I'm burning out

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

As a classic “MPSIMS is my diary”, I’d just like to whine about how I’m burning out on my job.

I had hoped to last a little longer. I only have six weeks left, after all. Unfortunately, it’s not to be. I am losing patience with my customers, interest in my job duties, and discipline in my work ethic. The past couple of days, I have done only enough work to keep out of trouble stats wise. If a supervisor were to actually listen in on my calls, I’d be one dead duck.

I resent my manager and the levels above him for taking what was once a fun, individualistic workplace and turning it into another soul devouring corporate monolith where I am only a name on the weekly list of stats and not a valued team member. There is no more humor here anymore, only signs and emails and memos that slowly chew away at my sense of being a responsible, trusted employee. Of the dozen or so members of my team, at least ten are actively looking for new jobs. The other two - myself and another - are relocating geographically in the near future, so we won’t be here anyways.

I am tired of listening to customers whine, bitch, and moan about webhosting, web page design, ecommerce, email, forms, and other technical subjects being more difficult than assembling a toy surprise from a cereal box. I am tired of the Netcom legacy engineers taking four or five days to fix a simple ticket that I don’t have server priviledges to touch - yet I still get to tell the irate customer that he’s still SOL. i am tired of bugging the Mindspring engineers about an issue only to be told that I’m smoking crack, and find out a day later that I was right, and they ended up having to take the server down because of it.

I understand that all jobs have their difficulties, their drawbacks, their ups and down, but dammit! this used to be a wonderful job. I used to love coming in, seeing my coworkers and boss, fixing my customers problems, learning new things, mentoring new employees, and making sure that my company kept the promises it made. Now, I wonder what the fucking use is, since it’s been made clear that I am only a replaceable clog in a large machine.

Okay, my whine is done. I feel marginally better. Just take my advice, and don’t get an account with Earthlink or Mindspring. Mindspring used to be a cool company that went out of its way to do excellent service. The higher ups have now fixed it so the employees have negative incentive to do so.

2

Welcome to corporate America 2000!

I had a job where I started when the company was small and it was fun! We did not mind staying late for free and working out problems, doing extra things and knowing that we were vital pieces of the machinery. Our boss made sure we knew we were appreciated.

Then the company grew, money started flowing, our boss was replaced with a corporate man and things started changing. New people came in to handle the increased loads and eventually it reached the point that we were expected to work extra free hours. Praise trickled to a stop and complaints increased about how we needed to do more, more and more. Then came the thinly veiled threats about ‘if you don’t do it, we’ll hire someone else who will,’ our input was ignored, morale dropped and more money was made. More people were hired and they started finding ways to avoid work, became argumentative, did not do the job right and the heat came down on all of us. The job was no longer fun. One day the typical ‘if you don’t do it …’ threat reached me and I turned in my keys, my data logs, packed my briefcase, told them to shove it and left.

I found another small company that was starting out and fun to work for.

CAREFUL! We don’t want to learn from this!(Calvin and Hobbs)

3

Sounds like exactly what’s going on at my company. When I started here, it was really great - everyone enjoyed working together, we were challenged, we were encouraged to contribute. I got here early and stayed late just because I wanted to do a good job. Then we were bought out. The new company said they bought us because they liked our corporate culture. Then they systematically destroyed it. They’ve been here for about a year and a half now. I’m one of three people who were here when they bought us. Even people who came in after they bought us have left in disgust. We’ve lost 10 people in the last two weeks. All corporate communication has been reduced to petty, hand-slapping little emails. The people in our regional office are nasty to us because we’ve been tagged as the uncooperative, renegade market. Our customers are leaving in droves because their services have been cut in half, they can’t get answers out of anyone, and our hands have been tied when it comes to helping them. We are not allowed to make any but the most trivial decisions locally…we have to consult our Regional director for almost everything.

I have an interview today…the guy who was my supervisor in the old company (and was downsized) called to offer me a job at his new company. Another two hours and I might be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

4

keeping my fingers crossed for C3
Not that it’s necessary, I know you’ll get the job. Where are you relocating to?

5

It’s better to burn out than to fade away…

Yer pal,
Satan

http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif

I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
One week, three days, 13 hours, 27 minutes and 20 seconds.
422 cigarettes not smoked, saving $52.80.
Life saved: 1 day, 11 hours, 10 minutes.

