Let’s hear your job burnout stories

[Mhass]

Document everything. Keep a log on a thumb drive (outside of the workplace) of every transgression you come across.

Lmao! I learned this years ago! I actually have a folder in my inbox and on my desktop labeled, "Blackmail". My buddy was looking over my shoulder one day and went, "WTF is that? You better not have any shit from me in there!".
Lol, that's not what it's really for, but there is definitely some accountability stuff in there.
I actually got in the habit of emailing people immediately after a phone call to recap the call content, agreements and action items. Can't tell you how many times that has stopped an argument before it starts simply by saying, "No, this was the discussion. I even emailed it to you and you read it."
Had a Captain tell me I was an asshole for that.
"YESSIR! But I'm right and I have proof."

 

['05Train]

Lmao! I learned this years ago! I actually have a folder in my inbox and on my desktop labeled, "Blackmail". My buddy was looking over my shoulder one day and went, "WTF is that? You better not have any shit from me in there!".
Lol, that's not what it's really for, but there is definitely some accountability stuff in there.
I actually got in the habit of emailing people immediately after a phone call to recap the call content, agreements and action items. Can't tell you how many times that has stopped an argument before it starts simply by saying, "No, this was the discussion. I even emailed it to you and you read it."
Had a Captain tell me I was an asshole for that.
"YESSIR! But I'm right and I have proof."

100%

My staff and superiors bitch at me all the time with my emails. FU, I have a documented, time-stamped record of what I said.

 

[AndyG]

On the physical side....

Exercise at least an hour a day. Anything.
Drink a vitamin-fortified green powder every day.
Vitamin D. At least 4,000 IUs a day.
Turmeric, NAD+, CoQ10, fish oil, and methyl folate.
Cut out sugar.
Gallon of water a day.
No processed foods, no soda.
8 hours of sleep.
Figure out how many calories a day you need and stick to it.

On work....

I'm a mortician, and I manage a funeral home. Burnout in my profession is a thing. Understand that the workplace today isn't what it was 30 years ago. Firing people because they're incompetent isn't allowed anymore, especially in a corporate environment, especially if that incompetent person is in a protected class. Cover your butt. Document everything. Keep a log on a thumb drive (outside of the workplace) of every transgression you come across.

That is a good post.

I would imagine your trade requires a lot of inner fortitude and compassion.


....you know taking care of yourself and is a big part of things because we can’t give what we don’t have

I have came to the realization that human connection and relationships are more powerful than we understand-

Even this forum gives you a little bit of it. I have also used the platform to meet some people that have truly enriched my life.

- a lot of what we’re talking about here is mental health...I am convinced keeping our head on straight is one of our biggest personal responsibilities.

I also contend our forefathers never faced some of these things because they didn’t see anywhere near the frenetic pace that we do.

At the same time if you have to get up at four in the morning and claw at a living so that you can take advantage of daylight and survive, people didn’t lay in bed at night with an identity crisis.

 

[Rickyd]

Your morning meetings @AndyG ?

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1075710457677590

 

[MaximusLJR06]

Your morning meetings @AndyG ?

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1075710457677590

This is my office every conversation in here is an HR persons worst nightmare, if it was a corporate setting.

 

[BlueC]

I don't know how you guys work corporate jobs. There is no way I could last in a corporate type job. Actually, I turned down "advancing" into management for Lowes years ago as I was getting out of college. People backstabbing and blaming others constantly, bitching and whining all the time, always on someone else's schedule. No thanks. I have to document things to protect myself from customers, but I have no fear of that from within.

 

[Apparition]

I don't know how you guys work corporate jobs. There is no way I could last in a corporate type job. Actually, I turned down "advancing" into management for Lowes years ago as I was getting out of college. People backstabbing and blaming others constantly, bitching and whining all the time, always on someone else's schedule. No thanks. I have to document things to protect me from customers, but I have no fear of that from within.

I turned down a transfer to sales when I was working in the oil industry and the VP of sales refused to talk to me again.

I was running one of the largest product line developments they had ever done after that so it was a bit weird.

