How stressful do you find your job?

[zogasaurus]

I have battled on and off for years with anxiety, the main source of which is usually work. What I'm interested to know is how much stress to people feel that's associated with their job? For those that feel stressed, take their stresses home or can you switch off completely?

I am finding work is invading my thoughts at home and on my days off, however I'm not sure if it's a cultural issue with my work place or whether its anxiety. I work in a mid level role, not especially senior but with a reasonable level of responsibility. I find myself checking and responding to emails on days off with my children (historically the expectation was that you would always keep an eye on your emails, but we have been told that is no longer expected on days off etc), thinking about work of an evening, or while I'm falling asleep etc. And feel that I never truly switch off from work.

I recognise there is a fair amount of pressure in my role, but what I'm trying to understand is whether I'm my constant thinking about work is extreme or whether thinking about work often is fairly 'normal'?

Very but it is more to do with the twats I work with than the job itself!

I’m the same as you - I need to try and work out how I protect family time whilst doing a good job. Interested to hear how others approach it

Very stressed about work and always thinking about it. :-(

Very stressed about work too, I think about it at the weekends, when I am on annual leave, I usually wake up during the night and lie there thinking about it :(

No stress for me. I stepped down a level a few years ago and it was the best decision i made. I give 100% when im at work but once im done thats it, no answering my phone, no checking emails etc.

I feel exactly the way you described. I used to love my job but now it makes me stressed and miserable. It also makes me ill and has a negative impact on my family. I can't wait to leave.

Honestly, I am in a weird position. My responsibility, workload and hours have increased drastically. However a change in personnel means my jobs is a hell of a lot stressful. I don't get sick every morning going to work

I think most would consider my job quite stressful (I'm a teacher in a secondary school) but I don't find it impacting on my wellbeing in the way it sounds like your job might? I do sometimes bring work home (I just did an hour on the sofa) but that's because I choose to leave earlier some days. I find the emotional stresses of my job harder than the practicalities of it.

Whilst it's reassuring to hear it's not just me, I'm sorry to hear you are all finding work stressful too.

I have been thinking I might look for another job, but I expect there's a good chance my worries may follow me to a new role. Maybe it's better the devil you know?

I do wish I could find a way to switch off or address the mental work life balance.

I have a fairly senior position with a lot of responsibility but on the whole I don;t find it stressful because it's well within my comfort zone and TBH I don't care that much anymore.

I would have got stressed in the past but now I think "what's the worst that can happen?" and it's usually that I put in some extra hours to put it right if the worst come to the worst.

I rarely switch off. It is reasonably stressful (but only through pressure I put on myself - not medical stress). But my job is part of who I am and don't mind always thinking about it. I enjoy planning the next day while falling asleep.

Do you enjoy your job OP?

Same here. What stops me from applying for new jobs is the fear that it won't be any different anywhere else.

Not me, sorry, I guess I'd live on streets before I'd stay a long time in a job that made me so unhappy.

I am very stressed by work. The expectations are so high but with very little support to achieve targets so it all comes down to me. On top of silky commute and young children. I love my job in many ways but the pressure is almost too much to bear sometimes.

I used to find work stressful but now I'm old and past caring. I'm just annoyed that I have to work at all.

Same as you OP, always anxious, always stressed, can never switch off.
I run my own business, so never feel ‘off’, check my email and phone constantly, first thing in morning, last thing at night.
I work in a very fast paced industry, and clients are v demanding.

Feeling sad and ‘flat’ about it today, as DD is obv off for half term, and I don’t feel I can fully relax as need to keep an eye on work.

Ive worked in the same industry but different places for 10 years. At one point I was so stressed I basically had an breakdown and still have PTSD type symptoms as a result. If I could go back I would never take the oath I have career wise. It still took another 3 or so years following that to seek help during which time I would constantly worry, would call on days off to check things ( including at unsocial hours), would even go so far as to dismantle my work phone and have one bit in the house and the battery in the car in case I decided to use it if I'd been drinking for example (note that I have never had a problem with alcohol, my paranoia and anxiety was just that high). My job now (same industry different focus) is stressful but manageable and motivating as opposed to cripplingly so. I also work to rule now and claim time back if I have it owing.

Path not oath

I don’t find it stressful per say but I do get pissed off quite a bit. In my department there’s me and another guy and we used to have another team member but he got moved to a different department as well as a floater. So now they’ve cut back and there’s only 3 of us at a time and as me and my other collegue have been in this department for 7 years we are pros and actually the best in the area at what we do. Problem is when we get a floater (usually there 6-9 months at a time) and they don’t perform well enough they let the team down. It just bugs me because our expectations are so high so when we don’t perform because of lack of enthusiasm from the other person. Management don’t see it like that though, they want results all the time.

I also work to rule now and claim time back if I have it owing.

This is absolutely key. Check your contract. Stick to it. I know some professions make it very difficult but the law is on your side. My manager raises an eyebrow at the amount of TOIL I take, but he knows better than to query it.

I'm the same as you OP.

I'm on the average UK salary but have a lot of responsibility, which can mean calls in the evenings/holidays and checking emails/social media etc. I don't switch off.

The respobsibility is growing and I don't have anyone to hand over to if I'm sick/off. I am on call 24/7 if need be and the level of responsibility and lack of team weighs heavy.

I csn claim a lot of TOIL but it doesn't replace the lost evenings/weekends or worry that if something happens, it's on my shoulders.

I feel on the edge at the moment and battle away with anxiety.
I don't want to go to the GP as I know that if I left my demanding role I'd be ok.

I'm just worried that in my late 40s I won't find anything that's 4 days (I can at least work from home a day a week) although the reality is my 30 hours become more like 40 anyway.

I hated my last job. My manager was overbearing, micromanaging, and did not like it when I disagreed with her. I actually had more experience in the field than her and I dont think she liked that. I was lucky to escape just under a year ago.

I love my current job. It's in fundraising and we speak to some many people really passionate about giving back to their community. My boss' promote a healthy work-life balance and would never expect us to do any work out of hours.

To be honest, though, i have always drawn the line at doing overtime unless i'm getting paid for it. i think doing overtime, in a lot of cases, hides the fact that more resources are needed.

Think about it this way. If you died tomorrow, your employer would probably get the job advert out before your obituary was even written. Life is too short to let work stress you out.

I was exactly as others have described: middle management role with more to do than I could realistically achieve and a public impact that meant it had to be done well. I couldn’t sleep (would wake up at 3 then be so wide awake and worried that it only made sense to get up and work), couldn’t concentrate at home, didn’t have time to exercise... eventually I handed my notice in to retrain in something else completely. And now feel SO relieved.

To be honest, though, i have always drawn the line at doing overtime unless i'm getting paid for it. i think doing overtime, in a lot of cases, hides the fact that more resources are needed.

This is such a good point and one that I wish I could adhere to.

I work in a very stressful role but have found ways to manage that over the years; i actively try not to talk about work too much at home so that I’m not thinking about it and I don’t check my emails. If I remember things I need to do then I write it down and on a Monday morning I allocate time to do things that I’ve remembered over the weekend or might have been worrying about as then I know it’s done. I also try not to work extra hours unless it really matters. Prior to having DC I used to go to the gym after work as try at often blasted the stress away.
A lot of people burn out in my line of work and I knew I’d be the same if I didn’t work out how to manage it.