6

[hijack]Woohoo! Just got back from my interview…it went really well. I’m going to do some research on the company, but it sounds good, it would be a pay raise, benefits are competitive with what I have now, and most importantly, it would get me out of this place. I wouldn’t have to relocate…it’s local (South Carolina). The drawback is that I wouldn’t have 8 hours a day to play on the SDMB! With every bit of sunshine, some rain must fall. Woohoo! [/hijack]

Back to appropriate disgruntled employee mood…

7

I’m burning out on school, which technically is my full-time job until I graduate in December. A prime example is what I spent doing today. See, I’m currently taking my capstone course, the one that they force all the seniors to take. You can take one in just about any discipline, but the one thing they all have in common is the fact that they deal with issues of the modern world. Well, I took mine in Sociology, because it was the most palatable course that would fit into my schedule. It’s supposed to deal with issues in culture and development, but it’s mainly turning out to be a current events course. I have one writing assignment in the entire course, due tomorrow. It’s a review of the freakin’ textbook. Not only is this assignment ridiculous, but the textbook itself was horrible. I learned next to nothing.

Now, I could churn out 3-4 pages of utter bullshit. But no, I think I’ve been here too long. I was honest, almost brutally so. Here is the second draft of the review as it stands right now. I consider this one of my better pieces of writing, and I plan on making it better before I turn it in. And if I get a bad grade, the first thing I tell the ombud is “Hey, he didn’t specify that he only wanted a POSITIVE review.”

8

I’m in the burned out club as well. I work for a small consulting firm. It used to be, while not fun, at least interesting. Everyone was friends, we didn’t mind staying late to finish something because the bosses would be there too. (One night we had to get out 75 binders. I got to order the CEO around on putting the tabs in the right order.)

However, as we got bigger, the problems started. We’ve always had an “unwritten policy” that they expect you to work 5 hours overtime every week. Until last month, we didn’t get paid for this. If you wanted (and the workload let you), you could take it off during the month you earned it. Most people just ended up working for free at least one day a month. I worked overtime my first year. Worked my ass off, actually. And what did it get me? Nothing. I had been there 7 months, which wasn’t long enough. And we only get reviewed once a year, and no off-time raises. So I went for 19 months with no raise, and no formal review.

So what did I do? When I was passed over for a promotion that I was the ONLY one qualified for (I had to train the person that came in), I moved to another division. I spoke out against what I saw as problems. I told the management people were upset. And I got labeled as a person with a “bad attitude.” I was told to quit doing web work, because I was “a dabbler.” The web team that was brought in caused us to lose a website that I designed and maintained. No one in admin cared.

We’ve had people leaving right and left for the past 18 months. It’s been attributed to “that’s normal in the consulting business.” People I considered friends no longer speak to me because I was sick and therefore could not come into work for three days. What was I thinking, putting my health in front of work. My boss had no problem with it. In fact, he’s one of the few people that’s been great recently. One of my last friends has an interview today. It’s a formality, really - it’s with our main competitor, who will hire any of us they can.

I hate getting out of bed every day. As a few people know here, I have lupus and am clinically depressed. Having nothing to look forward to from 9 to 6 every day doesn’t help. Oh, and I almost got no raise this year. “Not enough money.” My ex-supervisor went in and fought for us, so I ended up with a 5% raise. I still don’t make enough money to afford my own apartment. I barely make enough to live now. And as for being promoted…HAH! Not a one in three years. Not that I would get a raise with it anyway.

I’ve been looking for a new job for 4 months. And no one wants to hire me. So I’m stuck here until I die or the firm folds, apparently. (I won’t go to our competitor. I’m sorry, working 12 hour days 4 days a week so you can take off Friday doesn’t work for me. This is company policy over there.)

Anyway, thanks for starting the thread, phouka. I needed to get this out.

Homepage: www.tiercel.com
Occupation: Culling slow moving vermin
Location: The wild blue yonder.
Interests: Thermals, updrafts, downdrafts, air currents in general.
(Profile by UncleBeer.)

Environment? Nah. Mood lighting and ambience is what counts. - a genuine WallyM7 sig

9

Ooh! A “bitching about burnout” thread! Can I join?

Here’s a little summary of my life lately and in the near future:

This past Monday–Pharm test.
This coming Monday–Path test.
The next Monday–Pharm final. Comprehensive over 24 weeks of material (6 credit hours). Not a huge deal, since I’ve got a B locked up and can pretty much punt it.

That Wednesday–Path oral exam.
That Friday–Path written exam. These are also comprehensive over 24 weeks of material (10 credit hours). This class is a colossal bitch. I’m going to have to bust my hump to get a B. I’d be happy with a C, but I’m on academic probation, and the policy on promotion from AP is anything but clear. I’m pretty sure I’d still pass, but you really never can tell around here.

