Is anyone else just really, really knackered?

[KittyBurrito]

I've done 50 hour weeks, sometimes more, for so long now. Every time I stop, I realise how exhausted I am. I know I'm lucky to have a job at all, but it's just relentless. Is anyone else feeling the same?

I am sorry to hear this GC. Running the department now, as for the last year, is an awful challenge. Added to that, at my place, redundancies, strike, general unhappiness and a crummy out of touch SMT. I think it is a rotten job. Don't even get financial recompense for it at my uni. Just teaching remission and 2 terms off at the end, which you'd get anyway as sabbatical.

@GCAcademic so sorry it's so hard. For what it's worth I am always struck by how compassionate and balanced you appear on these threads. I imagine those probationers are very grateful they have you. I couldn't do a role like that, I have nothing but admiration for how you're handling it all.

The way that we run the HoD system is really not fit for purpose in the brave new world of the post covid marketised HE sector.

Any organisation where we lean on the unprepared and sometimes less than willing to take up a major leadership position for limited financial recompense that requires the post holder to operationalise unworkable central systems is simply not sustainable.

Amen to that @damekindness! @GCAcademic if it is damaging your health, step down. No job is worth that. It's not. No one will think any the less of you for it, esp. not in these times.

@GCAcademic that sounds tough! Do you have a deputy? I think our HoS's do, but not HoD's. At least at my Uni, Readers sometimes get HoD as well as Profs.

I've never been a HoD/HoS or seen one resign (other than to jump to central admin instead!), but we did have a Dean who lasted only a few months. No clue what was really going on there, but I story I got from people in his Dept was that he just really didn't like it. My mentor here was once our Deputy Head of School and ended up HoS when our head got a research-leave deal for a year. He told me he absolutely hated it, and would never do it again. It made me feel that it was okay to not want all the big positions.So you are not alone.

I'm a UCU member and see they've called for ASOS until May 1. Far smarter than a 3 day strike right before end of term, I think, which is symbolic at best. If we can stick to ASOS (and it will be hard) the amount of overwork people have been doing should be apparent quite quickly. I'm shocked to see that according to their survey, I'm pretty average in terms of excessive hours - the average is 2 days unpaid work on top of contracted hours ever week. No wonder many colleagues have MH issues by now. But what's the solution?

Could you tell your manager that you no longer can carry out the major Director role on top of your existing role? It seems far too much.

GCAcademic An ex-HoD here. I used to put days in the diary for me - my research, reading PhD chapters etc. Then folk would look at my diary, think I was 'busy' and not put meetings in (apart from me who knew they were fake meetings, and am not always the best at taking my own advice).

You have to take time for yourself. You sound like a great HoD, but you can't be a great HoD if you fall over from burnout. Your colleagues need you to be a good leader - taking time for yourself is therefore not selfish at all - it's good leadership!