Has anyone ever had such a high workload that they've forgotten what a normal workload is like?

[BrainLife]

My workload is huge. I have a caseload. I have reports to write. Training to deliver. Meetings. Emails. Research. Etc. I've reached a point where it's actually impossible to do my job properly, to a high standard. I've actually forgotten what an appropriate and manageable workload is like and I'm struggling, significantly. Does anyone else have a hectic job but one they love? Did you have to leave eventually? Did you ever just carry on to burnout?

yep - just taken 3 hours on a Sunday to prep a 1.5 hour lesson as teaching a level chemistry and it's not my subject specialism. Then I spent 2 hours doing similar on psychology, also not my specialism. Have 24 hours teaching this week plus interviews, pastoral stuff, open evening event and EHCP annual review to attend. No idea when I will find the time to do the rest of the planning, preparation and actually mark the homework I set last week. I'm exhausted and earn under 40k with 20 years experience of teaching.

My first "proper" job was like this. I worked until 8 or 9pm most days, and regularly worked weekends (in the office, no working from home then!) and thought it was normal. I was in my early 20s so could handle it. I couldn't now, and wouldn't put up with it either! My job now is very busy, but it's also a lot more flexible so I can mostly ride out the peaks and troughs.

Same happened to me! And doubled the money! I left with ptsd and feeling utterly mugged off.

One word- teaching.

I'm not. I work for a charity.

Yes, I went to a Gulf country to work in sports administration. The job was seasonal and during the 'on' season was 6 x 7 hour days plus 2 x 4-5 hour evenings, so 50+ hours during the week. During off season, it was 5 x 7 hour days so 35 hours. On season / off season were basically six months each, so it averaged out at not too bad and even during the on season I was getting one day off every week.

While I was there, my one weekly day off during the on season turned into a 9 hour workday. I would have months and months with no day off and 60+ hour weeks. Put on loads of weight, became a hermit, hated my life. I was single so luckily didn't impact anyone else but it was horrid and I felt like a different person. Eventually I decided to ignore the empty promises that things would improve, and resigned. Just before actually leaving, I was fraying around the edges and flew off the handle with someone in a professional context, threw a few fucks into them, nothing more than that, but word got round and the incident has overshadowed my professional life and prospects ever since.

The problem is that "I was working 60 hours a week for six months of the year" doesn't sound bad enough to justify me losing my shit with someone, because people imagine five long work days, maybe a bit of extra work taken home on the weekend. They don't imagine months and months without a day off and how that would feel.

I don't know how to relax anymore and friendships have gone through my own lack of input into them. OP, whatever you are going through that has prompted this question, find a way out.

Yes OP I feel exactly like that at the moment. I’ve taken annual leave this afternoon but still ended up working until 4pm. It’s miserable.

Yes, social worker. Everything that Wimberry said.
After I retired, it took two years to shake off the stress and feelings of burnout.
it felt as if I was recovering from a long illness.

Agree with PP, I was in a job like that for the last 3+ years and finally left this summer. I’m now really struggling with a ‘normal’ workload, feeling weirdly demotivated and down.

If you are a single parent, then no wonder you feel completely overwhelmed anyway, let alone with a very high casework. You are probably on from the moment you wake up, start work at a high pace at 8am and then keep going til after the kids go to bed, then start your work again in the evening. You are doing a full days work and a shift of childcare, I do it too and it can be exhausting.

That probably is unsustainable in the long run but I'm not sure if you have flexibility to take a different job/work differently. I hope so because it's very tiring if you don't have much slack in your day job, doing 110% for a few months is sustainable, but not a few years IMO.

Oh that’s so interesting that PPs have said they now struggle to work WITHOUT the pressure… I’ve had a bit of the same!

Yes, I’ve had 12 hour day workloads in a couple of jobs. I’m still in the second one because a fabulous manager finally came along with enough influence to create the additional role that the previous managers had buried their heads from acknowledging was needed.

