Burnout or "normal" working practise?

[Stressedgiraffe]

I can't figure out if I'm burned out or if this just normal or not?
I have too much work to do, too many meetings then need to find time to do the actions/outputs from the meetings.
Today I got up at 4 and have done 2 hrs work. Just having a coffee before kids get up and get ready for school then they get a bus at 8. Then I have 8-9 to do some more work then 9-430 I have back to back meetings. I'll probably log off at 530 as I refuse to work in the evening.
Then there is dinner, dogs walking, general faffing for tomorrow and then I'm tired so will be in bed by 9 ready to get up at 4.and repeat till Friday.
Work is all critical too many different things all of the same priority. All my colleagues are also working stupid amounts mainly late in the evening. No extra resource available
Is this the new normal at work or am I burning out?

Irrelevant but plenty of people would see a GP before 8. Guarantee if there were prebookable appointments available, they’d be booked.

I found this helpful, when i was at breaking point earlier this year

Not read the whole thread yet, but I'd bet anything that you're one of my colleagues.

You're not alone.💐

It's utterly shit. Weekends, evenings, still not getting done what's expected despite literally working myself sick (and therefore panicking about paydaykpisnot hitting kpis mean fuck-all bonus, but my basic is unlivable on)

Oh my.

Was that a health care or social care role?!

That's really interesting. I'd say I'm at stage 7. I work about 3 evenings a week and usually about 4hrs on weekend, so c. 45-50hr week on average, contract is 37hrs. I'm in a senior position and culturally this is the norm. (in legal sector, but I'm in business services not a lawyer).

Workload and pressure has increased in difficult economy and since covid, it's v hard to attract and retain staff and seems to be same across our sector. I have 5 vacancies in a team of 15 and we're hardly getting any CVs for manager level roles. Bigger firms paying huge salaries we can't compete with. Before covid people didn't mind being paid less with us as they didn't have the long hours of the big firms and pace was slower, but now we're working longer hours with similar pressure, so they up sticks to earn more elsewhere, putting more pressure on those who stay. It's a vicious cycle and don't know what the solution is.

Well I'm up again. Got a coffee ready to crack on. I spoke to a colleague yesterday after a meeting and asked them if they'd finished a piece of work I need and they started crying. So things aren't good here.

Set realistic salaries that are competitive in the market.

If you can’t do that, you’re fucked sorry.

OP I've been in your shoes, I know you won't follow my advice because I wouldn't have either.

I advise you to go to the GP today.
Get signed off for stress. Don't go back to that job. You will probably be thinking that you cannot afford to do that. My experience is that you cannot afford not to as your health is so precious.

What happened to me is that one day I stopped being able to function and it took me not two weeks to recover from burnout but NINE YEARS. It was financially ruinous. But more than that, a waste of almost a decade of my life. Can you afford for that to happen to you?
I had no idea this would happen to me, I didn't see it coming. Don't be me. Don't give your health away to your employer.

It's easy to get into overwork, but unsustainable long-term. It's hard to give useful advice based on generic "meetings". Given there are 10 in your team, is there a better way of dividing up work? So one only per client meeting and actions assigned during the call on a shared priority board, one person devoted to developer interactions, one person on reports, messaging threads to resolve small questions instead of meetings etc.

Working like this can become counterproductive, you are tired and stressed and everything takes twice as long.

Just don't do it. Formally communicate to your line manager that your workload is too high, prioritise it and explain which bits will have to be delayed/passed off your plate. It's pointless try to juggle it.

I spoke to a colleague yesterday after a meeting and asked them if they'd finished a piece of work I need and they started crying. So things aren't good here.

So why are you staying there.

Set realistic salaries that are competitive in the market.If you can’t do that, you’re fucked sorry.

This. Ive had up a 6 figure salary by 10% this month to get a role filled. That's the price i pay to not have my team squeezed by staffing shortages.

Start blocking out your dairy for DND “do not disturb” time so you can actually work and not just talk about work.

