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Stressful jobs

Old 02-19-2019, 09:13 PM
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Stressful jobs

Hi everyone,

I was wondering how you all deal with stressful jobs. I started my day at 6:30 am and just got done at 9 pm. If I workout now, i'll be too wired to sleep... it's hard not to want to drink to settle down. Maybe I need a new job.
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Old 02-19-2019, 09:55 PM
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Was today typical, or did the day just run long?
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Old 02-19-2019, 10:10 PM
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It's slightly long - typically more like 7-6:30 or 7.
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Old 02-19-2019, 11:04 PM
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One of the first things I learned was that drinking was not a good way for drinkers like me to relax.

I try and maintain balance.

Exercise is good, meditations works for some, watching a favourite movie or series, reading a book, playing the guitar, listenign to music....anything thats positive and life affirming and doesn't look to oblivion is good.

D
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Old 02-20-2019, 01:18 AM
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I absolutely understand how hard it is to have a stressful job whilst navigating sobriety and just not having time to do any recovery things or have a way to cut the day off.

I used to work very long hours in Corporate and have a long commute each day too. I drank a lot to relax after work or when working from home to make a clear break in the day from working to me time. I went to rehab last year in June and then took the next 6 months off to work on my recovery. After 6 months I returned to my stressful corporate career but I had changed. I was having to put work above my recovery as the job required that, and it did me no good. I became stressed, didn't exercise and things started on a personal level to slide. I noticed that my old addictive stinking thinking was returning. Something had to give.

So, after 20 years of a big bucks job and long hours I just closed down my company and took a job locally, 20 minutes from my home and a strict 9-5. Sobriety changed me and changed my priorities in life so I changed the one thing that was getting in the way of having a good life. I do not earn anywhere near as much as i did, but when I was earning big money, I just drank it away anyway, I became trapped by what I thought others expected of me and the money. I am much happier now. x
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Old 02-20-2019, 01:36 AM
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Recyc,

Long work hours plus drinking equals insanity.

Seems like common sense, but the av will say anything to get the booze.

A 14 hour work day is incredibly long. I consider that impossible to maintain.

Drinking on top of that will lead to an early demise in one way or another.

I couldn't hit the gym either. The only time left is to clean up e.g. a load of laundry or shower, then time for bed.

1 or 2 hours of sober sleep is better than 8 of drunken sleep. I am still waiting for the time when I can routinely sleep 7 hours straight.

My 15 year sober buddy does it all the time.

Thanks.
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Old 02-20-2019, 03:08 AM
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My $0.02 here. I work in the restaurant industry and after work for several months at a structured fast food job, I went back to serving at 5 mo sober, and did that for the next yr. The hours and physical toll at a very fast paced place (with three flights of stairs to the very popular patio) were tough. But for the preceding 10 yrs thereabouts, it was how I supported myself after leaving the high flying corp life I had built in sales.

I made specific plans around my schedule - ie, leaving right after a shift was done. Not picking up extra shifts bc I felt money pressure. Limiting my "must dos" around work - socializing, pressure of any optional kind ("I should do...,").
I asked for help as I learned not to keep stress to myself and try to go alone. AA was and is a central part of my recovery.

After a year, the stressful and toxic work world of that specific restaurant was too much. Since then, and at three yrs sober tomorrow, I have been able to shift my work with periods not working that have ended up coinciding with major self care and times of need for caring for family...and all of my decisions have been made on the contribution to my recovery. Thankfully, with a supportive husband who can provide the liberty to do this.

I have shifted to office based work. Right now I am only "working" at the recovery group I lead for the industry.

These are significant differences and priorities not everyone can afford (in any way). I won't work in any place that sabotages my emotional sobriety- which is why I left the job I loved with the restaurant group I love, handling events and admin duties, back in Dec.

That's more than $0.02- I guess my bottom line point is that doing whatever is needed to support my sobriety is what this alcoholic has to find a way to do.
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Old 02-20-2019, 03:10 AM
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MantaLady - I'm glad you found some balance and are happier now, even if it required switching jobs. I was commuting 1.5 hours each way on top of the work, and I have a lot of high touch clients who are never happy. I'm oddly really good at dealing with difficult people, but it's very draining, so I am thinking I may have to consider switching roles and taking a pay cut as well. I did cut out the commute really recently, so I'll see how much impact that makes first.

Thanks for giving me some inspiration!
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Old 02-20-2019, 03:18 AM
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So interesting to me how our belief in booze to calm and bring peace when in fact its the opposite. I work in a high stress, extremely busy profession where alcohol abuse is almost a rite of passage. Now I honestly can't imagine how I got my job done when I was drinking heavily supposedly as a way to relax. The raging hangovers, the desire just to get home so I can have some more and of course the way it ended up spilling into my workday itself. I have much more time to relax and to work out and to just not be at work when I'm not working, now that I'm no longer drinking. It's a vicious cycle perpetuated by false beliefs in the poison itself.
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Old 02-20-2019, 01:14 PM
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Yeah, I work in a field where long hours are celebrated -- workaholism is a way of life, and drinking is part of the culture.

