Overwhelmed at work - help!

[ritzbiscuits]

Feeling incredibly overwhelmed at work at the moment, the volume of work is unbearable. The primary project I work on has just had a major product launch and it feels like chaos. A few of the team are in the same boat as me. Middle managers are making a few vague noises about us being overworked, but aren't moving quick enough to make any major changes. Note, there is no personal performance situation in my role. I'm well respected for doing a good job, but feel I'm not working to my best at the moment given how I feel.

With this work situation and a 5 yo DS to look after, I feel burnt out and exhausted. I've been suffering chronic shoulder and neck pain for the past 6 months, the doctors are trying to look at what is the root cause, but really believe it is linked to my overall work life situation. I'm also incredibly anxious at times and at times feel like I struggle to breath.

I'd really like advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation whether I should consider taking some sick leave? I do really worry about it putting a blot on my copy book if I take some stress related leave, but I worry I will get worse if I don't address the situation. Note I work for a public sector organisation, so they are generally good in their attitude to people taking sick leave from work.

I also really want to avoid taking medication if at all possible. I took antidepressants in my early 20s, and hated the way they made me feel undepressed but completely flat. I really don't know how viable this is, but hope a break from the office and taking some time out to rest would really help.

Thanks in advance

I am in a similar situation, I am already on anti depressants but not work related. I have taken this week off and do feel better but I know the situation at work will not have changed. The workload is horrendous and I am the second person in a small team not in work.

Sympathies OP, it's a horrible feeling to be so overwhelmed. Ultimately your health comes first and if the medical advice is that you are not well enough to be in work then you need to be off.

As to whether it would be a 'black mark', officially of course it wouldn't be, but I think it's natural that, if for instance you were to want to apply for a promotion in the next year or so, people would wonder how well you would cope. The other thing is that although a period of time away from the stressful situation can be immensely helpful for your mental/physical health, ultimately unless you are planning on a complete role change, at some point you'll be going back into that position, and unless something changes there is a risk your health will simply slip back to where it was before the break. Apologies if this sounds blunt but given the current climate within the public sector and the need for constant efficiencies and savings, its unlikely the nature of the work will change. You have young children so that will also continue to be a pressure point for you. So will stress continue to be a problem for you long-term?

Good news is that there are things that can help. Most public sector employers have good OH and Employee Assistance Programme provision which can be really helpful for employees going through stress. If possible I would seek their support in getting some counselling and/or team training based around resilience, which is a way of understanding and coping with ongoing stress that works well for many people. Also a stress risk assessment can be a useful process to go through as an individual or team to identify where the sources of stress are and how to deal with them - e.g. it may not be possible to reduce the volume of work incoming or the number of people in the team but it could be possible to make work more predictable or give people more control over how and when the work is done which can assist greatly in managing stress. I find it is very helpful, if you are able, to approach 'management' with suggested solutions alongside communicating the problem, rather than just repeatedly telling them the problem which can result in vague promises to 'do something about it' and no action.

In short, yes absolutely take some time off if you need it. No-one should be afraid to do so. But the longer you are away the harder it can be to come back successfully so I would try and find a way to take some time and get some support to really think through what you would like to happen longer term to make you happier at work.

Thanks for the long response @maxelly. I appreciate your honesty.

I only work Mon - Thurs, so I'm going to finish the week and see how I feel over the weekend. I've been working from home today and I'm still feeling overwhelmed and with chest pains. My health in the short term needs to take priority so I think aside from any impact taking leave off for stress may have, I think I'll have to do it. I'm not prepared to let this situation continue to affect my son and I've got to get myself in a better place.

You are right about the wider situation in the public sector and the pressure that puts on its employees. I do need to think longer term about my role and if I want to continue in it.

I do believe I have an incredibly rubbish manager who has been generally unaware of individuals' workloads. All while he's rolling in and out doing 6 hour days and working 2 days a week from home! It's an absolute cheek but his boss is out of the office a lot and doesn't see what he's doing.

I'm hoping I can use some of the tools suggested above to help carve out a more manageable level of work for myself. To date I've really enjoyed my job and would like to think I'm going through a blip.