Wascally Wabbit

Hi everyone.
I am trying not to feel sorry for myself. I have actually tried my best to be calm and it's not working.

Where I work just went through the busiest period of the year. This without a major supervisor who has been out sick for a long time.
Of course their work gets placed on me and my already overloaded schedule.
To top it off, the boss does not pay attention to how many payroll hrs are being used, and chops all the help.
I have been working 10 hour days, and so on. 13 days in a row, and one off, on and on it goes. I am exhausted.

Now we have a major visit from a regional manager this week. The business is a mess, with no help. My boss is an ok man, but tends to shove blame on everyone else but himself. Understandable I guess, if he's looking at keeping his job.

I know this will all make me look bad. The fact I have no one to help, and a bazillion things to do and it won't get done in time.

I am sorry to whine, but I am near the end of my rope. Finding another job is out of the question at my age!

Someone reach down and lift me up!

Give me advice! It's ok to give advice!! I think I am blinded by exhaustion and can't think any more.

MMkM

Can you get in some extra sleep by going home and getting a quick dinner and going straight to bed.

Eating some more carbs for energy?

Try some calming breaths when at work and totally exhausted.

Hopefully the supervisor will be coming back soon. And the regional manager will leave.
Maybe ask for a weekend off? Surely they would understand that after all the hard work you put in.

guiab

I have been there Wascally Wabbit. It is really difficult when a crisis at work (and there will always be a crisis, sooner or later, right?) feeds into our workaholic tendency.
I don't know your situation, but this is a situation that higher ups really need to know about. If so much is dependent on just you, what will happen if you got sick? Or hit by a car? This in something your supervisors need to consider. There is real business risk when one person is responsible for so much.
And you need to remember the Golden Rule, or what I would call the ACOA Inverse of the Golden Rule: Treat YOURSELF as well as you would like others to treat you. We are so accommodating that we forget this.
Be well.

DesertEyes

Have a big ol (((((( hug )))))))

I think you are one of the sweetest, kindest, and most giving peeps I know. I _love_ reading your posts here on SR, and I love how you always have something compassionate to say to people that are in deep pain. That is a wonderful gift, and you are one of the reasons SR is such a haven in the world.

Sorry to disagree with you on that one. My mom taught me it's _never_ too late for anything. She was 80 years old when she married her _third_ husband, after outliving the first two. And when the third one died she decided she was _not_ going to be a widow. She was going to be _single_.

Mom is now _97_, and has _two_ boyfriends, each one over 100. She doesn't care for young-uns, she says, they're too immature

It's _never_ too late for anything.

well..... if a whole bunch of things are not going to get done _anyway_...... take a mental-health sick day. _One_ day off isn't going to make any difference in _that_ mess, but it will prevent you from getting _very sick_ and missing a _lot_ of days.

Mike (((((( hugs )))))

barb dwyer

Even at work, we can't do any more than the next thing.

GingerM

All we can do is all we can do.

My work can become this way, and I have to remind myself "one thing(day) at a time."

I choose the three most pressing things and set my goal to get those three things done. The rest will have to wait. If I have spare time, then I'll try to pick up a fourth. My work requires a lot of legal documentation - if I don't do it right, I can put my job and the company at risk.

One day at a time, one thing at a time - it's what saves my sanity when I get in those positions.

If your regional manager is so clueless as to not see what's going on, then no matter how hard you try, it is unlikely that he/she will notice the difference in your efforts anyway. And if he/she does see what's going on, he/she will not blame you for the problems that exist through no fault of your own. Is there any way you could be pro-active and send the manager an email explaining the situation on the front end?

My other coping mechanism is to remind myself that no matter what happens at work, the world will not cease to revolve about its axis. People around the world will still be starving, wars will continue to happen on various scales, prey will continue to be eaten, and cockroaches will continue to breed. In other words, I remind myself that my job, while it seems like a colossus to me, is really pretty insignificant in the bigger picture. This mechanism doesn't work well for everyone, but it helps me put things in their proper perspective.

The biggest piece of advice I could give you is to get some sleep. Sleep deprivation just makes it all that much worse.

dollydo

Sorry that you are overwhelmed.

I had owned my own businesses for years, closed the last one, and, went out looking for a new opportunity at age 58. I had not worked in corporate america for 15 years, quickly found a job, and, I am still there. Although I am heading for retirement.

And, last year my mother was the activity director at a local mobilhome park last year. She was 84 years young.

So, it is never too late!

You can do only what you can do, and, nothing more. You have stepped up to the plate, you have done the best you can do. You are not paid to do the supervisors job and I would bet that the company did not compensate you for filling in for him when he was out.

Take a few breaths, don't obsess about something that is out of your control.

PurpleWilder

If you have a regional manager coming for a visit, would this not be an excellent time to take him/her aside and rationally talk about your concerns? We codies are all about how things LOOK and not how they actually ARE. It is the regional manager's job to make sure the business stays profitable and successful. You working 10 hour days 13 days straight does not work towards that end.

Yes, such a discussion would damage your direct manager's ego. But it is a business relationship, not a love relationship. Of course, if you might get fired and you already have enough on your plate you may have to come up with something else. But if the regional manager shows up and ask for your opinion on how things are going, perhaps gently telling the actual truth might be the way to go here.