For years I convinced myself that alcohol was needed in order to "decompress."

Once I started going months w/o alcohol and experimenting with sobriety, I realized what a folly that was.

I became far better at my job, more focused, up before everyone else -- and got promoted multiple times. I was doing intensive workouts while other people were still sleeping off their "happy hour" drinking from the night before.

Actually, I don't even know how I used to do it before. I was always nursing some degree of hangover and pining for "relief."

Bottom line, whether you're a workaholic in startup culture, a 9-5 employee on a factory floor -- or working two jobs to make ends meet -- you will do far, far better at whatever you're doing sober.
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Old 02-20-2019, 01:35 PM
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This is a very interesting thread. I often think the horrendous stress I have experienced at work has a lot to do with my allcohollism.

Like Lessgravity and most of you the raging hangovers at work are horrible. The last one I experienced was yesterday. I intend to make that one my last.

The period between ending work and travelling home is the worst time for me arrrrrrgghhhh.

i wish you well.
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Old 02-20-2019, 02:09 PM
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Even before when I wasn't sober, and I had a stressful day at work (or was due a stressful day and I was on my way in), I'd say a quote to myself from a Vietnam film called "Hamburger Hill". The quote was very easy to remember, "It don't mean nothing man, not a thing!"

Still makes me smile when I say it, and I get an instant relief. Work is work, like the rest of life. None of it will matter after a short while, you'll be on to the next challenge and then the next and so on. Just enjoy it, it's not important. It's all just a game. Some play it better than others, some cheat.

It don't mean nothing man, not a thing.
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Old 02-20-2019, 02:26 PM
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I, like most everyone above, equated alcohol with relaxation. I worked all day and drank til I went to bed. The stress never subsided completely. It only lessened while drunk. I, like many have said, have found that the alcohol was not in anyway solving the problem. It was adding to my stress.

Quitting allowed me to manage stress more effectively.
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Old 02-20-2019, 07:32 PM
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I am only 4 months sober but 1 month ago I started a new job at my same company. I really like my new job but it is very challenging and I need to meet very short turnaround times. I am extreamly grateful I decided to get sober. I can't be hungover just trying to get through the day. I will admit I want to drink Fridays but it is getting better as time passes.
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Old 02-20-2019, 10:14 PM
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I was told by my primary care doc, addiction counselor in rehab, psychiatrist, outpatient rehab therapist and my current psychotherapist that if I returned to my previous toxic team, job, company and industry that I would relapse within two months at most.

So I walked away from a 30 year career in the entertainment industry, and am far far happier in real estate sales.
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Old 02-21-2019, 12:51 AM
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Same here Mindfulman! My job wasn’t simply more stressful or difficult because of the drinking only, my industry was toxic and it wasn’t right for me but drinking kept me there as I had no motivation to do or find something else. I’d come up with all sorts of ways to make it better in my head and blamed my drinking aswell. But the reality I faced after 6 months sober and returning to it was it had nothing to do with any of what I thought, being sober changed nothing to how work affected me, the only part alcohol played was to make a bad situation worse.

Some people find in sobriety that their unhappiness at work was caused by the drink. take it away and they are able to perform better, deal with challenges and things improve hugely.

Some people find that with a clear head and for the first time getting to know who they are, what they want and what is good for them that they have been a square peg trying to fit in a round hole all along.

xx
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Old 02-21-2019, 05:43 PM
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I always worked a lot of hours at a demanding job. My "reward" after dinner was a couple of beers to wind down before I went to bed. On the weekends I would drink more because I had the day off.

That pattern lasted for over 20 years, and yes my alcohol consumption increased both after work and on the weekend. And being a daily drinker for many years eventually caught up with me.

When I finally quit drinking, one thing I really tried to accomplish was to obtain balance in my life. I don't know your situation, but working 12+ hours a day is no way to have a quality life.
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Old 02-21-2019, 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Dee74 View Post
One of the first things I learned was that drinking was not a good way for drinkers like me to relax.
So much the truth. Why do I never learn? Any drink just riles me the hell up.
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Old 02-23-2019, 09:15 AM
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I'm back at work in a couple of weeks after nearly 3 months of being off sick with work-related stress. . This will be the big test for me, not drowning my sorrows after work with a bottle of wine. . I'm working in a toxic team and organisation too unfortunately. Currently trying to get the hell out of there and applying for other jobs where I can. Got an interview next week for a different organisation. hope I get it .
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Old 02-23-2019, 10:55 AM
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I'll keep my fingers crossed for you Brightsky!! xx
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