A burned-out reader recently got in touch with us at Fast Track:
I’ve been at my job for two years, and I’m getting bored. The
things I’m working on are repetitive, and I’m starting to get
increasingly annoyed with day-to-day nuisances. I’m essentially having
to restrain myself from biting my coworkers. About a year ago, my direct
manager left, and was never replaced– instead, they removed his
position and shuffled his responsibilities to me and a coworker. In
addition, over the last year, the product I work on has grown a lot:
we’ve had some success, which is good, but it comes with a lot more work
and responsibility. I’m the only one working on that project, and
things keep getting dumped on me, from big tasks to administrative
details that someone else really should handle, but which end up on my
plate as “I’m the only one who knows this project.”
My boss meanwhile seems to want us to keep growing, and wants
more results, faster, with tighter deadlines and more elements. I’m
starting to feel a bit burned out. It’s gotten to the point where I
can’t even really manage to take a sick day properly — there’s too much
to do, and all the eggs are in my basket, and can’t be left unattended
even for a minute. Most troubling, I’m bored with the work I’m doing: so
more’s expected of me, but I’m feeling pressured and lethargic about
producing the same stuff over and over again.
As I’ve felt the burnout approaching, I’ve tried to halt it: I’ve
spoken to my boss about getting some help and she’s made sympathetic
noises, but nothing has come of it, other than to actually add more work
to my plate. I’ve tried to find ways to get excited about my tasks
again, trying new things and new ideas, but they all tend to fizzle in
this general funk of gloom. So, I think the time is coming for me to
move on. . . only I can’t. I’m planning to go to grad school next year,
to help get me to the next level of my career which will excite me
again. In this economy, I can’t imagine finding another job that pays as
well as my current position, and I wouldn’t want to take a job for the
nine months between now and school, only to leave so quickly.
Any advice about not hating my job as much as getting through
till May? I’d really like to get there without stabbing a coworker with a
pen or crying in my shower on a daily basis.
For my take as well as terrific advice from three other career and workplace experts, check out the full post on the Fast Track blog.
Recent Comments