I get fuzzy brain and burn out after certain level is reached. I left sales and staring at a computer with Excel due to that reason in my 20s and took on international families helping their kids and housekeeping tasks, since then I have been on NMW here and now in hotel. After certain number of rooms I get overwhelmed also. So I try to make sure my case is clear and am perimenopausal also, older, getting stiff and move slower. I hope they are good to me and support me, because we need the money as a family

Every teacher and social worker in the UK, I imagine for a start!

I've just retired from teaching. No more 60 hour weeks (where my payslip states I'm paid for 32.5 hours)

Other professions are available.

Honestly, if you can get out - please do.
I worked 14 years in my last role. A 60 hour week was the norm. I was emailing from a hospital bed, about 1 hour before emergency surgery; from an airport, on holiday; and regularly at 5am, trying to clear my decks. I had not one bit of line manager support.
I left last year, and got another job, same grade, paying the same. I have a reasonable workload and supportive manager. It makes all the difference. It still feels weird not to be working on a Sunday, or having the dreads.
It's not worth the risk to your health. Get out while you can, before you hit burnout.

Yep. I did it for a year.

i was covering two identical roles. I juggled it effectively within my hours for the most part and only very very occasionally worked a really long day (from home) so I could get both workloads done.
i was recognised by my company for it and recompensed for it in terms of bonus but i could only do it for a year and was struggling by the end.

however now im Really bored and struggle to feel fulfilled in my role (a different one entirely) as its so slow.

Yes. I worked for a huge wealth managers and the weeks leading up to tax year end were horrendous. 6-& weeks of 12/14 hour days weekend working and if Easter fell in March/first week in April then we worked bank holidays as well.

It was relentless no matter how fast we ran we couldn’t keep on top of the sheer volume of work involved. And despite the hours we worked we got bollocked for not hitting out absolutely impossible targets.

Being made redundant was the biggest relief ever

Local Government here and currently covering 3 roles due to sickness. Can't keep it up much longer and line manager only looks out for herself.

I have a different dilemma in that sometimes I have very little to do yet other times it's absolutely mental. It's all extremes,. I can't seem to manage to even out everything out. If I could it would be great because I really like my job. I have extremely strict boundaries though, don't work on weekends, don't even look at work phone, I let the battery run down on Friday. Don't work after 6pm, it takes me a while to relax after I stop work, always take all of my annual leave. Even so I'm starting to get a bit frayed around the edges. Concentrating on paying off all my debts and building up savings so I can leave if I need to.

Yes, local government. Lots of vacant positions, recruitment taking ages. We were supposed to have no more than 30 cases at a time. I ended up with 150. It did ease when more people were recruited and up and running, but unfortunately the sort of work I did often had huge peaks.

I felt like this at my previous job and so I left for a role with better work-life balance. Except that turned out not to be the case and my workload is even higher now but the excellent team I have and the fact that I enjoy my work means that I'm not burnt out at all and still enjoy going to work every day.

Yes definitely. I was a teacher in a special school before I had my son. I could easily have worked all night every night, sometimes I did. The workload was so ridiculous having a newborn seemed like an absolute walk in the park in comparison. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to teaching because I honestly can’t imagine ever fitting the workload around the needs of my own children. I know people do and it’s not impossible but I just can’t imagine it. I was already overwhelmed when I only had to look after myself.

Yes, I'm in a similar position. I start feeling panicky if I finish something and don't have anything urgent I have to get on with quickly. Stopping to think about what I might like to do next sounds great, but it makes me worry I'm missing something important.

Honestly this is so predictable. Teachers do have tons and tons and tons of work to
do. On this I am very clear. But they are not the only people with tons and tons and tons of work to do!

Yes I’m the same.

Also, I’m finding it hard to work on projects steadily over time rather than rushing from one thing to the next.

I’m in financial services too. Regularly doing 50+hours a week, always do a few hours on a Sunday. It’s absolutely relentless - always used to just be tax year end, but it’s all the time now.
just staying on top of my inbox is a full time job.