Has anyone ever had such a high workload that they've forgotten what a normal workload is like?

@Babbahabba I agree with you wholeheartedly. But you will find a lot of SAHMs say that they have a "job."

Another teacher. I work 4 days but easily do 5 days work in this time and am very efficient. I know I do more than many of my colleagues who are on a higher pay scale than me, which is somewhat galling!

However, I now refuse to do anything at weekends. The effort of setting and keeping to this boundary felt huge - almost physical - but I'm glad I have done it (can't say the same for evenings or my day off, however -that's the next target)

And being a parent isn't a job. It's a lifestyle choice.

@Sheri99 what do you thinking working parents do when we're not in work? 🤣 Usually all annual leave is spent looking after the kids too.

I may not be a parent of 4, but I also brought up a DC (with SNs) while working FT and also dealing with a DH with long hours (and a period of 4 years where he spent just less than 2 weeks here and just over 2 weeks on the other side of the globe every month during the crash when DC was in early primary school).

I don't think that trumps the workload in work - it's just different. Very very different. As you have a far better idea about the timelines and expectations and are far better able to manage relationships and have more control over the outcomes than working at the various roles I have done in my career (mostly in 1 civil service department but across a very wide range of issues).

Yes - over the past two years on a major project. My part was on the home straight but the project was delayed for six months as others weren't. I don't know what to do with myself. I've been working from home and finishing early etc.

That said I start my new role next week while keeping responsibility for my part of the project and managing team etc. so this relief is only short term.

Yes i worked in mergers & acquisitions for a few years. I would get to the office at 7am and not leave until 10pm or later.

It was stupid, people were all stressed and tired and it had become an unproductive cycle where 90% of the people had to work long hours to get things done because they were too tired/stressed to perform well and it was pure presenteeism, dickheads competing for who could work the longest hours.

When i left it was amazing. People aty new job gave me funny looks when i wasn't walking out the door at 5.05, I got my life back.

Until very recently I was a primary headteacher the workload combined with the responsibility was immense . If there wasn't a crisis you'd be waiting for the next one !
It's strange now I have so much more headspace even though I'm doing a masters course and hold down 2 part time jobs they all have start and finish times , if I'm unwell I won't go to work .

I'm not thinking and planning all the time .
Also because of changes in my life , kids leaving home etc my new life provides the same level of 'extra' income that my old life did . I don't even work full time now !

When I'm at work I'm in charge of 30 kids at a time, not 4, so no it doesn't really feel like a vacation! I was a SAHM for a little while. Admittedly for only 2 dc, but it was a piece of cake compared with being at work. Plus of course, you still have to actually do parenting stuff when you have a job.

if you want to talk to another charity worker feel free to message me - you should not be having to work like this and I wonder what role you are in that has a caseload like that?? Happy to chat!!

My last job was like that. I worked late into the evenings and over most of the weekend. Easily doing 50 plus hours a week.

It was making me miserable. I took the difficult decision a year ago to leave (difficult because of my large team who were really upset) and it’s been the best decision of my career. My new job is paid 20k less, but I barely notice it as I was paying so much tax, and I have no pressure whatsoever.

Like someone upthread said, it took months for the relief to kick in but a year on, I’m a different person.

I work for a civil service dept which has a very high workload made even higher by the regular unpredictable events and fire fighting that happen simply because of the nature of the business we are in. It's the same across all depts though and we are all in the same boat. You get used to it.

Not now bit as a children and families social worker. I worked out at one point I had approximately one hour a week for every child on my case load - to meet them and their parents, do parenting support work, assess risk, attend child protection meetings, write the reports for those meetings, prepare for court/hearing, do follow up work, remove children and find places for them to live, do transitions into/out of care placements, attend training and team meetings. Absolutely impossible to work safely so I left for a non-practice role which is still very busy, but no lives at risk if I miss something.

Yes. As an academic I spent 30 years - from doing a PhD while lecturing, through the last 20 years as a Head of Department or other leadership role, plus successive research grants working an average of 60 hour weeks. In the last 5 years, I’ve stopped doing that and gosh, it’s amazing to sleep in until 7am and stop work at 7pm!

Yep, nurse Ward Manager! Ridiculous workload. I burnt out and have just left after 2.5 years.

I do think I might struggle with slowing the pace for my new job. Think it will be a big adjustment.

Make that 3 full time jobs. Managing the mum guilt & conflicting interests is a whole other workload in itself.

Being a parent of four. 24/7, 365, for 30 years. No sick leave; no vacation leave. Why do people complain about work? Work would have been a vacation. Count your blessings while looking for another job

😂

Wow. I've two full time jobs in that case. Go me. Total over-achiever here 🥳

I've been in reactive roles in teams that are either understaffed, or staffed by completely inappropriate/ineffective workers, with timeframes dictated by legislation for so long that I now only have 2 working speeds: break neck or stop. I can't pace myself anymore. I do, however, know my signs of burnout really well & what to do about it. There far less demanding roles in my profession but I have sole responsibility for 3 children so I need this money.

This is exactly what I do as a senior lecturer. Not full time so I don't have to teach as many classes and I can just about manage my workload but I'm still choosing which deadline to miss, which tutees I can't see early enough in the semester, which tasks to ignore.

I don't have research in my contract which makes it worse. Colleagues in research contracts often don't do any just to cope with the workload but I do more teaching than them and get no research leave. It's very unfair.

And then situations crop up daily that need urgent attention so meeting paperwork deadlines is nigh on impossible. I have a chronic illness now so I do refuse to work weekends as I have to rest to physically cope. Some stuff just isn't done now.

yes. I am a teacher as well. i work from home all the time, am exhausted, and never caught up. I love the actual teaching and am too old to switch fields, but don’t know how Inwill
make it to retirement.

Why did you do it then? You could have got a job.

Yes, I had a whole 6 weeks of slightly slower workload (a normal one for many and my boss was trying to get me to slow down) at the start of lockdown in 2020...then some emergency legislation was needed, then someone else moved and a larger piece of legislation needed to be delivered on a timeline...and so it's continued.

I knew my current post would be busy but it's ridiculous - it seriously is more than 2 people's work in many other places. But we give a Govt Dept in charge of staffing who only want to save money, even if it means people will have heart attacks trying to do what's needed. (I am not kidding, someone who did my role died at their desk 9 years ago). I take plenty of vitamins and supplements daily and try to get a walk in fresh air as well to decompress....

But I have always had busy roles and above average workloads, in over 20 years here.

You are not being serious?

Like thousands, I have children to look after on top of working full time. No sick leave or annual leave from my kids and do it all around work.

Yes civil Service. Did 25 years and for the most part was working 10-14 hour days on a regular basis for years on end. I know the CS has a reputation for good working conditions but it is very variable and, as others have said, the pressure from the top plus a desire to reduce pressure on the team mean that those stuck in the middle get squashed. I now do four part time jobs in other sectors and, while still fighting workaholic tendencies and dealing with significant health issues, it is much more manageable.

@Sheri99

Because some people work AND parent. I’ve brought up two kids, one with additional needs, while working full time.