Stuck in well paid job

[Abitstuckhere]

I made a lot of compromises to get to the job I’m in today, however it’s very niche and I feel stuck. After 20 years I feel very uninspired and bored. However I’m very well paid and have a lot of flexibility so it feels madness to walk away from it all.
Obviously I’m aware there are plenty more humdrum jobs than mine, but the thought of another 20 years of this is a bit depressing

No not really, my role is very rarely available

Can you do it remotely?

Or do you just dislike it completely?

I think because I just get on with it and do it, and yes, I guess like I’m feeling like I’m being screwed over because salary definitely will not be!
even if I work from home in our connected world the questions keep coming!
im well paid based on average U.K. salary yes. I don’t have much push back as I don’t have many options.
career coaching has crossed my mind before, thank you for making me consider it again

Remotely not a possibility, im just frustrated I guess

You've got 'the ick' 😔

I can’t say I dislike it, I find it very easy and enjoy some aspects of it. I just feel trapped and annoyed ….but is that just work?

With good reason.
You are not actually well paid.
You are being screwed and used.

No wonder you are pissed off.

You need to ask for advice on how to swat away annoying lazy questions from colleagues.

I can't answer that because I am a menopausal woman who would very sharply tell them to fxxk off 😁and sort themselves out.

Are all their questions interrupting you whilst you do multiples of the workload of others?
'Cos that would really piss me off and is both rude and disrespectful.

I suppose it is to some extent? It sounds like you're not being challenged enough tbh (dons amateur psychologist's hat) but I won't tell you to start pushing for more work/different projects because people can often end up doing all that for free 'because you asked'. No doubt there are smarter heads than me knocking around who can offer more perspectives.

Well I guess one of the problems is how do you manage this? Believe me, I’m no wallflower, but I have to maintain a level of professionalism.

I’m not sure I want more challenges! Id rather other colleagues pulled their weight!

Excuse me if it affects my answer, I've not read the full thread as I'm up with a non sleeper! But coming from the other side I'm about to accept a part time really badly paid job- which will give me the experience to move up and earn more in the future. This job is going to be tough and put pressure on me childcare wise and financially. I hope to get to an easier probably more boring place. I'm 42 and have two children solely financially dependent on me. I could stay where I am and earn more sporadically or do this and get in a better place in a few years. I'd love to be where you are. Not taking away from your dilemma just throwing a different view point. Hope you figure out what's best for you

I'll be really blunt here (sorry!) and tell you if you're in the sort of place that'll tolerate the slackers you're on a hiding to nothing. And the longer you're in it, the worse it gets. If you are the type of person who has a work ethic, it becomes impossible to look around and see others doing their level best to avoid doing anything. And if that's the org culture it's unlikely you can do anything to change it. Voice of very bitter experience here (although I hide awfully well 😂) but for me at least, that environment was poisonous.

No i appreciate your point of view, and do realise my issues are quite selfish in that sense

There’s politics in every job, but you can’t see it until you’re actually in that workplace and then it’s too late. There was a massive argument the other day at the car wash because someone was using the wrong sponge bucket.
I feel for you massively, I’ve been there. Try and recognise that when you’re in this state of mind your reactions will become disproportionate, you will anticipate the annoyances and react more.

I don’t have a solution. Save more, keep your eyes on the job market, remind yourself about the interesting parts of your work, take long weekends and avoid the energy sappers whenever possible. Good luck OP.

OP if I were you I would make long term plan to change my life:

• plan to save as much as you can for the next six/eight months
• sell your current home. move out of London for somewhere cheaper with a more laidback lifestyle
• find another job that keeps you motivated: use your transferrable skills or retrain for something else
• in the meantime stop picking up the slack for other people at work...

I think once you start planning/making decisions to improve your life things will seem a bit less scary.

Tackle the three times the workload issue first.

Set out really clearly to your manager what you and can't do, and then just stop doing the rest

Do your colleagues ask about the same things all the time? I made sure things were in the documentation and they learnt my first question would be, "have you checked the documentation?" I don't mind if it doesn't make sense - it can be rewritten so it does, but then the conversation should start with, "I've checked the docs, but I don't understand." I'm also more willing to help if they say, "I know you've shown me this, but I can't remember..." because they're acknowledging their failing..

Likewise, I'm happy to proofread things, especially for those for whom English is a second language, but I do expect them to have least run it through a spellchecker first. (I got quite angry Iver one which hadn't- it was really taking the piss.)

I also set up some internal training for things which came up often, presented it on our video conferencing platform and recorded it so that I didn't have to do it more than once - anyone else could just watch it.

So over time, you can do things to reduce questions coming your way unless necessary. (Mostly I document things so that I remember it - everyone else just benefits as a side-effect. It's a habit already proving valuable in my new job.)

Sounds like your company is taking a big risk - you are the gatekeeper to substantial amounts of technical information and there doesn't seem to be anyone coming up behind that can take your place. They need to devise a plan, their current approach is a bit wreckless - I wonder if encouraging them to come up with a solution, or forcing someone to take on more responsibility would help you find a way out?

You need to learn how to be more of a coach than a help desk - ask them things like what do you think? what do you think is the solution?, what options are there? What do you think iare the pros and cons? Etc

Get them to think for themselves and problem solve.