My new job is slowly destroying me .. what can I so? I’m so desperate.

[cantstartagain]

My new job on paper sounded ideal to me. In a category I really enjoy, big global recognisable firm, good salary.

I’ve been there 6 weeks. It’s pretty much fully remote, my entire team is in a different country so even if I wanted to go into the office I’d be alone, there is literally no work to do.

I just can’t do it, I live alone and I don’t want to be sat in my house 24/7, I don’t want to sit staring at a screen with nothing to do, it’s 2am and I don’t want to sleep as it means I’ll be waking up to another day of nothing …

Use this time! If there’s nothing to do can you learn a language, do a short course, write a novel, pick up some skills or something in that time. I had a job where there was nothing to do and I wasted it finding work to do, wish I’d just accepted they over hired and used it to become fluent in Spanish or to write a screenplay!

Do you have a manager?
why isn’t there any work?

Can you work from a cafe or shared workspaces for a bit of noise and conpany? Then take some time for a long lunch, maybe visit a nearby museum (checking emails regularly of course), maybe sign up to a class...

There's no need to work at home, even if you wfh.

To be honest, the job sounds amazing to me - I'd gladly swap!

Me too. I'm in a similar position ghetto than my salary is crap 😆
Sorry OP, not helpful. What kind of work is it? I'm wondering if you could ask them for any extra skills to learn or such?

I guess it depends on how old you are and whether you want to advance your career. I would just enjoy the spare time in the garden and redecorate the house.

If there is an office near you it may be worth it to still go in even if your immediate team are remote, you still get the routine of going to an office and also get to meet people in other teams.

Having said that when you said there is literally no work so you mean that they is literally no work for you to do or it's still quiet because your new and ramping up?

You should probably use that extra time to continue searching for other jobs, at least you know your preference is not fully remote and you're getting paid so just continue searching for a new job and if you get one resign.

I'm similar in the sense that I prefer hybrid to fully remote.

OP, someone at work was in a similar situation.

She handled it by bringing in her dvd player, writing a book and learning a second language 🤔

You can’t just wander off to do the gardening though… As with most wfh jobs, OP will no doubt need to be logged in and contactable at her desk, and people will be able to see if she is not.

I had a job that started out like that, OP. It was at least in an office but it drove me crazy for the first six months until I finally got assigned to a project. It was a sign of really poor management and I wish I’d got out at the start.

A global name might get be good on your CV and worth sticking it out for 12 months just to get the next job, but I’d be wary. If you do decide you need to stay, see if there’s anything you can do while they have no work for you - a course, company sponsored volunteering, get involved in an affinity group or any company social/hobby groups with people geographically close. Anything to network and fill the time.

Can I have your job?

I'm run off my feet. Can't even take a lunch break.

It must depend on the job because I’m not monitored and spend a lot of time away from my desk WFH. My partner is the same. We cut the grass, go out for 3 hour lunches and sometimes stay in bed or watch daytime TV all day. No one cares as long as we get our work done

Surely you're not working 24/7.

First, find something to entertain/educate yourself.

Second, reach out to people in your field where you can either work freelance for them now, or get yourself hired in the near future.

I’ve not read other responses but this was me. Exactly the same. I went the route of trying to make myself a job and it really came back to bite me, hard. I had a full on, life altering breakdown. I’d advise using the energy you have to get another job. I internalised everything and I mention it because it sounds like you could be doing the same, though I may be projecting. I mean it in the best way, but businesses do not give af about you.

I appreciate the comments as I didn’t even expect any. But also some of these comments are so thoughtless, go live alone for ten years and then be fully remote with nothing to do. It’s mentally crippling me. The loneliness and boredom is making me feel like I’m going to break down.

I really thought this was my fresh start and it’s actually making my mental state worse. It was sold to me as extremely busy and 2 days a week in the office. I wouldn’t have accepted i had I known it was the opposite. Yes I can go into an office but it’s a long commute to just sit at a desk alone - if I had a team then it would be worthwhile.

But again as it’s just me and no partner then the bills are 100% on me, which yes I’m an adult and that’s life, but it just limits me slightly more.

As others have asked, is it that there's no work to do or you haven't yet been given work / worked out what work there is to do?

I started my job a year ago and was surprised when I started how little work I had to do, but within a couple of months that changed and now I'm busy all the time.

Depending on what the role is can you do something like some shadowing to learn more about what's going on in the wider department/organisation?

Definitely use the time you need to be at work to develop yourself either for professional or personal interest. What does your manager say about your job/lack of workload when you talk? I find it hard to believe that a well known international company is paying someone a good salary to do nothing. Also do all your life admin and keep your CV up to date and look for/apply for other jobs.