This class is damn difficult because we usually have either old tests or specific study objectives to guide us to the more important information. Not so in Path. The class is also taught by tag team, with no prof giving more than two lectures, so we can’t get to know the professors’ styles. The book, handouts, and lectures all present a gigantic amount of detailed information, and there’s no way of knowing what level of detail we should try to learn. All we can do is learn all we can about each disease and hope for the best–which hasn’t done me very well thus far.

So I need to smoke both Friday’s exam and the two finals. The Oral Final consists of a team of professors showing us slides for fifteen minutes and saying, “Tell me about this.” Histology has never been my strong suit–these slides all look like fairly identical pink blobs to me.

Friday night, after the Path final–heavy binge drinking.

June 1–Oh, nothing big, just the USMLE Step I, an eight-hour test over the entire first two years of med school that determines whether or not we get to go on to next year. I’m actually not a tenth as worried about this as I am about finals–the USMLE deals with more clinically useful and important information, whereas our finals cover whatever the profs can pull out of their ass. (They get way up in there, too.)

Now I know what you’re saying–Dr. J, with all this studying to do, why are you posting here? That’s a good damn question. Actually, I’m on my way out to the library, to shove through the 250 flash cards (the med student’s best friend) I’ve made for Monday’s path exam. Anything you might want to know about GYN pathology, genetic disorders, or skin diseases can be found in that three-inch stack of neon-colored index cards. I would rather sit here and beat the cards against my head for the next several hours than go study them. (Every day after class, we discuss what we’d rather do than study that afternoon–“I’d rather have my spleen removed with a garden claw” was my favorite comment today.

So yep, throw me on the burnout train. I’ve spent the last 19 years sitting in classrooms listening to people talk, and then going home and actually learning the material. I’m tired of my success being determined by whether or not I fill in the correct bubbles on a sheet. We start clinical rotations next year, and we won’t see the inside of a classroom again after this year, and it’s about freakin’ time. If I can just get through the next six weeks without throwing myself in front of a speeding SUV or developing a crystal meth habit, I’ll be fine.

Dr. J

PS: Don’t get me wrong–I wouldn’t trade med school for anything. It just sucks right now.

“Seriously, baby, I can prescribe anything I want!” -Dr. Nick Riviera

10

I think burn out is my middle name these days.

I work in a school full of hormonal kids who are perculating more and more each day as we head into the end of June and summer break. Some days I feel like I’m babysitting.

My boss who I’ve worked with for 7 years is moving to another school in August.

I was passed over for a very much earned promotion because of bureaucratic bullshit. I’ve been working since I was 14 and supporting myself since I was 17. Really, who can’t use the extra money?

I’m a single parent of a wonderful little boy who keeps me hopping. He requires extra care and some nights I get no sleep due to his muscle spasms, seizures, etc. Some nights I lie awake thinking. Not about anything in particular, but I think my brain is just on overload.

I have very little family and my brother who I’m so close to is moving to another province in September, so I’ll have no family here at all.

It’s the anniversary of my mom’s death this week and I’m missing her more than ever. A close friend told me last week that I’m too young to be an orphan and she was right.

I have a not so nice ex who does next to nothing for his son and that frustrates me no end.

On the other hand…(here she goes, always screwing things up finding the good in the bad)

I have a wonderful son who loves me unconditionally. I have an incredible boss who has fought tooth and nail for me and is a very cool friend. My brother says he can’t wait for me to come visit him in his new place. The ex, well la di da… his loss.

Maybe menial stresses/frustrations, but hey, they are mine.

Oh yeah and I have PMS, but have a good stock of tylenol :wink:

Give your children these two things: One is roots, the other, wings - Wally Wally He’s our Man

11

Yay, I can be down with this crowd. And here I was about to start a thread on burn-out when i saw this one.

Anyway, I feel burned out. Why? Because I have so much school work all of a sudden. Some of this is partly my fault. It just seems like all of this work snuck up and bit me on the ass.

I knew for one class I had an essay due tomorrow a few weeks ago. But here I am writing it. My other essay it took me a long ass time to try and figure out what my topic was, and then find at least four resources to back it up (I actually stayed up all night trying to think of something, and didnt even go to bed that nigh).

I also have a political project due by the 18th of May, AND I also have to figure out my schedule before Saturday, or else I won’t get to register on the time i’m scheduled to (they’re doing online reservations).
Fortunately though, my Advisor gets to pre-approve it, then send me an email to come see her.

The political project also requires a write up about it (my prof says it can be a page long, thank goodness). Not to mention a final essay examining a conflict in my life, that applies the theories that we studied in my interpersonal communications class. Oh and I have 20 journals I have to whip up by the 25th!

