Days 8-12 - Week from hell!
This week has been a shocking one for me at work. I'm drowning in the amount of work I have to do and my stress levels are through the roof. It's not helped by working with people who are so arrogant and downright mean and who expect you to jump off a cliff when they say so! Lots of tears this week and, unfortunately, lots of food I really didn't need to eat. It has not been a good one for me.
I really need to find a way to deal with this stress because my job is not going to get any easier and while I might dream of telling them where they can stick it, I can't! I don't even stand up for myself - I just go into autopilot and try and get as much work done as possible. I KNOW that I should be taking the time to look after myself and that should be the most important thing but its a vicious cycle and its hard to break.
I'm still here though and I am not giving up. I am so pleased its Friday and I have the weekend to look forward to. Going to catch up with the all the blogs and the days I've missed. I'm so uptight - I'm like a ball of stress, anger and frustration - I need to step back and chill a little! Roll on Christmas!!
Cat x
Feeling for you, kid and wishing you the strength you need to deal with it.
my work is so manic and i cannot even think sometimes.
i do stand up for myself though and push back on items that i think could be better served elsewhere - phrases like "that person or department has a better skill set or is better equipped to deal with this issue" help.
but yes, people can be really horrible. i have a new team member at the moment and he won't do anything he is assigned. his colleague hasn't done anything for 7 years and their boss does nothing about it !
it's the management that's the issue.
but you really do need to put yourself first and learn a way to cope with the stress - i end up hating sunday nights knowing that i have to go back and not sleeping.
so my suggestions are delegation - as much as you can to others. or re-assigning to other departments.
always take all your food with you to work, water, fruit, oat cakes, nuts, packed lunch - then you always have food with you.
and if that fails, what about what wendy said - how about a new job? is that possible?
It's time to start sticking up for yourself, if you don't, no one else will.
Give it some thought.
Have a good weekend, will be thinking of you.
Love BikerB x
I can't really give you any advice as I don't know what kind of environment you work in - but I do think you need to give this some serious thought. if you can't stand up for yourself? , If you can't say how you feel? Is it really somewhere that you want to be long term?
I think Wendy is onto something - you have a choice to stay - you don't have to - no one has a gun to your head,, As soon as you recognise that as a choice that you have made to stay it usually becomes a lot bearable somehow.. or it doesn't and you find something somewhere else.
In the meantime - look after yourself - practice putting yourself first and have a lovely weekend away from it ( Don't work weekends!)
Here's what I find is helping at the moment: taking a minimum of 20 minutes away from my desk at lunchtime (more if possible), even if I have brought lunch in as I need fresh air and to stretch my legs etc; taking food in that is healthy and actually will help with my energy levels; keeping water bottles on my desk to remind me to drink water; cutting down on caffeine (although I drink fruit teas as I think it is good for me to take time to move from my desk and prepare a drink); moving every 40 minutes if possible even if it's just to walk to the toilet. I also try to make my managers aware of what is or isn't possible for me to achieve although I appreciate that can be really difficult.
It's really tough isn't it when there is too much to do. And the job market makes it even tougher. Is it possible to look to see what other jobs are out there? About 9 years ago I lost my job and I had just qualified into a profession after studying and training for literally years. I found secretarial and admin jobs to survive and had to cut back on spending. It was tough - but in some ways it was easier to do that than work in a job which made me utterly miserable
Big hug. Hope you get some rest this weekend
how are you feeling today?
Just wanted to thank you all for being so lovely - it made me feel much better to know there are lovely people out there.
Walking out is not an option but changing jobs is. I have no idea what I would do though. Marketing in another law firm is likely to be the same. I would love to get out of London but that won't happen at the moment as hubby needs to be here.
I need to start setting myself some boundaries and will try and do that next week. I often take my food in with me - I just don't eat it because I still want the crap. I need to remove options - that has worked for me before.
Hope you all have lovely weekends
Cat xx
I know from experience how unpleasant and competitive it can be, especially in this job market where some law firms are struggling. I know from my friends who have stayed in London that it is particularly tough in the law firms at the moment and there is a culture of fear.
That being said, not all law firms are the same. I also have made the move from private practice which I find suits me more (albeit the work can still be stressful!). The skills you are acquiring will be invaluable.
Removing the unhealthy options sounds like a good idea. At the moment as I find my work is quite intense, I have been setting myself smaller goals e.g. I won't eat chocolate today if I get stressed or I will eat a minimum of 5 portions of fruit and veg. Even though they are small targets, I have a sense of accomplishment.
Good luck. Let us know how you get on.