But I don't understand why living alone and WFH means you have to be inside, alone, staring at a screen 24/7? As well as necessary cooking, cleaning, laundry and other useful things you need to do while at home, don't you have hobbies and friends and family to visit? Or take yourself out on walks, trips, visit museums and galleries, join hobby groups, go for a wander around your local city, look at all the posters for what's on, go to the tourist information centre etc etc. While the weather's good, go to a nice pub or bar in the early evening and have a drink sitting outside. Take up running, join an outside exercise/running group, you can do pretty much anything you want. Take some annual leave and go on a bigger trip out, even if it's just a day or two away in a youth hostel not too far from where you live.

When I'm not working, I'm usually out and about doing one of the above and it doesn't have to cost that much either as there's endless ways to do things for very little money. So unless you've not mentioned that you have not a single penny spare, don't have anything to do within reasonable travel from where you live or that a health condition means you are housebound, then what's stopping you?

Alternatively, use the time to look and apply for other jobs.

I shared an office with a colleague in another department. She was in your situation. She was a 'Head of' but had nothing to do. Then Covid struck and she was stuck working at home.

I was sitting next to her rushed off my feet and told her to enjoy it and I would love to be in her position. She quit after 6 months and is much busier and happier at another company. She was around mid-40s and quite a go-getter so I understand it is like a living death.

Or take yourself out on walks, trips, visit museums and galleries, join hobby groups, go for a wander around your local city, look at all the posters for what's on, go to the tourist information centre etc etc. While the weather's good, go to a nice pub or bar in the early evening and have a drink sitting outside. Take up running, join an outside exercise/running group

This is nuts! Many companies monitor how frequently your mouse is moved per hour. And at some point OP's bound to get a call from her boss/colleague and she can hardly say "sorry, Steve, I can't look at that spreadsheet at the moment- I'm hiking in the hills, looking at the new Monet exhibition, doing a top up shop in Waitrose ..."

This may sound a bit harsh and I am sorry for that, but, I think that you are possibly expecting too much from your job. Work is just something we do to pay the bills, there is no guarantee of fulfilling social interactions and enjoyment. If you want relationships and fulfillment go and find them during the other 16 hours of your day.

If you can't control your work hours control what you do with the time that is your own

When I was with an employer I would have given all the tea in China for a job like yours. I would easily have found a way to amuse and occupy myself profitably online.

I was in a job where there were very busy periods with lulls in between. I began an ebay shop selling some of the wornderful things I had accumulated over the years/aka crap cluttering up my garage I soon had quite a profitable little side hustle which brought me in extra income. It taught me some useful skills like digital photography (before smart phones) how to write descriptions, marketing and managing a shop. Ive always beed interested in antiques and I still have my little Ebay shop although Ive cut it down quite a bit now Im retired from employed work.

Six weeks to be in a job is not long and you may well find that things speed up soon. Meantime think of all the things in your life you would like to have time to do. Maybe learn a language, write a novel or begin with an article. Or possibly some craft you could take up. There are far worse things in work than not having enough to do.

if the job conditions are not as described, you need to speak to your manager. You also need to ask him/her why there is nothing to do.

First, have you spoken to a manager about not having enough to do? What have they said? Is this typical, or do they expect things to change?

Second, if you're desperately unhappy working from home with no real team to interact with, this probably isn't the job for you. Don't do anything drastic and burn bridges before you have a new job lined up. Keep yourself sane by using the free time to quietly look for something else that better fits your preferences—or consider if you can satisfy your need for human interaction outside of work hours, assuming the workload picks up or you can find other ways to fill the time so that you aren't bored.

I meant while she's not working. 8 hours a day working, 8 hours sleeping, 8 hours, plus weekends and annual leave, available to do other things so she doesn't feel like she's home alone staring at a screen 24/7. When I'm not working, I spend as much time as I can out and about, which the OP doesn't seem to be doing.

Have you actually asked for work to do? I can’t imagine that you would have been hired to do nothing, and I wonder if your manager doesn’t realise that you have nothing at all to do. And how proactive have you been in trying to find things to do?

I do know what you mean, I had a two-week temp job that was like that once, and the boredom was so painful. I have no idea why they got a temp in, when they clearly could have done without anyone covering the permanent person’s leave (I’m going to assume that she usually did have work to do, and people just decided not to give it to me while she was away).

If I were you I’d be sat at my computer all day but I would not be idle. Apply for other jobs, read the news, etc.