How do you deal with job burnout?

[snugglegirl05]

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=80949

I am getting job burnout at my job. The link above explains my job situation. How do I deal with it? I need my job while looking for a full-time job.

[ShadowBall]

I know a few other folks here may recall my posts from when I was at the call center...while I know some may enjoy that line of work, for me, it was incredibly stressful and my boss was a right bitch to me. I was angry and burned out a lot on basically a daily basis there. So since I could not beat her to a bloody pulp without suffering legal repercussions, here's what I often did:

If I could, I'd try and take breaks as much as I could. Not super long ones since I'd get yelled at if my hours were off by even a minute...but just here and there so I didn't scream at people on the phone. I also made big holes in the top of my desk with scissors as a way to vent my anger without harming anyone. Also drew graphic pictures of my boss in various stages of mutilation and/or intelligence. That one was very therapeutic for me.

My old boss did kinda-sorta similar shit to me - told me one thing when she really meant something else, had ridiculous expectations of me, verbally harassed me on a weekly basis...nothing was ever good enough for that slag, so I just quit trying. I did the barest of the bare minimum - if they're going to fuck me over every which way, they are getting no effort whatsoever.

Best of luck on finding another job, though. I hope you can find something that isn't as annoying as the thing you're doing now. (hugs)

[Rapscallion]

Quite frankly, the decision to leave - and knowing you're going to do it - is one of the biggest stress relievers going. Knowing that you no longer have to do more than the bare minimum is a big weight off your mind.

Embrace it.

Rapscallion

[tropicsgoddess]

It sucks they cut your hours and your bosses aren't happy with you no matter how much you bust your ass, but on the bright side this is your blessing in disguise. This is your chance to relax, find a better job. Back in '05 I worked at a call center and was on the outbound B2B survey project. The first three months I was there, the original supervisor, K and I got along great and despite the fact that I was a newbie, she went up to bat for me when I wanted to try out for getting promoted to Quality Assurance. But then, another project upstairs that did health insurance folded and the supervisor from that project, M took over K's spot and K was on another division of the B2B survey project. M was a bitch. I HATED her. Most people hated her because of her "my shit don't stink attitude", micro-managing and favoritism. She treated you like gold if you were one of her pets but if you weren't her pets she treated you like shit. Months later the project folded because the client company was going through a merger with another company and while that happened management gave us the option to switch over and train for other projects with openings or to leave the company. I put in to switch to the cosmetic customer service project but while I was waiting for training to begin (which wasn't for a week) , I called and applied to other companies, did interviews on my time off and ended up getting a higher paying and better job. Afterwards I went to the old call center, turned in my badge and headset. It'll get better from all this.

[Moirae]

Honestly, I have yet to figure out how to deal with it. I'm burned out too. I need a new job, because I can't take the crap here anymore, but I need to stay here until I do find another job. I wish I knew what to tell you to do.

[Pezzle]

I actually don't deal with job burnout very well. My normal solution is to keep going, telling myself "just one more day" until I finally go over my boiling point, snap, yell and tell everyone to go jump in a lake and never return. I've only burned 2 bridges that way though (Staples is one of them)

[snugglegirl05]

Update

Although my immediate supervisor told me he does not have any jobs to place me in, another supervisor might. I have been working at this location since March 2006...5 years. The job will never change. I have been doing the same job every Monday through Friday. I feel my time is up.

So to avoid the consequences of what could happen if I do not improve, especially when I am burned out, I will e-mail my direct supervisor this on Monday.

So I will let him know on Monday that I need a change.

[bainsidhe]

So I will let him know on Monday that I need a change.

If you're not that close to your supervisor, try to avoid explaining how burned out and frustrated you are. Not that your feelings aren't valid, it's just that I'd treat it as if I were asking for an interview and put my best foot forward.

Feelings aside, you can frankly state that your job position and duties have changed over the years and you no longer seem to be the proper fit for the people there. Even more than that, a reduction in hours/pay and removal of health benefits is another great reason to be moved.

