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?

Yeh, your uni lied. But then, it's in its best interest to retain those figures and have people passing their PGCE successfully. They're not going to want to describe the awful reality!

To be fair, there are ways of 'working smarter' and I've definitely made huge progress over the past 16 years of my career. However, there is a limit to what we can do to cut corners. Even when working as efficiently and effectively as possible, and after exploring all corners to cut, and even accepting you'll never do the great job you want to do, a full teacher's load is currently far too large to be reasonably manageable and it's impossible not to work at least SOME evenings and/or weekends.

Yes, academia. It’s never enough - and huge redundancies everywhere you look.
I’ve never known so many colleagues so fearful.

When I started teaching, I had a senior leader (who taught about five lessons a week) who said I shouldn't be doing any work outside school, as in the evenings or weekends, and should be using my PPA time to do it. I was sick of hearing this from them so divided my pitiful PPA time (often eaten up with cover etc) between how many lessons I had to plan and mark after and it worked out as something like a handful of minutes to plan per lesson - not even enough time to plan a starter task!

I’ve just finally bitten the bullet and talked to my boss about my workload. I’ve had to get my feet properly under the table and make myself indispensable (as much as anyone can be in a job, anyway!) before I broached it, because I’m in one of those (surprise, surprise…public sector!) leadership roles where your JD makes blatantly clear that you are signing up to do three people’s jobs .

The workload is just ever increasing, though, and I’m a perfectionist by nature, so I’m finding that even with working way over my hours I’m struggling to fit it all in - seeing clients, huge amounts of admin and reporting, designing and delivering training, endless meetings, having to flit constantly between strategic planning, and answering calls/emails/intereuptions.

The last couple of months I’ve just been permanently rundown - mouth ulcers, headaches, UTIs, interrupted sleep etc - and I feel like I’m heading for burnout. However I LOVE my job. If I had 35 hours in a day instead of 24, it would be perfect .

I think being 47 and giving less of a fuck just made me say it out loud to my boss. In years gone by I might have left or stayed and run myself into the ground. I had nothing to lose by just saying ‘my workload is ridiculous - look at my diary! It’s fucking insane’ or words to those effect,

Ive ended up being given some admin support, ‘ptotected time’ for various things which means I can hide away somewhere and switch off my phone and email, and various other adjustments to help me delegate and shift duties to other people. I wouldn’t have imagined any of this would be possible , but I asked and I got.

Worth a shot?

No, but I only ever worked in low paid, less stressful jobs. I refused promotion or career progression when they were offered because I didn’t want to end up like my boss!

Being a parent of four. 24/7, 365, for 30 years. No sick leave; no vacation leave. Why do people complain about work? Work would have been a vacation. Count your blessings while looking for another job.

Yes. But pension contributions very poor compared to public sector.

Yes, law. I was working 14 hour days fairly often, 7 days a week. My bosses were horrific, the culture was horrific, the pressure was insane.

I've been out of that environment for 10 years now, and I STILL have nightmares. I retrained and got out, but God, I had around 20 years of it and it leaves its scars.

I could have written this, Kephia. Raising kids felt like that and yes, I have nighmares, too! 😂 Too much of anything isn't always a good thing. As time goes on the scars do heal some, but the nightmares abound.

@Sheri99

Because some people work AND parent. I’ve brought up two kids, one with additional needs, while working full time.

Yes civil Service. Did 25 years and for the most part was working 10-14 hour days on a regular basis for years on end. I know the CS has a reputation for good working conditions but it is very variable and, as others have said, the pressure from the top plus a desire to reduce pressure on the team mean that those stuck in the middle get squashed. I now do four part time jobs in other sectors and, while still fighting workaholic tendencies and dealing with significant health issues, it is much more manageable.

You are not being serious?

Like thousands, I have children to look after on top of working full time. No sick leave or annual leave from my kids and do it all around work.

Yes, I had a whole 6 weeks of slightly slower workload (a normal one for many and my boss was trying to get me to slow down) at the start of lockdown in 2020...then some emergency legislation was needed, then someone else moved and a larger piece of legislation needed to be delivered on a timeline...and so it's continued.

I knew my current post would be busy but it's ridiculous - it seriously is more than 2 people's work in many other places. But we give a Govt Dept in charge of staffing who only want to save money, even if it means people will have heart attacks trying to do what's needed. (I am not kidding, someone who did my role died at their desk 9 years ago). I take plenty of vitamins and supplements daily and try to get a walk in fresh air as well to decompress....

But I have always had busy roles and above average workloads, in over 20 years here.

Why did you do it then? You could have got a job.

yes. I am a teacher as well. i work from home all the time, am exhausted, and never caught up. I love the actual teaching and am too old to switch fields, but don’t know how Inwill
make it to retirement.

This is exactly what I do as a senior lecturer. Not full time so I don't have to teach as many classes and I can just about manage my workload but I'm still choosing which deadline to miss, which tutees I can't see early enough in the semester, which tasks to ignore.

I don't have research in my contract which makes it worse. Colleagues in research contracts often don't do any just to cope with the workload but I do more teaching than them and get no research leave. It's very unfair.

And then situations crop up daily that need urgent attention so meeting paperwork deadlines is nigh on impossible. I have a chronic illness now so I do refuse to work weekends as I have to rest to physically cope. Some stuff just isn't done now.

I've been in reactive roles in teams that are either understaffed, or staffed by completely inappropriate/ineffective workers, with timeframes dictated by legislation for so long that I now only have 2 working speeds: break neck or stop. I can't pace myself anymore. I do, however, know my signs of burnout really well & what to do about it. There far less demanding roles in my profession but I have sole responsibility for 3 children so I need this money.

Being a parent of four. 24/7, 365, for 30 years. No sick leave; no vacation leave. Why do people complain about work? Work would have been a vacation. Count your blessings while looking for another job

😂

Wow. I've two full time jobs in that case. Go me. Total over-achiever here 🥳

Make that 3 full time jobs. Managing the mum guilt & conflicting interests is a whole other workload in itself.

Yep, nurse Ward Manager! Ridiculous workload. I burnt out and have just left after 2.5 years.

I do think I might struggle with slowing the pace for my new job. Think it will be a big adjustment.

Yes. As an academic I spent 30 years - from doing a PhD while lecturing, through the last 20 years as a Head of Department or other leadership role, plus successive research grants working an average of 60 hour weeks. In the last 5 years, I’ve stopped doing that and gosh, it’s amazing to sleep in until 7am and stop work at 7pm!

Not now bit as a children and families social worker. I worked out at one point I had approximately one hour a week for every child on my case load - to meet them and their parents, do parenting support work, assess risk, attend child protection meetings, write the reports for those meetings, prepare for court/hearing, do follow up work, remove children and find places for them to live, do transitions into/out of care placements, attend training and team meetings. Absolutely impossible to work safely so I left for a non-practice role which is still very busy, but no lives at risk if I miss something.

I work for a civil service dept which has a very high workload made even higher by the regular unpredictable events and fire fighting that happen simply because of the nature of the business we are in. It's the same across all depts though and we are all in the same boat. You get used to it.

My last job was like that. I worked late into the evenings and over most of the weekend. Easily doing 50 plus hours a week.

It was making me miserable. I took the difficult decision a year ago to leave (difficult because of my large team who were really upset) and it’s been the best decision of my career. My new job is paid 20k less, but I barely notice it as I was paying so much tax, and I have no pressure whatsoever.

Like someone upthread said, it took months for the relief to kick in but a year on, I’m a different person.

if you want to talk to another charity worker feel free to message me - you should not be having to work like this and I wonder what role you are in that has a caseload like that?? Happy to chat!!