51 and so very tired from working - but I have another 15 years to go yet

@GiveDogBone I am sat here questioning as to what indeed is the point of YOUR post? If you have nothing to contribute to a popular and thought provoking thread, and it’s obvious you haven’t bothered to read the kind and helpful responses of others, then, instead, maybe you should be asking yourself what is the point in your post?

It’s hard. I have felt like you for the last few months so much so that I am currently off sick with anxiety. Nothing left in the tank. Utterly exhausted. Brought up 4 children and just as they become adults and more independent I am now dealing with my elderly mother who has had a stroke. The responsibilities are never ending. And the guilt. Work is just too much. Have decided to take partial retirement in the hope of a more balanced life. Who knows. Feel like I’m just dodging balls being lobbed at me non stop. Definitely check your physical health, vitamins, HRT etc. Good luck and no YANBU

So many of us here with health issues. Keeping on top of these can feel like a part-time job in itself.

OP I feel this, I’m taking a massive gamble and retraining, back to a degree and total shift in career, it’s the only way I can keep going is to totally change. I’m 50.

Yep, me too, a 16 year old with ASD and mental health problems who's been out of school for years and multiple elderly parents/in laws in need of lots of support - work gets about 1% of my energy these days. I like my actual job, but like other PPs, the amount of corporate 🐂 has just grown and grown, and i just can't be bothered any more.

And all the new language. Reaching out. Cascading. Touch base. Circle back.

Ffs. It's Let's just have a quick chat.

And dont even get me started on the pronouns on emails.

I'm the same age. Is going part time a
possibility financially and within the roke you do now? I work 3.5 days a week which suits me well.

I couldn't retire as attractive as it seems as i know I would be utterly bored and fall into a fug of depression. I like and need the structure of work. For another 10 years at least.

@GiveDogBone weird reply

@chinesestirfry obviously many of us feel your pain. Thirty years of working is fierce. I do envy those who still have passion for theirs.

What’s the point of this post? I’m sure most the country would prefer not to work (I get some people really like their jobs, but most would also like to retire if possible - key words “if possible”). What’s your solution?

I very much sympathise.
I’m 58 and am struggling to feel enthusiastic about anything to do with “work”. By the time you get to my age I think most people have had enough of it.
it’s all bollocks anyway.

I think I’d hate to retire ( and I’m about 20 years off that anyway!) but I’d like to do something that feels either more meaningful or is practical in some way. God knows what though. It’s not peri for me, and it’s not elderly parents ( dead) or kids ( mostly grown) it’s just office jobs I think.

That’s life.

Could you take some time off. Get a line from your Doctor to give yourself a break. I am 61 at 59 felt totally done in. I left home at 6:45am and didn't get home till 5:45pm. I took early retirement . I don't get a huge pension but it's enough. I also managed to get a job in Waitrose 2 days a week. It helps boost my income and get 20% off my weekly shopping so save about £20 a week. Best decision I ever made. Good luck

We do rainbow lanyards too. It's pretty wanky but not as bad as the dressing up days. Plus it did inspire me to get a collection of other lanyards - FBI, Dr Who, VIP, Press, etc - that I wear to amuse my grumpy self while the managers tit around in Bo Peep costumes.

Could not agree more! So sick of hearing about 'peri' this 'peri' that!

I'm 62. I've switched from a London job to a local job with a 10 minute commute which helped but it's still a struggle. I go to bed at 9pm just so I can keep going.

18 months and counting until my mortgage is paid. DS will be at university or maybe working. He'll still need some support but I'll be able to move somewhere less expensive.

I’m 45 soon, and our mortgage will be paid off when I am 67 but when I can fix again soon, I’ll be over paying. Only £30 a month to start but going to continue over paying as we want to get that paid off as early as we can. We haven’t been massively wise with money, but we are starting to save and our pension pots are good, and I pay more into my pension as well. I feel like in need to retire at 55, but I know that is sooo unrealistic.
I haven’t read all your posts but can you overpay your mortgage and get it down sooner?
It’s shit, so solidarity!

I felt like that in my late 40s. Over the period of about a month, all my ambition and drive just evaporated. I couldn't have given 2 shits about any of it. I left, took some time out and then went into something entirely different. I like my current part time job enough but I'm starting to feel physically knackered by it and wonder how long I've got left in me.

@ForWittyTealOPIm also thinking of doing a masters but I’m torn, I don’t want to waste the time and money if it won’t really improve my prospects. What are you going to study?

I think I’d take the day off and say I’m the Invisible Man 😁

not everything is hormone related but still worth exploring HRT. It gave me a lot of energy.

God not everything is hormone is related.

I swear if someone says they’ve lost an arm ‘oh is it peri’. She’s been working 30 years plus. She’s tired of it. God im 41 and im tired of it.

Unless you have a vocation yes it gets tiring and boring. And even with a vocation everyone has a limit, caring for family, working, it’s a lot stop diminishing everyone with peri peri. Life is hard sometimes.

Mine didn’t.

I had to retire at 58 because of menopause.

I'm older than you but have been through periods when my interest in work has been v low. Now I'm more enthusiastic.
In my mid 40s I did consider retraining - is there something you'd LIKE to do other than keep pushing yourself at something you are "meh" about?