I guess it depends on the job as to whether this is normal. My DH works 12-14 hour days regularly and so do his colleague but I don’t and changed my job so I wasn’t, but I get paid less.

@Princessfluffy Burnout happened to me. Before it did, the term was thrown around casually by everyone I worked with, but didn't have any real meaning until one day I couldn't figure out how to make a phone call or add a simple column of numbers and ended up crying asking my assistant to do it for me. Took medical leave a couple days later.

@Mumtobabyhavoc I'm sorry this happened to you too.
How are you now?

Is that volume of meetings typical? When are you actually expected to do the work? Surely your colleagues aren't all getting up at 4am just to get some uninterrupted work done?

Yes our team are currently in this situation. Local government dept. After years of proving we need more staff, senior management are cutting my grade post by 25% and bringing in more lower paid jobs. It is dire.

Do you work in a team with others? Are they in the same boat? If so you all need to stick together to change the culture. Remember it is COMPANY work, not your work. Make sure you add everything you do in an day into your calendar. Stop working from 4am, work your contracted hours. When things inevitably don't get done and management ask questions, show them your calendar and ask when they think this work could be done, and if required, what tasks can be dropped to accommodate it. Put the ball in their court and document everything so if you are laid off or disciplined you have evidence to take them to tribunal. We all need to adopt this to avoid becoming a work culture like the US!

Why the hell are we sending 50% of our DC to university
if we cannot utilise them in employment
because businesses and public services don't have enough money
to pay enough people
to do the necessary work
to provide an adequate product or service?

Or if they are in employment, working conditions like OP's is what they may have to endure?

I am ancient, and in my teens in the 1960s we were assured by Grown-Ups on the telly that we would all be working 20 hour weeks in a few decades... For a while, I believed this How wrong I was!

I have no solutions. Britain is a small, post-colonial, post-Industrial-Revolution country. The world needs a radical change in how we live our lives, or humankind will find itself very unprepared for a post-climate-change-tipping-point world.

ypu know your capacity, you know your workload. Its your responsibility to only take workload that matches your capacity, when your workload is approaching capacity, raise this to manager... as you're at capacity, when someone asks you to do something, tell them it'll be next Tuesday before you can get to it due to workload, if they moan, send them to your manager who can advise you which elements has priority...

it's your responsibility to look at your workload and think, right I need an hour to do this, I'll schedule an hour on Thursday to do this, and get it done. If it doesn't get done, schedule more time. Don't accept more work than you can handle.

it sounds like you've just been accepting, accepting, accepting, meetings, meeting, etc. and haven't any time to actually do work... you'll burn out unless you put some time management in place.

This is not burnout but you’re workplace is unreasonable

@princess Thanks for asking. I'm okay, but I have never been able to return to my field. I could do it if I could control my work volume, but it's not possible and the environment, apparently, is still incredibly toxic. Burnout is quite significant. The brain just short circuits. When I first left I would spend my days in pyjamas, curtains drawn, staring at the tv and having difficulty just going to shower. Everything was overwhelming, couldn't make decisions, handle banking, mail... to this day, I have email and phone avoidance. In hindsight it was a total breakdown. Had there been more support at work I think I world've managed, but the culture was highly aggressive and my manager was a bully. Prior to that manager I was a consistent top performer for years. 🤷‍♀️

@Mumtobabyhavoc my story is similar to yours 😞

@Princessfluffy I'm so sorry. It's shit. I have had lots of counselling. It took a very long time to separate myself from my work identity. I remember sitting in sessions just repeating, Who am I? and crying.

@Stressedgiraffe
while it's common to face periods of intense work, it's crucial to evaluate whether the described workload is a temporary phase or a sustained expectation. Burnout is a serious concern that can have long-term consequences, and it's essential to prioritize self-care, establish boundaries, and seek support if needed. Additionally, it may be worth discussing workload concerns with your employer to explore potential solutions for a healthier work-life balance.

Your situation does exhibit some signs of potential burnout, such as working long hours and having limited personal time. However, it's crucial to assess whether this intensity is temporary or a chronic, ongoing pattern.