I'm sorry you're getting burned out, been there done that. At least in my case it was a 2nd p/t job, so I just quit. I felt like throwing up when going to work and I started getting anxiety attacks. Sad as it is, I didn't immediately improve after quitting because I stayed too long after burnout and it took time to recover. But I did get better and anxiety attacks are now few and far between.

You need a different environment, period. Of course, you still have bills to pay and can't burn bridges if you want a paycheck. Take it a day at a time. I found that forcefully cheering myself up helped me prolong the time before my final burnout. What I mean is, when I caught myself focusing on how miserable I was, I'd immediately start telling myself how grateful I was to have my job and to be paying off my bills, etc. I focused on the good things that my paycheck had allowed me to do and I told myself I was there because I chose to be, not because I had to be. I forcefully distracted myself with happier thoughts, and although that didn't stop the burnout completely, it slowed it down quite a bit.

Whatever happens, I wish you the best of luck in finding something better.

[snugglegirl05]

Progressive Disciplinary Report I received

Back in July, the night-time manager at the parking company I work for came to the university I work at as a contract parking attendant to give me some pointers on communicating with customers without taking too much time. He came up with a spiel.

So I started using the spiel.

There were times when I dealt with customers at the booth window, & a customer either at the entrance gate call box pressed the call button on the call box *because they bypassed the Visitor parking booth* or a customer at the exit gate pressed the call button on the call box because their token would not work. Either 1) the phone call would be transferred to me or 2) the Parking office employee who took the call raised the gate for the customer to exit if it was a customer at the exit gate. Several times I was assisting a customer at the window when either one happened. If I was assisting a customer at the window, I would let the parking office know that & that I would assist the other customer as soon as I could. If the parking office employee had to raise the gate for a customer, I would get a phone call from them, & they would be pissed. If I was assisting a customer at that time, I would let them know that. Whenever a paying customer bypassed the Visitor parking booth, I told the customer to pay at the Parking office.

Then earlier last week, my immediate supervisor came by to let me know that my hours had been reduced from 40 hours a week to 33 hours a week due to the client going with a cheaper contract rate. He also told me that my work schedule would change from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday to 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. every Friday. He then gave me a progressive disciplinary report which stated 1) the client, Andrea, complained to him about my difficulty adjusting to the changing work procedures & 2) my difficulty communicating to customers. For # 2, I have no idea what she meant. I have been working at this job since March 2006. Between March 2006 & this year, I never received complaints about my difficulty communicating to customers until last week. It does not make any sense to me.

I realized last week that I am slowly getting burned out working at this job. I have been working at the client site for 5 years. I need a change. I do not want things to get worse for me because at the bottom of the disciplinary report it states if I do not improve, I could either 1) receive a 3 to 5 day suspension or 2) be terminated. I do not want either one to happen. Obviously the client is not happy with my work performance. I also do not want things to get worse because I do not want to dread going into work or go through what some of the customerssuck.com members posted about that happened to them.

I worked a short-term job with a manager who was like Andrea, & many mornings I literally dreaded going into work. I do not want that to happen at this job.

So I need to let my immediate supervisor know that I need a change.

[snugglegirl05]

This morning

I e-mailed my direct supervisor. I also looked at the disciplinary report I received last week, & it states that my new schedule begins on April 22nd. It is August 22nd.

The good thing about the change is that the majority of the reseved events happen on the first shift.

[Nemesis44UK]

My heart goes out to you. I too am stuck in a job full of fail, because of one person's attitude. I hope you find something better soon.

Honestly, I can understand people going postal sometimes

[emt_cookies]

The only way I dealt with the stress was to leave my job and begin working at another place. I was really burnt out at my old retail job to the point of where I would text all the time and do almost no work. My coworkers had the same issues where we were all burnt out and we mostly would complain about the managers. My blood pressure rose 20 points in both numbers and my heart rate was up about thirty beats consistently. The first time someone took my blood pressure with the raised numbers was back in March and I thought they did it wrong. Then a few other people would take my blood pressure and they'd get the increased numbers. Several coworkers, fire department's monitor, and doctor's office all had similar readings (electronic and manual).

Now, it's back to my average numbers after a month of knowing I was going to leave and a month on my new job, my heart rate and blood pressure has dropped back down to what it was.