get on with it. With me, I just can't cope with it. My own time alone is more important to me than a few hours of extra work and a bit of extra money. I can get by financially on my contracted hours so I don't need to do overtime, even if it does get me some extra money. Money isn't everything to me.

The thought of doing overtime just fills me with panic. I do suffer with depression and anxiety and I have high stress levels, which doesn't help. But I feel like the only one who feels like this. Does any other Aspies here feel like this? I suppose if I was in a job what I enjoyed or was related to my special interest, I might not mind doing overtime on the odd occasion, but otherwise, I just can't stick it. I need time alone to recharge, like a day or two between working hours. I feel like the only one in the world who feels like this though. Am I a bad person who doesn't want to work, or is it just related to Asperger's or depression?

Last edited by Joe90 on 01 Dec 2013, 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hi,
I hope you don't mind me replying. I'm not an aspie, but I'm not exactly NT either because of being dsylexic.
I work in a supermarket and overtime causes me horrible anxiety. As you said time to recharge is more important to me than money. But, I sometimes agree to it to show I'm willing to help out.
I once agreed to do an extra hour at the end of my shift. It made me so upset I almost had a panic attack.

By overtime do you mean planned in advance or ad hoc i.e. being asked to stay late on a day you had expected to leave at the usual time?

Yes, of course it is - it screws with your schedule and routine. I react badly to anything unexpected, especially if it throws my daily patterns off track.

I think that because we are so easily overwhelmed by sensory phenomena, our brains prefer to maintain strict routines and patterns, so that as far as possible, we don't have to worry about suddenly running into a situation that's more than we can cope with. The more things about our environment that we can control, the less overwhelming the things we can't plan for. So anything that alters the expected pattern is an immediate irritant.

I meant more coming in on a day off. I think I wouldn't mind doing overtime as in staying longer to do some work, if I have the day off the next day. But I hate nothing more than being called in on the morning of a day off, especially if I've got it in my head that I have today off and have already got my plans set out for the day.

Lucky for me I work every other day, and so have a day off in between, which is just lucky. So it's nice to be at work each day knowing I will always have tomorrow to myself to recharge and fulfill my special interests, which keeps me happy and holds back my depression and helps with anxiety. In the new year I am thinking about finding another job, perhaps in a factory or an office or somewhere like that, just so that I can relax at least on week-end mornings because those sorts of places close down at week-ends and so I know I definitely won't get a phone call to come in or feel guilty that I'm not coming in. I currently work at a care home, so the contracted hours go on all year, unless you take annual leave.

I do feel lazy when refusing to go in extra, but it's not about laziness. I use up my week-ends doing volunteering for a charity to raise money for cancer awareness. I don't just use up my days off just sitting on my bum. When doing voluntary work I am socialising with people who accept me more, and it's more of a relaxing environment what is good for depression.

I don't work but the idea of mandatory overtime upsets me and makes me think that if I had a job and they wanted me to do that I'd just quit or not show up and get fired. When I hear about relatives having to do mandatory overtime at their jobs I don't like that.

The time I had even a part time job I was exhausted all the time and barely had any time to even do anything I enjoyed and was interested in. I can't imagine being forced to do even more work than the hours that were agreed upon when I was hired.

If anyone watches Are You Being Served, this line captures how I feel about overtime.

"And the reason for my smile, the overtime makes it worth while."

As long as I don't have any plans, I LOVED overtime. I had times I would work till 1 in the morning, and I was bringing home an extra 200-400 dollars a paycheck, just in overtime.

My new job doesn't pay OT.

It makes perfect sense to me. I hate anything that messes with my timing.

I totally agree. I HATE having my times changed unless I know it in advance. Even then I tend to get angry about it automatically. Even when I WANT to stay and help out it throws me off big time.

Ugh, unexpected overtime can really stress me out -- As already mentioned, it has to do with expectations and routine. Here's an extra little bit of crazy: I'll pretty regularly have to stay late for my job. Patient comes in at the last second, there's an emergency, whatever... So, I experimented with -expecting- to stay late, thinking I wouldn't get all agitated about it and laugh it off. I found myself getting annoyed when I DIDN'T stay late. Can't win.

What -really- used to set me off, and I mean inflexible immediately looking for a new job type of stuff, was getting floated to another unit or patient population. Just out of the blue, today I'll be dealing with adults instead of babies. It's 'easier', less acuity, etc. Drove me RIGHT up the proverbial wall.

I'm pushing 40, and unexpected changes can still -really- set me off.

These things sound very AS-like to me:

I would not want to be called in to work on a day off on a regular basis. The only times I have been asked to do so was when a colleague/ colleague's child had to go to hospital, in these cases I did not feel bad going in.

In terms of staying late at work I am not too bothered about that. I prefer to work fewer long days than more shorter days, working full time hours over 3 or 4 days not 5.

This was doing jobs which were related to a special interest of mine. I did find it fustrating when I changed to work for a company employing low-functioning neurotypicals rather than some (diagnosed by me) AS staff.

I would not want to be called in to work on a day off on a regular basis. The only times I have been asked to do so was when a colleague/ colleague's child had to go to hospital, in these cases I did not feel bad going in.

In terms of staying late at work I am not too bothered about that. I prefer to work fewer long days than more shorter days, working full time hours over 3 or 4 days not 5.

This was doing jobs which were related to a special interest of mine. I did find it fustrating when I changed to work for a company employing low-functioning neurotypicals rather than some (unofficially diagnosed by me) AS staff.

allways anxious just count yourself lucky your in employment , even though I don't have to look for employment I chose to being told I'm not good enough for menial dead end jobs is sickening . Better to hire visible disabled people , it makes them feel better

Being called in on a day off sucks.

But I am working in my special interest field. So I sometimes stay overtime just because I am doing work I love.

When I was not doing work I loved, I needed a lot of alone time to recharge.

My job is sometimes solitary, so I do not need so much alone time after work.

I can't do overtime, it was bad for my health taking a placement for studies in and amongst studying. That would mean an unhealthy 12 hour day, unpaid.

It's not worth it for me as it causes significant health problems as well as requiring time of my own, as there will be not enough time to recover from overtime work, especially overtime that is unpaid.

It has to be quite particular in the job description, no overtime, no changing shifts, no change in hours unless there's significant warning and notice.