Burnout. How to cope

[bigbadbill]

I'm currently on a nightmare project dropped on my lap at work. Odd thing its not my employers fault.

It was handed to us with ridiculous unrealistic deadlines from a company we now do business with. I worked very long hours for the 5 weeks as there was a ton to do. After this I reached the initial breaking point and emailed my boss from home that I need help (unforunately after a couple of beers) and that my wife doesn't know me anymore because my mind became very tired and I'm a different person.

He said you have a lot to do and we only expect the best you can do. I took that mindset early on for the sake of self-preservation. No more long hours. Unfortunately, it was more of the getting pulled in a number of of directions all the time even after over 2 months of this hell. Couldn't focus on anything for an adequate amount of time with interruptions constantly occuring. Add insult to injury, the people I had to deal with at this company were incompetent to the nth degree. Others in the same situation concur with this

In a nutshell my brain is tired and has bubbled over into my life. I feel like a mass of nothing.

What I'm going to try is to start ignoring the interuptions as much as possible so my mind isn't being pulled apart so much.

My only worry is that even though this project will be completed soon (hopefully), it is going to lead to much more as I envision the parent project becoming more busy in the future.

I'm going to think of how to talk to my boss about this as even though this current sub-project will slow down, the overall parent project won't.

Unfortunately, I see myself taking a 'I don't care anymore' attitude.

Burnout is here. Anyway to get out of the burnout? If I'm not there now, I'm very close.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Retired]

Welcome to Psychlinks, Bill.

It sounds like a troubling situation, indeed and perhaps a time for you to look at your options.

Would you agree that your health and well being, not to mention your relationship are at stake here?

It would seem your priority is to regain control over your life and to explore medical intervention for your mental and emotional state.

Do you have a doctor you can consult who can evaluate your current mental and physical health?

Would your employer be amenable to redistributing your workkload and/or hiring additional personnel?

Is seeking another employment opportunity an option to consider?

It's seems like it might be time to weigh your options, Bill.

Nobody has ever been heard on their deathbed to say, "I should have spent more time at the office."

 

[Peter]

Hi Bill. Steve spells it out quite clearly. Time to weigh your options.

One thought, other than what Steve mentioned, is coping with the present work situation. While sorting out your options you may still need to work. My suggestion is to change your focus from deadlines, future problems, and anything else other than the task at hand. Instead of focusing on result and outcomes, focus on the present procedures that will bring you to your resulting goals. If you get caught up with results you cannot focus on procedures.

As an example: On weekends I race my bicycle, and most of the time it's full speed all the way. Whenever the race gets tough, I tend to fear that I might not cope and get left behind by the other riders. This fear takes me away from the task at hand, and I lose pedaling efficiency, and then struggle even more. This further feeds my justification for fearing failure. My coach taught me, in those situations, to shift my focus towards procedures. "Get back to basics!" he would say. When I remember this, I regain focus on my breathing, pedaling, and using every trick to conserve energy. When I do these things, I find myself handling almost anything the other riders can dish out.

Sport psychologists say; "focus on procedures and let the results take care of themselves". In this way, you not only become efficient, you will also feel satisfaction for knowing that you were efficient. Also, focusing on procedures is not stressful, it is something you already know how to do. Procedure is a known quantity, where results are not. So stick with what you know and let go of what you don't.

A side note: sometimes my coach would remind me about procedures by saying, "To finish first, you first need to finish".

 

[Futurepower3000]

Have you though about a career change?
I was going through a similar situation(the hell at work part ), and that was my action...:2thumbs:

 

[binqs]

Hi, BBB,

Another thought--is there an HR group within the company? Or an Employee Assistance program hotline? As obvious as these are, most employees ignore these assets because they do not feel like they are in enough of a crisis to ask for assistance. Mistrust of HR also plays a part. But they (HR and Employee Assistance--at least in the US) are bound by confidentiality rules and cannot disclose what an employee discuses with them by law. At the very least, they would be able to direct you to a professional--a psychologist or psychiatrist--who can help you and who accepts new patients and your insurance (again US). And there might be mentoring where you work involving a high-level employee who knows about crises and volunteers time to coach others in part about how to get through them.

There is a LOT of stress where I work. Some people quit, others transfer in-house to a different department/task/supervisor, and others get through. But all of them have a support system--and you need to feel you have one. So, however you can, find one. THEN, when you are less stressed, you can weigh your options about leaving. Take personal leave if you need to and leave guilt out of the equation. The company will go on, but you, at the moment, just can't continue this way.

Best wishes to you, Bill, and welcome to PsychLinks.