We'd all be on the golf course and he'd talk to the person in the cart that I was golfing with and ignore me.

It was laughable since he was 30+ years older and I told him to shove his offer.

 

[BlueC]

I turned down a transfer to sales when I was working in the oil industry and the VP of sales refused to talk to me again.

I was running one of the largest product line developments they had ever done after that so it was a bit weird.

We'd all be on the golf course and he'd talk to the person in the cart that I was golfing with and ignore me.

It was laughable since he was 30+ years older and I told him to shove his offer.

I got a similar reaction when I turned down management at Lowes. The low and mid level managers act like a fraternity of gatekeepers within that corp and when told no, they throw fits, or at least the ones I was working with did. They're also not used to dealing with someone like me who will stand by hard lines and will not hesitate to hand out a fuck you when needed. After I politely turned down the offer, about 5 out of the 10 or so that I worked with instantly went on a retaliatory strike trying to punish me in any way they thought they could get away with, but it didn't work because I didn't care, I was already working toward my exit. That really burned a few of them. They did petty shit too like monitoring and limiting my access within the system. The best thing to me is most of those guys are still in the same position 10+ years later.

 

[AndyG]

My father-in-law was a senior manager at Huntsville utilities during the early 80s they brought him in to the local college for personnel training-

A friend of ours was in the same classes with him and said it was hysterical

They would give an example of like “ Joe came in tardy 4 days in a row and started wearing mascara -“

My father in law is the kind of guy he just says what he thinks- He would say something like I would just fire his $”&....

The instructors were “ like no no no Mr. Steadham you can’t do that now.”

I would have given anything to of been there. He is a piece of work.

He is constantly changing something on the house. I told my son every where I see a wall your granddad sees a door.

I literally spent Memorial Day moving the door from one wall of the shop to the other wall last year. I was so mad.

He was like ain’t that a lot better ? Uh no, its still the same size door and shop.

 

[AndyG]

I turned down a transfer to sales when I was working in the oil industry and the VP of sales refused to talk to me again.

I was running one of the largest product line developments they had ever done after that so it was a bit weird.

We'd all be on the golf course and he'd talk to the person in the cart that I was golfing with and ignore me.

It was laughable since he was 30+ years older and I told him to shove his offer.

Some of the most important things in life are the ones that you say no to.

 

[JMT]

I can relate to this more than you would believe-

I crashed in 2013 with no vitamin D and testosterone numbers that looked like a girl.

And of course when you get to feeling better you work your butt off to try to catch up.

Sometimes you feel like that by the time you get old enough to know what’s going on and how to make a buck you don’t have enough strength and energy to do it.


You’ve been down a long hard road and I want to just take a minute to tell you that you have a lot to be proud of.

You stuck together through some hard times.

You’re still out here fighting the fight.

I really appreciate your post because it reminds me that we were all in the same creek.

Adrenal fatigue is real and we live in a fast-paced fast food world with not enough good human connection- Look at us right now we are on a forum just to share a little bit of ourselves with people we don’t even know because they have a common interest. It is no sin, just reality.

We homeschooled our children too- l used to tell people “I have no idea what grade they are in —we homeschool....”


Thank you for sharing your story.

Look into
Source of Life Liquid Vitamins.

You can find them at some of the Whole Foods type stores or online. Do not take it close to bedtime or you will not sleep.

It is just a very potent formula in a liquid vegetable base.

You will pee colors Sherwin-Williams has never seen.

I read your original post, so I figured you would be able to identify with the girl testosterone numbers. You're a few years ahead of me. I get along pretty good. We should talk sometime. Thanks for the encouragement. I am glad to be working at home for the last 5 years. My wife feeds us very well. It's mostly organic food and she's very adamant about it due to her own health problems. She views things as pay now or pay later. Pay now for more expensive food or pay later for more expensive medical bills. She prefers to pay now and set us up for better quality of life in the long run.

