I’ve noticed (with the help of family members and my SO) that I’ve become very negative, cynical and drained lately. Reading about burnout, I find all of the symptoms to be true for myself.

My job requires me to work on a single project full-time, and a couple of small side-projects. The management of the project is very chaotic and I feel more and more inadequate for my position. Priorities constantly change and just looking at the week’s schedule in Monday, I can tell the we’re not going meet the set goal by Friday. It has been like that for more than a year. It doesn’t help that I’ve become very pessimistic about the main project’s future.

Outside of work, I don’t have much free time. The little I have, I try to spend with my loved ones. Hobbies and other interests are on the back burner.

As the title implies, I don’t have the option of quitting or taking a sabbatical at the moment.

I know kbin is not a replacement for therapy but I was just wondering if anyone has been through this and found anything helpful other that distancing from their current workplace.

  • Romdeau4
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    31 year ago

    I set strict restrictions and limits on my work-life balance. My company can throw all the work they want at me between the hours of 9 and 5. Anytime outside that range, I’m not an employee, I’m a husband and a father. If my phone rings at 5:15, it goes to voicemail until tomorrow morning. I’m an IT consultant, so I have the luxury of never being on call or working weekends.

    • OteronOP
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      21 year ago

      Thank you!

      I should probably do something similar and mute all my notifications from work after work-hours. Sometimes people like to explain tasks for me in the evening to not forget them the next day. It really doesn’t help with unwinding.

      • Unaware7013
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        21 year ago

        My org has similar issues, and I also have to take the oncall rota on a schedule, so I’ve found that setting my work chat alerts to only trigger when I get @'d and only syncing email after hours when oncall makes things so much better. I have the ability to be reached when necessary, but I can turn off pretty easy once the day is over because people aren’t going to buzz my phone for every dumb thing they feel they have to do at night instead of having a life.

      • density
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        21 year ago

        easier said than done: don’t work when you aren’t at work.

        you you need to work evenings because it is more convenient to explain things to you than bank the time and take days off.

    • BeardedDragon
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      11 year ago

      I have the exact opposite experience. Tho I’m chronically single so that changes things. I like working until 7-8 pm some days and just relax for an hour or two in the afternoon on others.