Help! Burnout! Really stressed

Emmotha

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hi all
Looking for advice work / health wise.

We recently lost a headcount in our team and I've taken on a lot more work. My boss didn't work it all out properly and I'm trying to fit a 60 hour job into 37 hours. I'm doing about a 50 hour week and still not finishing work. I'm getting really stressed and missing meals, or just grabbing chocolate.
I can't relax, my BG has gone to **** and I feel pants.
Can't take holiday either as no one to cover.

I feel like I cant cope with it all and my health is really suffering. Any advice??
 
K

Kat100

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Hello , time to step back and re evaluate what is right for you , perhaps a more work life balance ....
Sounds like you need a really good rest ...look after yourself ....kat
 
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himtoo

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why can't everyone get on........
Hi Emmotha
it is really easy to offer advice from the outside but as being someone who has experienced this myself at a younger time in my life it is really a tough one when you are in the thick of it :(
looking back as a 56 year old I now know that in reality you are just a number in work and that you will not be any better thought of for putting in the superhuman effort -- it will be you that suffers -- nobody else.

all you can do is your best for your contracted hours and a bit of overtime ( enough to get the job you have in front of you done at quitting time )

any more and you risk your health. -- some may disagree with me but if you don't put yourself first and go home on time nobody else is going to do it for you -- ditch the guilt and stress -- think of you !!!!!!:)
 
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catherinecherub

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You boss would have to manage if you are off sick so please don't think you cannot take time off.
The longer you put up with this stressful situation then you will become ill and stress is the last thing that anybody needs diabetic or not.
Have you spoken to your boss?
 
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LucySW

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Hi Emmotha
it is really easy to offer advice from the outside but as being someone who has experienced this myself at a younger time in my life it is really a tough one when you are in the thick of it :(
looking back as a 56 year old I now know that in reality you are just a number in work and that you will not be any better thought of for putting in the superhuman effort -- it will be you that suffers -- nobody else.

all you can do is your best for your contracted hours and a bit of overtime ( enough to get the job you have in front of you done at quitting time )

any more and you risk your health. -- some may disagree with me but if you don't put yourself first and go home on time nobody else is going to do it for you -- ditch the guilt and stress -- think of you !!!!!!:)
Himtoo, I want you for President, as well as Spiker. A job share, perhaps. Every word you've spoken above is right. Emmotha, it's true.
 
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tim2000s

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@Emmotha, you really need to have a chat with your boss. You don't need to bring the topic of diabetes up, but you should raise your concerns about the amount of resource in the team and the fact that you are now doing more than you are contracted for.

Make him aware that it is having an impact on your personal life and your health.

In the mean time, do your damnedest to eat properly (and if that means dropping out at lunch, etc, to manage your diabetes properly, just do it). As @himtoo mentioned, you have to look after number one first and remember that the law is on your side to do this.

Firstly, look after yourself and make sure that you stay well. Secondly look after everything and everyone else. If you don't do the first, you sure as hell can't do the second.
 
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Jaylee

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hi all
Looking for advice work / health wise.

We recently lost a headcount in our team and I've taken on a lot more work. My boss didn't work it all out properly and I'm trying to fit a 60 hour job into 37 hours. I'm doing about a 50 hour week and still not finishing work. I'm getting really stressed and missing meals, or just grabbing chocolate.
I can't relax, my BG has gone to **** and I feel pants.
Can't take holiday either as no one to cover.

I feel like I cant cope with it all and my health is really suffering. Any advice??

Hi,

I really do feel your pain.. There really isn't a lot i can add as all basses seemed to have been covered eloquently by previous posters. which i endorse..
I have noticed from my own past experience that in these situations the rotas tend to have been arranged to suit the "interests" of those in a position to do so. Along with certain colleagues with more "political prowess".. This includes getting dropped in on a day off at the last minute. or even on one occasion when i should have been "flagged up" as on leave.! (Getting a call from work while in Spain isn't funny.) :rolleyes:

A compromise can be negotiated or the alternative regarding shuffling "man power" about with one more out of the equation for your manager don't bare thinking about! ;)
 
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Brunneria

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How are the rest of the team coping?

I agree with everything said above.
But it is also very important that you do not come off as the weak link.
And that you don't express your unhappiness with the situation in a feminine way.

By that I mean:
'I can't cope' comes over as weak, feminine and cry baby
While
'It is physically impossible to meet these targets with the manpower available. We need to... ' comes over as a constructive flagging of a future pothole in productivity

Having said that, you know that you can cope better with anything if you are on top of your diabetes, so please make that your first priority.
:)
 
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DeejayR

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Nothing to add except best wishes for a good outcome. All the viable options are covered above, as said, but only you can decide which path to take.
When it happened to me I became a drunk, so don't do that :facepalm:
 
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Emmotha

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Thanks all. Some great advice. I'm seeing my boss on Monday and this has definitely helped me think how to phrase it all. @Brunneria good tip about about wording too! I put off meeting with him Friday as I felt like that, so this all really helps me prepare.

