I'm Burnt Out!

[Freaki Li Cuatre]

I'm I sure will get a few YANCOTBAC comments for this but WTF.

I've been working away from home in my current gig for 18 months now.

I normally get back late on a Friday evening, Saturday is spent doing all the chores that I would have been doing in the evenings had I been home all week. Then my weekend mood is replaced with a Monday morning mood at approximately 3pm on Sunday when I have to start getting my tulip together for the week ahead. Then I normally drive down Sunday night.

You wouldn't really think that working away from home adds much to your load but, in my experience, it really does. At the moment, I'm constantly tired, getting headaches and very on edge.

Anyone else find the same thing with working away?

Getting too old for this lark.

 

[VectraMan]

It's better to burn out, than to fade away.

 

[Mich the Tester]

I'm I sure will get a few YANCOTBAC comments for this but WTF.

I've been working away from home in my current gig for 18 months now.

I normally get back late on a Friday evening, Saturday is spent doing all the chores that I would have been doing in the evenings had I been home all week. Then my weekend mood is replaced with a Monday morning mood at approximately 3pm on Sunday when I have to start getting my tulip together for the week ahead. Then I normally drive down Sunday night.

You wouldn't really think that working away from home adds much to your load but, in my experience, it really does. At the moment, I'm constantly tired, getting headaches and very on edge.

Anyone else find the same thing with working away?

Getting too old for this lark.

Chores?

You're supposed to have staff to do those.

 

[DirtyDog]

Anyone else find the same thing with working away?

Done it before, and when I had a stroke at 35, I decided to change how I worked.

- Don't drive down on a Sunday night. Travel Monday morning and get there mid-morning. If the client doesn't like it, find one who will.

- Don't drive home on a Friday evening - leave mid-afternoon (or earlier) on a Friday. If the client doesn't like it, find one who will.

- If possible, don't drive at all. Train is probably more convenient, but you have the benefit of being able to sleep / relax on the train. If you drive, then people will think nothing of grabbing you as you walk out the door and ask you to take a "quick look" at something; if you have a train / plane to catch then they won't because the timetable is set by someone else. THEY WON'T KNOW WHAT TIME YOUR TRAIN IS - make this work by ducking out a bit earlier and walking slower to the station rather than having to rush around in a panic.

- Remember that you work for yourself, so make it work for you. It sounds like it isn't, so change how you work - when was the last time you took a day off? When was the last time you took a week off? There's no point in slaving away for yourself if you have no chance to enjoy the money you earn.

 

[DirtyDog]

Chores?

You're supposed to have staff to do those.

His wife gets a man in while he's away...

 

[original PM]

I'm I sure will get a few YANCOTBAC comments for this but WTF.

I've been working away from home in my current gig for 18 months now.

I normally get back late on a Friday evening, Saturday is spent doing all the chores that I would have been doing in the evenings had I been home all week. Then my weekend mood is replaced with a Monday morning mood at approximately 3pm on Sunday when I have to start getting my tulip together for the week ahead. Then I normally drive down Sunday night.

You wouldn't really think that working away from home adds much to your load but, in my experience, it really does. At the moment, I'm constantly tired, getting headaches and very on edge.

Anyone else find the same thing with working away?

Getting too old for this lark.

I'm just not convinced you actually exist!

 

[MarillionFan]

I'm I sure will get a few YANCOTBAC comments for this but WTF.

I've been working away from home in my current gig for 18 months now.

I normally get back late on a Friday evening, Saturday is spent doing all the chores that I would have been doing in the evenings had I been home all week. Then my weekend mood is replaced with a Monday morning mood at approximately 3pm on Sunday when I have to start getting my tulip together for the week ahead. Then I normally drive down Sunday night.

You wouldn't really think that working away from home adds much to your load but, in my experience, it really does. At the moment, I'm constantly tired, getting headaches and very on edge.

Anyone else find the same thing with working away?

Getting too old for this lark.

 

[suityou01]

WMFS

 

[Mich the Tester]

WMFS

WMF&SS

Bloody hell Freaki, you've got MF and Suity talking sense at the same time. That's a record for CUK, and frankly, if you're being told to man up by Suity you should hang your head in shame!

 

[MPwannadecentincome]

Done it before, and when I had a stroke at 35, I decided to change how I worked.

- Don't drive down on a Sunday night. Travel Monday morning and get there mid-morning. If the client doesn't like it, find one who will.

- Don't drive home on a Friday evening - leave mid-afternoon (or earlier) on a Friday. If the client doesn't like it, find one who will.

- If possible, don't drive at all. Train is probably more convenient, but you have the benefit of being able to sleep / relax on the train. If you drive, then people will think nothing of grabbing you as you walk out the door and ask you to take a "quick look" at something; if you have a train / plane to catch then they won't because the timetable is set by someone else. THEY WON'T KNOW WHAT TIME YOUR TRAIN IS - make this work by ducking out a bit earlier and walking slower to the station rather than having to rush around in a panic.

- Remember that you work for yourself, so make it work for you. It sounds like it isn't, so change how you work - when was the last time you took a day off? When was the last time you took a week off? There's no point in slaving away for yourself if you have no chance to enjoy the money you earn.

Good advice but if a role is hard to come by then replacing something that is paying is not always easy, having said that its worth trying.

Also taking time off - you must have had some holiday surely - otherwise the client's budget will have been busted through having been billed for more days than they thought you would work!

Normally when I work away from home I put in a few late nights so that I feel less guilty about slipping away early on a Friday.

Also the advantage of travelling by train / plane is that often its a quiet opportunity to catch up with emails.