How busy is your working day?

[Cheshiregap]

I don’t want to be outing but will try and describe my job as best I can. I am finding it stressful but I’m not sure whether I’m deluded and that most jobs are like this. My previous long term position I could work at my own pace so I’m finding this new job tough.

So, it’s 9-5, 30 minutes for lunch, no other scheduled breaks. It’s highly technical advise by email and phone. Making a mistake can be very costly to the organisation. We are a team of 6 but due to holidays and part timers we are almost always not a full team.

The phones don’t stop all day, call after call, some detailed, in depth enquires needing mathematical calculations, almost all calls require some sort of email response. By the time you are in the middle of typing that email up the phone is already ringing for the next enquiry.

That’s without the 25ish email enquiries that each person is expected to complete each day from the email enquiry system. Some are quick, easy replies, some require up to 20 complex calculations, a spreadsheet or very detailed advice. Most days I finish at 5 feeling physically ill. My head hurts, my jaw hurts from either clenching it or speaking too much. I’m burning out.

Is this the norm for most people? I’m not sure how much longer i can carry on like this. It’s sad as I love the content of the job but it’s relentless. I fear it’s going to make me il.

I sympathise. I used to do what sounds like a similar job and remember that feeling well. It put me off answering the phone in the evening for a very long time.

You sound under resourced. I think you need to let a manager or hr know how you feel or you'll end up being off ill and they'll be even more stretched.

If it's an option for you, could you reduce your hours?

I work 7.30 - 5.30/6 9 days out of 14. My day is full on from the start to the end. I sometimes have a quieter hour early afternoon (not always) but no actual time off for lunch or breaks.

The one perk I have is no commute.

I reckon I can keep going at this rate for a maximum of two more years. My next move will see the same number of hours but a lot less to do in that time.

To answer your question, my job now is incredibly busy and varied but I'm not tied to a phone. It's more physical interruptions. I can go and find a private meeting room to work in if I need to.

I spend an awful lot of time talking to people. That can be exhausting.

I have an hour for lunch and it's not frowned upon to take it. I leave early or work late depending on workload and largely because I enjoy my work and get absorbed in it.

Thanks all. It’s the constant interruption by the phone that’s exhausting. You need to concentrate and answer emails accurately and carefully. It can take hours to get one email enquiry done as you are constantly being stopped by the phone. I’m always living in dread of making mistakes. The level of concentration required is hard. I’m spending by evenings and weekends feeling anxious and I’ve almost always got eye or head ache.

I’m 7-7 5 days a week. Same as you, a mistake could be very costly. I have to provide an opinion or act in a way where all the responsibilities fall on me and so would the consequences.
Your job sounds rough but unfortunately (and I don’t agree with it) short lunch breaks, no breaks and full on jobs just seem to be a fact of modern life.

I have a busy day, but it’s not like clocking in, no breaks, 30 minute lunch, quotas, clocking out.

I start work around 7:30 on the train, work til 9:30, get off train to go into the office, work til 3:45, no official breaks or lunch but I do what I time for (some days I take 15 minutes for lunch, then run an errand, other times I just eat as I work and don’t leave the building all day), go back to the train, work 2 ish hours on the train, home by 7-8, put dc to bed, check emails, sometimes work another 30 minutes to an hour, then to bed around 10, up at 6am to repeat.

I don’t have a high pressure day where all work has to happen 9-5 with quotas to meet, but I do work like all day the days I work, from the moment I get on the train until I go to sleep, with breaks for dc, driving, etc. That is the norm in my field though. I’d feel weird leaving at 5 and doing nothing til the morning.

You are burning out ,
That way of working must be affecting everyone speak to your manager about how it does not give any time to concentrate

If you are feeling like this then others must be

In the meantime self care , go for short walk at lunchtime , eat well , and cut caffeine and booze out

If all else fails then start your exit plan
It sounds exhausting , I don’t have the same type of job but I have worked that relentlessly too with a huge amount of pressure to get it right as mistakes would be costly

8.5hr shifts, 30 mins break, 2 x 15 mins also (1 am and 1 pm)
Take between 80-200 calls every day, and deal with anything from 10-40 emails on top of that. You can't take a call and reply to email at the same time as you need to be typing on the call
Some days is fairly easy, some days I don't want to speak to anyone, ever again!

Speak to your manager, it shouldn't be like that.in fact, I've never worked anywhere that was so busy it made me ill.

My current job is not busy, we get steady work but on Fridays we might get a few hours without any queries!

I've just gone back to work after mat leave and am finding my job a lot more full-on than I remember it! There isn't much I have to do by phone, but I share my workload with one other person and our manager (who deals with the more complex queries/issues) so we're always busy. Our work is specialist/advisory within our organisation and accuracy is incredibly important in what we do. Likewise, working to deadlines which are important legally, not just internally. I love what I do and most days wouldn't change it, but there's no such thing as an off day which can be stressful!

I work longer hours in a high stress job - usually 7.30 until 5.30 and take work home with me - but it’s a very rewarding job (emotionally if not necessarily financially) which I think can make all the difference. I think when a job is high stress and yet not fulfilling, which is what yours sounds like, that can be very draining. But really I don’t think a 9-5 job with a scheduled break should cause a burn out - so if it’s causing you mental health problems I think maybe you should look into changing jobs if possible.

Makes me realise how lucky I am. 45 minute commute by carto start work at 8.30. Lunch 30 mins if you want to leave at 4.30, one hour if you want to leave at 5. Coffee whenever you want. Quite a lot of emails, but phone only rings half a dozen times a day if that. There is evening and weekend work but get overtime for that.

In my old job as a sonographer I scanned 20 patients a day with 20 minute slots. That’s sitting in the dark staring at a screen. Then writing a report. Plus chatting to the patient and trying to be amiable whilst also having to be quite physical. Sonographer’s are prone to shoulder and wrist RSI issues. I found it relentless. But I did at least have strict assigned breaks morning and afternoon, as well as an hour (unpaid) for lunch. If you are working more than 4 hours straight you should be getting a paid break. Perhaps you could push for a longer unpaid lunch break. How do your other colleagues feel? Could you approach management together?
I still work as a sonographer but in a different area and the work is more as it comes, which means it is less relentless. I would have burnt out in my old job.

Last week was manic, the coming week will be even worse (month end, quarter end) but usually I'm pretty steady with work / always have stuff to do but its pretty laid back. Urgent stuff can crop up but I'm never unable to nip to the loo or make a cuppa for example.

Mine's relentless and I go home knowing I've not done everything I need to, but am strict with myself about not working at home. I'm usually in pain physically because of what I do. I work part time - couldn't cope with full time.

I used to work like this - it was relentless! I work in Healthcare so mistakes are disastrous.

I've just changes jobs a few months ago - to the nicest team, workplace in the world. I would recommend you start looking for other jobs. You really don't want to work like this/feel like this for the next 20 years.

I'm afraid I don't have any answers but I'm in a similar situation so I sympathise and I am interested to see what suggestions people have!

Actually I do have a suggestion. Could your team divide the tasks so that some of you do emails while others do phones? You could have a rota so everyone does a bit of both.

Or not take phone calls while working on an email?

Take call, turn phone off or other system so no interruption, do email and then be available for calls again.

I would have thought any detriment to the phone side of the process would be overcome by improvement in speed and accuracy of email side, plus lower stress so better for employees.