Other members in the team have been there much longer and weren't as silly as me and pushed back on extra workload.
 
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DeejayR

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Sounds like a plan, well done everyone. Do keep this thread going until it's resolved, @Emmotha
 
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graj0

Guest
hi all
Looking for advice work / health wise.

We recently lost a headcount in our team and I've taken on a lot more work. My boss didn't work it all out properly and I'm trying to fit a 60 hour job into 37 hours. I'm doing about a 50 hour week and still not finishing work. I'm getting really stressed and missing meals, or just grabbing chocolate.
I can't relax, my BG has gone to **** and I feel pants.
Can't take holiday either as no one to cover.

I feel like I cant cope with it all and my health is really suffering. Any advice??

It's been said, I hope you have a sensible meeting with the boss on Monday and that he does something constructive to help the situation. It's good to be keen to help, but be careful and look after yourself.
 
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smidge

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Hi Emmotha!

I really feel for you. The situation is not good - I hope you've not been thinking 'I must take on the extra work, stay the longer hours etc etc to prove that my diabetes doesn't affect my ability to do my job' - that way lies madness! Believe me, I've been there! I'd only been in a new job with a new employer 3 months when I was diagnosed and I really felt like I had something to prove. Luckily I was in my early 40s when diagnosed and have seen very many situations where good staff have been overworked, stressed and forced out - in the end, no matter what you do and how good you are eventually you will come into contact with someone who doesn't like you, doesn't see things how you see them etc and simply doesn't want you in their team - so my advice would be to value yourself as a person, prioritise your health and never define yourself by your work - jobs come and go. So, speak calmly and logically to your boss about your workload, keep your CV up-to-date and an eye out for other opportunities - no matter how the current situation plays out, it never hurts to have choices :)

Smidge
 
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Emmotha

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thanks all. I saw the doctor this morning and she has signed me off for a week! Not what I wanted at all but she seemed very concerned about my readings.

Now won't everyone at work just think I'm weak and not capable?
 

jack412

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thanks all. I saw the doctor this morning and she has signed me off for a week! Not what I wanted at all but she seemed very concerned about my readings.

Now won't everyone at work just think I'm weak and not capable?
they can think what they want..you are going to have T1 for the rest of your life..find a job you like, set boundaries and money second. now that I'm old, I know health has to come first
 
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himtoo

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why can't everyone get on........
when i was your age ( young ) i would have agreed with you. if you are able try and stand outside yourself and view this as all of us posting do ( i know a bit biased :) ).
you will be much less use to your company if you end up being signed off for 8 weeks to get over a breakdown or a bad hypo that your endo deems you unsuitable to drive for example.
use this week to focus on yourself and as always take it 1 day at a time.

and when you are ready to go back get in there and kick some a** !!!!!
 
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Emmotha

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Hi All.

Quick update. I've been pulling back on meetings that aren't really relevent to me and explaining that my time is very constrained and even though I would like to attend the meeting, unless I can truly add or get value I won't be able to.

Feedback I received is that I'm being uncollaborative!
 

DeejayR

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Not a team player, eh? I've been there. I've been retired 15 years but still have nightmares -- you know, deadline approaching, lost in a labyrinthine building, nobody to help etc. I was dragged from the brink of despair by Dilbert, Scott Adams' cartoon strip, where I met lost souls like myself. No one else in the office understood the irony of those little cartoon strips but |I cherished them and have since seen them in offices all over the place ... where they aren't banned by management, that is.
End of ramble. Wishing you well.
 
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Robbity

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Hi All.

Quick update. I've been pulling back on meetings that aren't really relevent to me and explaining that my time is very constrained and even though I would like to attend the meeting, unless I can truly add or get value I won't be able to.

Feedback I received is that I'm being uncollaborative!
Make the b***ers tell you where their priorities lie then - do these meetings take priority over your workload? They can then take the blame if you get behind. I was once pushed into doing this, and it certainly gave my boss pause for thought... I wasn't normally very brave but frustration finally gave me the courage.

Robbity
 
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daisybird64

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I do not have diabetes
Totally agree with Himtoo. Now I'm no longer able to working as disabled due to back pain I realise I was just a number. Step back. Talk to your boss and don't be intimidated. You will be no good to them if you carry on driving yourself into the ground! Health and family should always come first. Life is precious and too short. You don't know what is around the corner so enjoy it ☺
 
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