I will be SO fucking glad when my summer vacation comes. I can veg out and not have to think deeply or research historical topics that have relevance to my political project. I am also not going to look for a job til summer, or else my head may explode.

Gad I hate school…

12

DoctorJ,

I notice you don’t have an e-mail address up, or I’d be e-mailing this to you.

My mom is a pathologist, and might be willing to answer any questions you have through e-mail. E-mail me if you want me to hook you two up.

13

I spent an hour talking to my father about this very topic last night. In the next two weeks, I have:

To Work 40 hours a week. Murphy’s Law, so many things have been happening around here lately, that while not a result of anything I did or failed to do, become my fault. My boss is not happy with me, because I didn’t put out props for a class which were not listed on the prop list. Doesn’t matter, I’m quitting sometime in the summer, anyway.

I am taking 9 100-level classes at UVM. Breaks down like this:

I have one class of my Shakespeare in Film course. I also have to present a 30 minute presentation, contrasting two or more of the films we’ve studied, and do a write up on that presentation. Everyone else in the class had at least one partner. I am the only one attempting this alone. The reason is that I simply couldn’t jive scheduals with anyone else because of work and:

My stat’s class. I am failing. I missed a week of classes, and am totally behind. I have about 6 weeks of homework that I didn’t hand in. The exam is in two weeks. We have a team semester-long project that is due on Monday. I got stuck with the two most indecisive, annoying, stupid chicks in the class. They keep changing the project, because they don’t like the topic. THEY chose the topic without consulting me, and then they complain about it. I met with them Tuesday, realised we had an assload of work to do, and told them I’d try to take a half day Wednesday, as I had to watch a movie for my film class. I told them to call me at work and gave them my work number. They didn’t call. At 2:00 yesterday, I left the office and went to the library to watch the film. I then raced upstairs to post a responce to the e-mail discussion list, as that is a part of our grade. One of the chicks in the “team” sauders over, and says “Oh, I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer.” (which is bull-sh1t, I have voice-mail) I told her in the calmest tone I could that I was there until 2:00, and that I told them I was going to take a half-day anyway, so I really shouldn’t have been there later than noon. And that I had to go to class in 10 minutes. She pouted, and said “::sigh:: Well…come over and talk to us when you’re done here.” And stomped off. I finished what I was doing, walked over to them, to find that they decided to spit the work load, and that one of them took the introduction, one took the methods, and that left me with the results. In other words, they took the writing, and left me with the numbers. I’m failing the class, I have no idea what to do with the numbers, and told them so. I told them that I could imput them into the computer, run a regression, but I can’t interpret them. And furthermore, what numbers am I supposed to crunch? Doesn’t that entirely depend on what Methods are? How will I know what she’s writing about? They shrugged and told me that they would figure it out and call me after I was done with my class. I call one of them after class, and THEY DIDN’T DECIDE ANYTHING. She told me to go on the net and find numbers myself. Keep in mind that I have found the majority of information in the project already. But I now have to find statistics that link smoking, low birthweight AND rural residency. ARG!

Combine that with a make-up exam in my psych class, a final in my psych class, two case studies in (what else?) my psych class, and an exam in my stat’s class that I am unprepared for because I couldn’t figure out any of the homework, and the TA only has two office hour sessions, which conflict with my work schedual.

I started crying in my boss’s office this morning, I have a crap-load of work to do today, and have rehersal tonight at 5:30 for a theater group I’m involved in. I think I’m going to leave early.

On top of all that, I got my period today, so my hormones are out of whack, and I took an amitrypophene last night to sleep, because I haven’t been sleeping well/at all lately, and between the stress, the hormones, and the after-effects of the sleeping pill, I feel like I’m on a low dosage of special K and can’t concentrate on anything. I just feel like I’m floating.

I’m burned to a crisp.

A little persistance goes a long way. Announcing:

“I go on guilt trips a couple of time a year. Mom books them for me.” A custom made Wally .sig!

14

Make that 9 100-level CREDITS. 3 classes. Oy vey iz mir.

A little persistance goes a long way. Announcing:

“I go on guilt trips a couple of time a year. Mom books them for me.” A custom made Wally .sig!

15

Drain Bead–thanks. I keep meaning to put my e-mail address in my profile…

I think I have it under control–it isn’t that I don’t understand the subject, I’m just fighting 1.)sheer volume of material, and 2.)utter lack of motivation. I’ll be fine, I just needed to vent.

I’ll keep it in mind, though… :slight_smile:

Dr. J

“Seriously, baby, I can prescribe anything I want!” -Dr. Nick Riviera