AIBU doing the bare minimum in my notice period

[Londonlady33]

Been in my job a couple of years, and am working my three notice period at the moment. 4 weeks to go and I have no motivation to do anything. Probably doesn’t help that I’m working from home and Greys Anatomy is always available.

So AIBU? Or is this normal? Make me feel better by your slacking off stories please!

Depends if you want or be professional and get a reference or not?

Slightly different but I have 1 week left at work before maternity leave starts, and I'm definitely feeling a lack of motivation. Nothing is going to matter to me in a couple of weeks, so it's hard to care!

YABU you’re still being paid to do your job

The minimum is still working and fulfilling duties, just not going overboard or being passionate etc. It's typical to feel like at the end, I always have and I expect it from my team members too.

Very hard to stay motivated in this situation and they would expect that. But you do need to at least fulfil your duties for a good reference should you need it again. Being proactive is certainly off the table.

I think if you're doing the bare minimum I.e still doing your work but no extras at all and using minimal effort thats fair enough.

Have they reverted to paying you bare minimum wage during your notice period?

Absolutely I wouldn't go crazy above-and-beyond, but I wouldn't want to burn any bridges by working to rule either.

I've seen people come back to my company after a new move didn't pan out. I've also heard of people trying to come back but the parting impression they gave was negative.
Likewise, todays colleagues and managers move around to companies you might want to join in the future (although you wouldn't know it now).

Is it worth taking future career options off the table for the sake of "sticking it to them" for a couple of weeks?

I am still fulfilling all my duties, just feeling a lack of motivation. But I suppose that’s normal.

Of course I’d like a good reference, but most places I’ve worked at choose not to give any personalised reference to anyone - just dates and salary. Not sure if that’s the norm now

It's the reason I generally release people from their notice period unless I'm desperate. Most people slow down and lack motivation during notice period, even if they're happily moving on. It's often easier to just cope without.

@Plantlady10

Slightly different but I have 1 week left at work before maternity leave starts, and I'm definitely feeling a lack of motivation. Nothing is going to matter to me in a couple of weeks, so it's hard to care!

This one I can relate to - my last week I was mostly focused on the life changing upcoming event and everything else seemed very insignificant!

@Londonlady33

I am still fulfilling all my duties, just feeling a lack of motivation. But I suppose that’s normal.

Of course I’d like a good reference, but most places I’ve worked at choose not to give any personalised reference to anyone - just dates and salary. Not sure if that’s the norm now

Yes it is the norm now, they'll all worried about being sued for any personal comments - even positive ones!

I wouldn't worry about it. In my last role I had an operation that needed a month off sick 28 days before I left. Which was great for me.

I think most people do the bare minimum during their last few weeks. Not only does motivation go down but you also start getting left out of new things because you can't/ won't be involved to see it through to completion and therefore it's not worth you being involved for such a short while.

Depends if you want or be professional and get a reference or not?

@Tonyschoco Given OP has handed in her notice she's likely either got somewhere to go to already or just doesn't care. Regardless, the time for a reference has been and gone.

Being unmotivated is OK. That's your feelings and nobody else can control them.

Making the conscious decision to slack off when you'd be perfectly capable of working is not so good. But I think it does depend on whether you resigned, were made redundant, or were dismissed.

Even during your notice period you can still be dismissed! For example for poor performance or misconduct.

This is what I call the departure lounge, you’ve checked out.

I have often found the notice period at the end of a job to be quite tiring- you wind work down, and cannot start new stuff. I have never though deliberately done the bare minimum or nothing. I think this is quite dangerous. if you get used to it, it might be really hard to get back to normal working in the next job.

I worked just as hard in my notice period as ever. AND I was retiring so I didn't need to worry about a reference.

I wanted to leave a clean and organized workload for the person who followed me because that's what I would have liked to 'inherit' myself if I was taking it over mostly because I'd inherited more than one disastrous mess from departing colleagues who 'weren't motivated'. I wanted my former coworkers to speak well of me after I left, because I knew how they spoke of former colleagues who left a mess behind because they were leaving and didn't care.

You don't need to be motivated to do extra. But you should be motivated to not leave a mess of undone work and/or missed deadlines for someone else to clean up.

If you're unlikely to ever go back to that company for a job in the future or its the kind of industry/role where you are likely to come across a former manager/boss in a different company in the future, (for example my former colleagues at Big 4 accounting are now spread out in finance roles in businesses across the city of Cambridge - if I ever apply to such a business, I'm likely to come across people I knew from my time at the Big 4) then sure go for it and burn that bridge.

I would say, where possible set the expectation. If your job often involves unpaid overtime and you are assigned to work on a specific client or project for instance, make it clear that you are on your notice period and won't be doing overtime but will get as much done as you can. At least then they have a heads up about potentially needing to get another person to help out or not be shocked that there is still a bunch of stuff outstanding after your last day.

A lack of motivation is quite normal in a notice period. But if the employer has generally treated you well during the time you've been there, it is only decent to not leave a mess for the next person to inherit, so you should keep on top of things.

Perfectly normal. And also why 3 months' notice is a nonsense, especially if you are not handing over to anyone or someone has already taken on your responsibilities as it's hard to be motivated for that long knowing you're leaving. As long as you do what is required there is no need to go overboard.

When I left my last job they forced me to work my 3 months notice even though I literally had nothing to do. I work in a sales type role so make my own work basically and they didn’t want me starting anything new. I just used to put on long YouTube videos so my screen didn’t time out and go about my day.

Are you willing to be paid for only 3 weeks this month ? If not why the hell should your employer pay you for 4 weeks ?

@ClaudiaWankleman

I think most people do the bare minimum during their last few weeks. Not only does motivation go down but you also start getting left out of new things because you can't/ won't be involved to see it through to completion and therefore it's not worth you being involved for such a short while.

Depends if you want or be professional and get a reference or not?

@Tonyschoco Given OP has handed in her notice she's likely either got somewhere to go to already or just doesn't care. Regardless, the time for a reference has been and gone.

Their previous post might suggest otherwise, re: the reference.

I would say that the main objective in your notice period is to ensure that projects are complete, and everything that can’t be completed is handed over to someone so the team can cope after you go. It’s perfectly normal not to be motivated but that’s the minimum you should deliver.

References are all sorted FYI

I absolutely won’t be leaving a mess for my colleagues (they’re my friends!).

As others have said, it’s just hard to stay motivated when you know you won’t be here to finish a project. Anyway, off munsnet now. Back to work!