We say the same thing about our kids in homeschool. 90% of the time I don't know what grade they are in. If they could do more we pushed them to do more. If they could do less we went slower. This is a nice thing about homeschool. You can tailor it to their needs. They've all done well when they transferred to college. My oldest daughter made a 118 on a test last week (out of 120) and has been class grader and tutor for several courses at EWU. One of my sons is taking Differential Equations and Physics (Calc based) right now on his way toward Mechanical Engineering. All he does is study, and he's a very outgoing cyclist and MTB'r. He's very disciplined and I'm very proud of him.

I take melatonin when I sleep and it helps me go to sleep. If I go to sleep at 11:15pm I'll be awake by 4:30am. Then I am in and out and usually out and so I work some in bed. I can do that since most of my work is reading, writing, thinking, praying, and responding to people's email. I think I may have SSS (Short Sleep Syndrome). It's not really a syndrome, but it's why I'm often the last frequent person to post each day on the forum and the first the next day (within the understandable random posts that occur all night). It doesn't seem to affect me too much, but I do usually fall asleep once a day either in the afternoon or early evening. That doesn't help me sleep through the night, but they all seem about the same.

I'm on all sorts of supplements. I am not as consistent as I should be.

Mostly the following right now (all specially chosen by my very picky wife what brand)

Liposomal Vitamin C
Magnesium
Zinc
Liquid Multi
Turmeric
Quercitin
Vitamin D

I can't remember what else. LOL. I'm very thankful for my wife, family, and life. Everything is really fantastic. I don't have anything to complain about. Just a story.

Keep fighting the good fight.

 

[AndyG]

I read your original post, so I figured you would be able to identify with the girl testosterone numbers. You're a few years ahead of me. I get along pretty good. We should talk sometime. Thanks for the encouragement. I am glad to be working at home for the last 5 years. My wife feeds us very well. It's mostly organic food and she's very adamant about it due to her own health problems. She views things as pay now or pay later. Pay now for more expensive food or pay later for more expensive medical bills. She prefers to pay now and set us up for better quality of life in the long run.

We say the same thing about our kids in homeschool. 90% of the time I don't know what grade they are in. If they could do more we pushed them to do more. If they could do less we went slower. This is a nice thing about homeschool. You can tailor it to their needs. They've all done well when they transferred to college. My oldest daughter made a 118 on a test last week (out of 120) and has been class grader and tutor for several courses at EWU. One of my sons is taking Differential Equations and Physics (Calc based) right now on his way toward Mechanical Engineering. All he does is study, and he's a very outgoing cyclist and MTB'r. He's very disciplined and I'm very proud of him.

I take melatonin when I sleep and it helps me go to sleep. If I go to sleep at 11:15pm I'll be awake by 4:30am. Then I am in and out and usually out and so I work some in bed. I can do that since most of my work is reading, writing, thinking, praying, and responding to people's email. I think I may have SSS (Short Sleep Syndrome). It's not really a syndrome, but it's why I'm often the last frequent person to post each day on the forum and the first the next day (within the understandable random posts that occur all night). It doesn't seem to affect me too much, but I do usually fall asleep once a day either in the afternoon or early evening. That doesn't help me sleep through the night, but they all seem about the same.

I'm on all sorts of supplements. I am not as consistent as I should be.

Mostly the following right now (all specially chosen by my very picky wife what brand)

Liposomal Vitamin C
Magnesium
Zinc
Liquid Multi
Turmeric
Quercitin
Vitamin D

I can't remember what else. LOL. I'm very thankful for my wife, family, and life. Everything is really fantastic. I don't have anything to complain about. Just a story.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Having support helps, plus knowing you are arming yourself for fighting for those you love helps a lot too.

Food is fuel. It is the construction material of a human body. Sure it is a pleasure, but people don’t need to let that over ride its primary purpose.

I think I’m going to do an off topic post soon with advice for young people- because of a burden I carry and because of mistakes I made.

You said something about living a quiet life once- I loved that and really respect that.

I have a lot of core beliefs -

One is we only go around once so start with try not to screw it up too bad. In other words, its ok to be human but don’t throw your valuable life away. I’m not talking about suicide. I’m talking about the more common fatality- people making constant bad choices in most areas of their life and ending up hostile, despised, bitter, sad and alone.

