Too much work

Ever since early January my employer keeps piling and piling up tons of new tasks for me to do, nearly all of them of which I am basically the only one able to accomplish them. I've had a short vacation in Vancouver and a longer one in Australia but after I came back it got even worse. I'm hugely behind what they're expecting me to do, although what they're expecting me to do is extremely unrealistic within the given timeframes. I have a great relationship with the bosses but when I try to mention it in the e-mails they are very indirect and just suggest me to do my best.

With a family of two infants and a wife, this puts a lot of pressure for me, I have to work overtime nearly every day. I literally have no free time other than going to church, eating out, browsing a few news sites and making a few posts on the Watch. If I couldn't listen to youtubers while I would work my head would pop out.

I just don't know how to manage it, it is too much. I tend to forget some of the tasks they give me, and it makes me feel guilty. There is a new manager who launches tons of new projects within a very short timeframe, which explains much of the current situation.

Dude, just call the union and go on strike.

Maybe it's time to search for a new job.

If the manager doesn't do his job properly: Quit the job.

Forget the relationship with bosses, they don't care if you'll burn out - and you will.
"Schmooze with the boss" to get easier tasks works only in video games.

It is a known fact that highly competent people are always given more to do because bosses realise that it will get done properly. Still, it can quickly become unreasonable, but all they see is that you seem to be coping, so why not continue to pile it on!!

Ask for a big raise or say you are leaving. Work it to your advantage.

Gorath said:

Maybe it's time to search for a new job.

Click to expand...

Yep. Onward and upward. Not onward and into the ground.

What I did was basically stop overtime, so if things got delayed, well, tough luck. If they complain things are not getting done, you can tell them to hire someone else to share the load. If they don't, then update your resume and start looking for a new job. In my experience, more money only calms you for a little while, if you can't live your life outside-work, then no amount of money will make you happy in the long run.

13 years ago I made the choice of less money to have more time off and my own happiness. It is a hard choice to make and took a bit of getting use to but one I do not regret at all. I still have a good job but it one with less hours and way less pressures.

The choice to be able to go to 90% of my children's advents, most weekends off and home most nights no latter then 6pm was worth taken a huge pay cut to me.

So you might want to sit down with your family and then yourself and make a choice. What is important to you and your family. If you are a skilled person you can still have a very nice life with a reasonable paying job and a lot less stress or suck it up.

I am a unionized employee, as I work for the federal government. Not that I like being in a union, in fact I despise it and ignore anything pertaining to it.

I am actually on very friendly terms with my superiors. I know the reason there is so much work is because of orders that come from beyond. Though at this point they should hire another employee. Problem is I have very specific expertise and I am fully bilingual. In a place like Ottawa this can be a very sought after combination. I will have to be more direct and insist on how overwhelmed and stressed out I am.

I work from Quebec, but I worked in Ottawa for a year. I am thinking of coming back to Ottawa with my family actually. I think they will have much better opportunities there.

As for this job I really don't want to let it go, it is the best I could hope for. Very high salary, almost bulletproof job security with fantastic benefits, very important job where I get to meet important people from time to time. Frankly with a third child on the way and a wife who will stay at home for a few years I have to keep going to afford them a comfortable and secure living.

If I decide to buy a house in Ottawa it will be more than essential because houses are very expensive over there.

I feel for you. There were times when I to had more work than was good for me. Fortunately those days are gone.

Just one question - I won't start a debate, but what is it you don't like about unions? I wouldn't dream of working without the - if needed - support of one, they play an important role here in Norway, and actually many employers (who are themselves organized) prefer dealing with unions. Maybe unions work differently over there?

For many years I was a member of the physician's union, but I quite when I started working at the IT department of our hospital group., as they didn't have much to offer me in a mostly technical job. Now I'm in a union targeting high education technical personnel.

pibbur who admittedly is a very, very leftie person.

From what I've perceived, Germany and Scandinavian countries have tended to have more sensible and constructive relationships between business and unions. The UK, France and North America have tended to be much more fractious and tribal.

Please be careful. Your situation could lead to an burn-out, which will throw you out of the job for months, if not years.

