Monday, June 09, 2008

Signs of Job Burnout

A co-worker of mine sent me this article today via e-mail with the subject “this is so you right now!” Is this a bad sign when other people, people I work with, are noticing my dissatisfaction? I’m thinking maybe it is. Especially since after reading the article I realized that holy crap someone wrote an article ALL ABOUT ME and then posted it on CNN for everyone to read.

Sign No. 1: Your co-workers are walking on eggshells around you.
I find myself apologizing for being a huge bitch. A lot. I’m just saying. I do feel bad for snapping at people and just generally being all bah-humbug all the time but I can’t seem to snap out of it! From 5 am on Monday until about 5 pm on Friday I am just in the world’s most foul mood! Even my commute home on Fridays doesn’t bother me as much as any other commute of the week because I know I don’t have to make that drive again for two whole days.

Sign No. 2: You come in late and want to leave earlier.
For the first time in my life I have become a habitual clock watcher. I literally plan my lunch break to minimize the amount of hours I still have left in the day once I return. I also find myself thinking things like "at two I can go move my car into the three hour public parking behind the building... it'll take me a good 15 - 20 minutes to do that and then I'll have less than three hours left of work!"

I AM coming in later because I’m trying to get in my gym work outs in the morning now, which of course means I have to stay later. This would be bad news on a normal day for me who, as a quintessential morning person, usually likes to be done with work for the day by 4. My brain just turns off in the afternoons! What can I say?

Sign No. 3: Apathy has replaced enthusiasm.
I used to love my job. Now I find myself seriously unable to get excited or motivated over anything. I even have found myself wondering why other people are so excited about things at work. Why does it matter if something happens, today, right this minute? No one is going to die if it doesn’t happen. It’s really not that big of a deal. I certainly don’t want to harass other people and make them angry or annoyed just so that something non-essential can happen a few moments or days before it would have happened anyway. It just isn’t that important you know?

Sign No. 4: You've lost camaraderie with co-workers.
Ahem. Did I mention it was a co-worker who sent me this article? Enough said.

Sign No. 5: You're feeling physically sick.
Two migraines in two days? Haven’t slept in a month? Stomach upset a lot? Check, check and check. Hm.

So, tell me, what’s a girl to do?

2 comments:

Michele said...

Yeah, we have GOT to get you a new job.

Anonymous said...

what's a girl to do, you ask? get the resume updated and start the search. you so deserve to be happy at your job. i'm good with resumes if you need help. it's what i did in my former life. good luck, babe. and let the search begin!