This is extreme but its a good start. But even if you don’t go that far, try not to mess up too much, and don’t forget your body is the vehicle for the whole ride.


Also, on the other extreme, all this self help bull crap of how we need to stop holding ourselves backs and start living on some superlative level. My first problem with all that is it makes you feel like you are not enough, off base and off track. Maybe you aren’t. Nearly 100 percent of all people
Know what they should be doing and what they shouldn’t. How their actions stack up against that is largely the measure of how true they are to themselves.

Rock on guys-if there is a better Jeep forum I’m proud for them, but my heart is here.

Andy

 

[Cheesy]

A little late to the party here.

I retired from the place I spent the last 27 working years three times between ages 65 to 67. The final time was more of a "Fuck You, I quit" with a set date of Dec 31st last year. There wasn't really burn out in that job as much as there was just aggravation. The first 20 years, the place was a Mom and Pop sort of place. I used to say we were a dysfunctional family, but still a family. I did set some limits. I didn't answer the phone or emails after 5pm and don't even think of contacting me on the weekends or vacation.
The parent company in Europe decided there needed to be a factory in the US and relocated us from Illannoy to South Carolina where we became just dysfunctional. I refused to move and worked from home. The factory was an absolute corporate Cluster fuck of Cluster fucks. I flew in one time to inspect a machine. I walked in wearing shorts and sneakers the day before the inspections to get my tool box lined up. One of the meth heads they hired wanted to report me to HR for safety violations. I handed the fuckwit my business card and said that was so Jen (HR lady) spelled my name right. Jen, Ex-Navy, had me in her office the next day. All she said was, "Nice to see you again and ignore those idiots like you already do." I was supposed to be there for 3 days to do the inspection and failed the machine in 2 hours. Then I went home. They shipped it anyway. I didn't hate the last 7 years, just didn't like them very much.
None of the folks from Illannoy are still there. I started a cascade of "Fuck you, I quit" when I left.

The burn out was at the job I held the 23 years before this last one. It was a union factory gig. I started out as a grunt out of high school and worked my up to Leadman/Asst. Foreman. I was up to 58 hours a week. The OT pay was nice, but the hour or more commute was soul sucking. The stress of the Leadman position was ridiculous due to the Supervisor, who was an absolute tyrant with an enormous ego. Thought he was Gods gift to women and emulated Mike Ditka, right down to the gym chewing. We used to call him Dicka. I got tired of being blamed for other peoples fuck ups, started making mistakes, and brought the job home with me. Which made matters worse. I did have an outlet at the time, a 14.5 mile loop that I hammered on my bicycle. Mrs.Cheesy always knew when it had been a particularly bad day if I walked in, changed, and hopped on the bike without saying a word. I'd be in a better mood when I got back. I got written up for someone else's fuck up and started looking for another job. When I turned in my resignation, the owner of the company called me to his office and asked how much money I needed to stay. I told him, "It's not the money, it's the work environment. The guy you made Supervisor is a jerk and I can no longer work for him. Or you, as things now stand." He said I was the first guy to ever turn down money and to call him first if the new gig didn't work out.

The new job wasn't the job I retired from but I did learn from that one job that the grass is brown on both sides of the fence. There was no advancement if you weren't a member of the family and I'm glad I wasn't. I kind of thought they were inbred. After about 10 months, I had enough and called the owner of my old place.

I got hired back at my old rate of pay. The Supervisor had had his peepee slapped badly in my absence and was almost a new person. I basically did odd jobs around the factory until I got my moves back and stupidly, I made my way back up to Leadman. There were a few more dust ups between the Supervisor and myself, but not like before. For Christmas 1996, we were told the place was closing the following February. We shut down on the 27th and I had the new, final job 5 days later and started making some real money.

I can highly recommend retirement. Everyday is Saturday.

 

[AndyG]

A little late to the party here.

