The overwhelm when you start a new job!

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Hi All.

I experienced a really toxic situation in my last role after being there for 7 years and feeling relatively comfortable. I left with extreme anxiety and haven’t worked for the last 5 months due to various things. I’ve been focusing on reducing my anxiety and putting it all behind me and I’ve been feeling much better, although very aware that my resiliency has reduced.

I’ve been waiting for my new role to start which was this week, and instead of obsessing over how it might go and working myself up, I’ve been feeling surprisingly relaxed about it all.

I started yesterday and the majority of the day went well, I met some lovely people, but by the afternoon I felt really overwhelmed. My role isn’t too defined so I don’t have a clear picture of what I’ll be doing, I’m still unclear about the structure and where my new team fit in to the company and I had a very definite feeling of dread going back in to similar work I was doing before. Plus a lot of information was thrown at me. I’ve also spent 5 months relaxing and not communicating too much with people outside the family and so, although I think interacted well, I was very conscious of all my responses and worrying when I felt I hadn’t contributed to conversations enough.

Although everyone was lovely I spent last night dreading going back today and I’ve not slept well which worries me.

Reading this back I know I would advise that it was the first day and it’s going to be overwhelming at first but can anyone offer advice?

It takes time. I make notes either written or typed. Smiling goes a long way even if you feel shy.

It’s so normal to feel this way in a new role! It will take you time to find your feet and carve out your role. I hate starting new jobs and am always happier once I know what I’m doing and have my to-do list underway. But that will take time and they’re just letting you settle in at the moment. After you get through the first week you can start focusing on what your first 3 month goals are with your line manager and things will feel more focused. I know it’s hard but try to enjoy this time where not a lot is expected of you, use it to brush up your knowledge of the company, introduce yourself to everyone, do industry reading to catch up on any trends you might have missed while away, maybe look at training courses you’d like to do in the future.

I think it takes a good 6 months to feel like you fit and know what you're doing.

Thanks all! Yesterday went better although I am being thrown in at the deep end and have a lot to do.

I'm in the same position and been in role 3 months. It started ok but I have had more and more responsibilities thrown at me, none of which are standalone impossible but all complicated and time heavy.
I feel overwhelmed and worried about making mistakes. There is a now a backlog despite working 10 hours a day due to workload and complexity of archaic systems/processes

Sorry wrong post