@Ripper: Yes, but the situations has become worse in the last 10 years due to what I call "americanisation of Germany's labour market". Obviously steered by lobbyists, far too many minimum-wage jobs have been created in the last 10 years. The market for minimum-wage jobs just exploded. Now we Germans have got to slowly fight our way back, because statistics from several sides clearly show that during these last 10 years the rich ones have become richer (because they did employ so many more minimum-wage jobs), and the poorness just spreads in an unhealthy pace.
The profits that the companies got via using so many minimum-wage jobs just didn't get to the workers. The "top people" just got them and became even richer.

I often wonder why and how politicians get tricked into doing laws the overall public suffers from in the *long term*, and only a few % profit from.

Because too much poorness clearly creates social unrest.
But no-one at the top seems to care.

I once read the perm "privatize all profits, socialize all lopsses"; which is currently happening here : Burn-out and other health problems have been *rapidly* increasing here in Germany, with our private and state health insuranbces, which have to pay for the treatment of health problems - meanwhile the profits of all of that get into private bank accounts.

In the end, it sometimes feels to me - highly cynically speaking - as if a tick was sucking the money, health and everything out from the state, the public, everything else.

And right now I'm thinking about *why* this happens ? What is the psychological basis of people sucking so much wealth from the public ? What is the psychological basis of this accumulation of wealth in a "chosen few" ?

And I think I have found some clue : The Human Being is a pack-being.

I have come to the belief that our hierarchies are built into us, like the system of packs is built into wolves, hens, horses, so many othef animals.

The humans my view - the "alpha animals", competing with one another, exactly like in a wolf pack. Plus, there are betas, gammas etc. - practically EVERY form and EVERY organisation shows that ! Military, too.

We aren't free. We are a pack.

And, to me, this is ALSO the answer to the question of how the results of Milgram's Experiments came to be ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

Because people answer to the alpha. Or the Beta. Or any other being a level higher than they are.
And that - creepy - even on an unconscious level, I fear.

pibbur who said:

I feel for you. There were times when I to had more work than was good for me. Fortunately those days are gone.

Just one question - I won't start a debate, but what is it you don't like about unions? I wouldn't dream of working without the - if needed - support of one, they play an important role here in Norway, and actually many employers (who are themselves organized) prefer dealing with unions. Maybe unions work differently over there?

For many years I was a member of the physician's union, but I quite when I started working at the IT department of our hospital group., as they didn't have much to offer me in a mostly technical job. Now I'm in a union targeting high education technical personnel.

pibbur who admittedly is a very, very leftie person.

Click to expand...

To me unions are for lazy, corrupt thugs.

Well I, for one, really wish you would have a day off.

Humanity has risen! said:

To me unions are for lazy, corrupt thugs.

Click to expand...

Not much of an explanation in there methinks. But that's OK, I wasn't going to start a discussion, just curious.

pibbur who doesn't consider himself a thug and who hopes the workload of the HHR will improve. Soon.

been there, cut A LOT, been happier since. Like someone above said, it took getting used to having weekends and normal workhours. I wouldn't go back for any money.

Well, if you are good at your job and perform, just don't say yes to everything your bosses throw at you, tell them you have enough.

If they're satisfied with your work, I don't think you'll get punished for this, and they'll want to keep you anyhow.

Just make sure they realise that they are overfeeding you. Make a nice short overview with your current tasks, assign the estimated hours to these tasks and propose a planning for them. Send this to your boss as a "this is what I will do the coming period document" and make sure you go home when your normal working day is finished. When they give you another task just add it to the document (in last place) and rinse and repeat.

Just don't make yourself a victim of their targets, in the end you will harm yourself.

Sorry you are dealing with this ...

Many years ago I was in a dual-role in a organization that wasn't suited for it (my background is statistics and optical physics), and what was happening was I was being tasked to do two jobs. It was similarly when my boys were young, and I already had a long commute and didn't want to lose their childhood (we know how precious it is!).

After stressing and bringing home work to do late at night and early morning, I eventually scheduled weekly priority meetings with both managers together, made a list of tasks and made them decide what I should work on. It was a major hassle, and eventually I had to choose just one role. But I was there for school events, evenings with my wife, and so on.

Not sure if that approach will work for you ... but I wish you luck with whatever. Just remember the joy and blessings of your family - they are obviously really important to you, and while that report that *must* be done Friday seems critical, it will soon be forgotten ... whereas last night we were flipping through pictures from 2000 with our boys of fun things we did (one had a project he needed some pictures from 5, 10, 15 years ago) ... THOSE are priceless.