I retired from the place I spent the last 27 working years three times between ages 65 to 67. The final time was more of a "Fuck You, I quit" with a set date of Dec 31st last year. There wasn't really burn out in that job as much as there was just aggravation. The first 20 years, the place was a Mom and Pop sort of place. I used to say we were a dysfunctional family, but still a family. I did set some limits. I didn't answer the phone or emails after 5pm and don't even think of contacting me on the weekends or vacation.
The parent company in Europe decided there needed to be a factory in the US and relocated us from Illannoy to South Carolina where we became just dysfunctional. I refused to move and worked from home. The factory was an absolute corporate Cluster fuck of Cluster fucks. I flew in one time to inspect a machine. I walked in wearing shorts and sneakers the day before the inspections to get my tool box lined up. One of the meth heads they hired wanted to report me to HR for safety violations. I handed the fuckwit my business card and said that was so Jen (HR lady) spelled my name right. Jen, Ex-Navy, had me in her office the next day. All she said was, "Nice to see you again and ignore those idiots like you already do." I was supposed to be there for 3 days to do the inspection and failed the machine in 2 hours. Then I went home. They shipped it anyway. I didn't hate the last 7 years, just didn't like them very much.
None of the folks from Illannoy are still there. I started a cascade of "Fuck you, I quit" when I left.

The burn out was at the job I held the 23 years before this last one. It was a union factory gig. I started out as a grunt out of high school and worked my up to Leadman/Asst. Foreman. I was up to 58 hours a week. The OT pay was nice, but the hour or more commute was soul sucking. The stress of the Leadman position was ridiculous due to the Supervisor, who was an absolute tyrant with an enormous ego. Thought he was Gods gift to women and emulated Mike Ditka, right down to the gym chewing. We used to call him Dicka. I got tired of being blamed for other peoples fuck ups, started making mistakes, and brought the job home with me. Which made matters worse. I did have an outlet at the time, a 14.5 mile loop that I hammered on my bicycle. Mrs.Cheesy always knew when it had been a particularly bad day if I walked in, changed, and hopped on the bike without saying a word. I'd be in a better mood when I got back. I got written up for someone else's fuck up and started looking for another job. When I turned in my resignation, the owner of the company called me to his office and asked how much money I needed to stay. I told him, "It's not the money, it's the work environment. The guy you made Supervisor is a jerk and I can no longer work for him. Or you, as things now stand." He said I was the first guy to ever turn down money and to call him first if the new gig didn't work out.

The new job wasn't the job I retired from but I did learn from that one job that the grass is brown on both sides of the fence. There was no advancement if you weren't a member of the family and I'm glad I wasn't. I kind of thought they were inbred. After about 10 months, I had enough and called the owner of my old place.

I got hired back at my old rate of pay. The Supervisor had had his peepee slapped badly in my absence and was almost a new person. I basically did odd jobs around the factory until I got my moves back and stupidly, I made my way back up to Leadman. There were a few more dust ups between the Supervisor and myself, but not like before. For Christmas 1996, we were told the place was closing the following February. We shut down on the 27th and I had the new, final job 5 days later and started making some real money.

I can highly recommend retirement. Everyday is Saturday.

You know one thing that comes to mind is for the most part there’s not going to be a dream vocation.

And I think we all understand that but it’s the bull crap that we know we should not be having to deal with that eats our lunch.

It seems to me it’s all you can do to make a living in this world without going stark raving crazy.

Self-employment just adds another level because you’re not isolated from any of the mistakes financially- Your paycheck is affected every single day.

We had a genius mess up a $25,000 shower that he went out and sold.

We had a guy last week that was criticizing my helpers and our framer- Right after he just messed up cutting $13,000 of aluminum rails.

I’m fixing both jobs but people need to keep their mouth shut when somebody else makes a mistake if they make big mistakes.

I don’t know what my future looks like but it looks like having less people.

And this brings me around to another story-

I’ve got a worker I love who is about to get his hands on about $2.5 million.

He already walked to the beat of his own drum and I cannot imagine the impact this will have on him and his family.

He’s thinking good but statistically it will be something to watch.

And I think ultimately it’s going to be and he’s not gonna be interested in working for a while. I’m just shaking my head. he’s one of the best carpenters I’ve ever seen.

