Don't know if I can do this any more

[worksucks2023]

I'm stuck in a job that I hate - mid 50s and unlikely to be able to change careers at my age. Reasonably paid but everyone has very high expectations put upon them to work more than their hours as we are under resourced. Boss is useless at everything except trying to make himself look good in front of his own manager. Team mates are decent people but we're all stuck in this cycle of doom where we can't see things getting any better. I find myself just counting down to retirement when I can be free of all of the corporate bullshit and office politics. Most days I find it hard to give one single shit about any of my work but I have to pretend I do. It's draining.

Don't know what I want to achieve from this other than a Monday moan and hoping for a bit of solidarity from people my age who are fed up of the daily grind.

It’s draining when you realise that the pressure won’t shift and for some reason some people manage to put their energies into feathering their nests rather than working. I was there 2 years ago and left work

Much depends on your circumstances
Your financial situation- whether you have saving or are paying out for mortgage etc
The life you want to have eg travel or move house etc
Independent financial advisor can take you through all the ins and outs of your finances and help you see whether you can jack things in
It may just spur you into a plan - how much you can save and the count down toward leaving

If you have a plan and know when you are going then it makes it easier to watch the shenanigans that go on at work - rather than just work flat out. Rather than expanding energies you could even try and channel those people who manage to make work about anything but work ( sorry not explaining very well)

I could have written your post!

I figured out when I could semi-retire, counted up the months, and now have a big countdown calendar where I colour in one box on the last day of each month.

I understand you @worksucks2023
I'm in a similar position but feel trapped by the benefits: pay, flexible working, holidays & autonomy. Unfortunately, there are large parts of the job that I dislike & they make me feel anxious, which is new for me. I think the anxiety is menopause related & it's making me feel I'm not confident to look for other jobs. Conversely, I don't want the last 9 years of my working life to feel like this. I can't afford to retire early - I checked last week, but equally I don't like what I'm doing. I feel quite powerless & trapped by my situation.

Thanks for the replies. Agree a lot of it is not made any easier by menopause - it can strip your confidence. I know I can't afford to retire before 60 so I just need to keep that in sight but bloody hell it's difficult to keep going in a high pressure environment at this age.

I am younger, in my early-ish 40s but perimenopausal and feel this everyday at work. Its like I just can't tolerate the BS anymore and every now and then that spills over, either into terseness or I have a good cry (WFH so can do this). My team/manager seem just like yours. I have felt so stuck in a job because the pay and benefits are good and suddenly my confidence to look elsewhere is shot to pieces. I feel convinced I will feel like this everywhere.

I am retraining in something that I can do self employed hopefully, but it's a long old slog. I worry that one day at work I'll tell them all just to fuck off!

Oh yes the desire to tell people to fuck off is very real! Maybe when I have my retirement date set I will do it.