 

[LukesfirstJeep]

I’ve got a worker I love who is about to get his hands on about $2.5 million.

He already walked to the beat of his own drum and I cannot imagine the impact this will have on him and his family.

I predict he's gone or will stop showing up in the middle of a big project.

I have a friend that started a commercial contracting business with his BIL, back in the late 70's. They did well until one of the financial slow downs in the late 80's/early 90's. He went from 40+ employees and always worried about making payroll to maybe a dozen. He pays most of his former employees, but as subcontractors. He's a lot happier and the subcontractors have skin in the game, if they want continued paychecks.

My friend recently retired and sold the business to his other BIL and his daughter.

 

[AndyG]

I predict he's gone or will stop showing up in the middle of a big project.

I have a friend that started a commercial contracting business with his BIL, back in the late 70's. They did well until one of the financial slow downs in the late 80's/early 90's. He went from 40+ employees and always worried about making payroll to maybe a dozen. He pays most of his former employees, but as subcontractors. He's a lot happier and the subcontractors have skin in the game, if they want continued paychecks.

My friend recently retired and sold the business to his other BIL and his daughter.

Yes. Realistically it is the wife who gets the check- my bet is she will leave them all and he will be very let down.

The smaller a small business is the more profitable it is.

40 is a handful.

There is no question- people are different human beings paid by the job.

I changed one guys pay when we were real small to by the job. He got so productive it made me mad how bad he had been sandbagging.

We have been seeing people wanting to make huge money and producing nothing.

Had a high paid seasoned guy install doors last friday and monday. He got 2 in. Then took off the rest of the week due to a strained back. What a joke.

I just rolled up to my cabinet shop after being out with my wife all evening- Of course it’s not operating right now but the lights were on and the door was standing open. She does cabinet grade plywood laying out in the rain.

All that is is grown people not giving a crap.

You guys don’t even want to hear what I have to say about how productive the average professional tradesperson is versus a real top gun.

Just as an example every service company you seem running around with workers in a van gets 50% efficiency. So two workers build out at $200 tower for 20 hours is $4000

They cost $2000 plus the van, fuel, insurance , billboards etc- It becomes marginally probable if everything goes perfect.

That means those guys get paid probably $25 an hour for 40 hours and produce 20 hours of billable work.

That is across-the-board in a specific trade like plumbing, air-conditioning and similar work.

Can you put a guy on a tricky remodel job with a lot of decisions and you won’t even get close to that if you’re not careful- The term is called dying on the job.

And sadly they will brag about how hard they work and expect to be paid more. The entire time you see them as a complete liability.

We are currently seeing certain size jobs load the company less and produce more money than others 3-4 times larger, and in less time- You can’t order the work that you want but you can generate enough opportunities to be selective and we have always done that and that is very helpful.

 

[steelhd]

You guys don’t even want to hear what I have to say about how productive the average professional tradesperson is versus a real top gun.

Just as an example every service company you seem running around with workers in a van gets 50% efficiency.

500 years ago, 100 years ago, 50 years ago, 5 years ago, it has always been that way in every single wage paying job including white collar. Its human nature. There are a few exceptions ... the top guns ... and then there is the rest.

Edit - and then there is the few percent that are completely worthless, thieving, lying scum. You cant escape the percentages.

 

[AndyG]

500 years ago, 100 years ago, 50 years ago, 5 years ago, it has always been that way in every single wage paying job including white collar. Its human nature. There are a few exceptions ... the top guns ... and then there is the rest.

Edit - and then there is the few percent that are completely worthless, thieving, lying scum. You cant escape the percentages.

I believe that. I think the ratio of winners vs losers may have changed over the years.

 

[steelhd]

I believe that. I think the ratio of winners vs losers may have changed over the years.

Every generation has said the exact same thing.

 

[John Cooper]

Edit - and then there is the few percent that are completely worthless, thieving, lying scum. You cant escape the percentages.

Dang it, I almost had @AndyG
Ready to hire me till you posted that.....

Back to square one.