Current Events > I'm so demoralized at work

(+) Yeah! (+)

Every now and then we have periods of low productivity where we dont have much to work with. Ive spent the last few weeks barely working an hour a day and its taking its toll on me. At first its fun, cause I also WFH so hey lets browse the internet, play games, do some stuff around the house, exercise, but then the existential dread kicks in and it feels like a waste of time. Wishing I could be doing something productive. Also we have a new manager who...doesnt really do a lot of managing and its MIA most of the time and doesnt really know how to do his job so another reason to feel like this. Guess I should be looking for another job then, right? Well the job pays well, has good benefits and allows me flexibility to pick up my kid from school. So the pros far outweigh the cons.

I know a lot of people would love this, but I just want to be more involved with something. Show off and grow my skills. Guess I feel unfulfilled with the job. Anybody like this?

I get this in the sense that Im afraid if Im seen as unproductive, or that my position itself isnt really that productive, that it will be seen as unneeded, and thus cause me to lose my job. If you actively want to grow your skills for better prospects in the future, then I can see why it bothers you.

I work a job with a lot of down time. It's been tough for me to get back in the zone, so to speak, and focus when I actually need to now

LMAo hail naw I love doing nothing while working

PerseusRad posted...

I get this in the sense that Im afraid if Im seen as unproductive, or that my position itself isnt really that productive, that it will be seen as unneeded, and thus cause me to lose my job. If you actively want to grow your skills for better prospects in the future, then I can see why it bothers you.

At first you worry about this, but at any day we may get bombarded with a lot of work so I dont think its likely. Plues we are still working, just more simple stuff than usual that gets done quick.

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

I work a job with a lot of down time. It's been tough for me to get back in the zone, so to speak, and focus when I actually need to now

Holy crap this. Not sure if I can go back to being the overachiever I was.

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

Show off and grow my skills.

I just want to tackle this one.

You can definitely still show off, WFH. Engage more with your MIA boss and team. Volunteer to be more involved with other work. In meetings, subtly talk about the work you do and have accomplished. Being frank, it's not the hard worker who tends to get promotions, it's the one who knows how to sell themselves (even if they are quite useless.) Good sellers can make easy work seem like a huge accomplishment that took a lot of effort to do.

LightningThief posted...

I just want to tackle this one.

You can definitely still show off, WFH. Engage more with your MIA boss and team. Volunteer to be more involved with other work. In meetings, subtly talk about the work you do and have accomplished. Being frank, it's not the hard worker who tends to get promotions, it's the one who knows how to sell themselves (even if they are quite useless.) Good sellers can make easy work seem like a huge accomplishment that took a lot of effort to do.

Well the boss is MIA in part cause way too many meetings from many sides of the business and he's still learning the ropes of the job. Which has led to frequent cancellation of our own team meetings, no 1-1's for months, he's even running late with the annual evaluations.

Its also bigger than that. Its been a shitshow since I started this dept a year ago. Initial 3 months of training on a platform then 2 months later we get told that were changing to another platform. Then a month later the manager resigns and we wouldnt get a new one for 3 months. Then we start 3 months of training on this new platform and it wasnt until October last year that we officially transitioned to the new platform..EXCEPT not all inventory successfully migrated so we're STUCK using both. This also led to a reevaluation of productivity numbers which affect bonuses...EXCEPT THE NEW MANAGER doesnt really know what the exact numbers are to reach these bonuses, so we are just winging it and some people are going above typical production numbers to guarantee their bonus (additional 600 p/month) EXCEPT...apparently there was an error for this month (he blames payroll) and we're getting only a fraction of the 600. ITS A LOT OF STUFF! Ive been in this company for 7 years and promoted twice, cause I like to be a good employee, overachieve..etc, but Im finding it very hard to do that here and now Im just another employee. Im mostly taking solace at what the job does give me like salary, benefits and a balance work/family time, but it feels like Im getting stuck professionally.

I have a similar experience of work. Periods of frenzied activity and very long hours, followed by times with not much happening.

I've learned to find myself things to do, and go into maintenance mode during the down times. Work on my own projects and interests. Honestly, it suits me, and I'm very lucky to be able to do this.

people WANTING to work is so gross to me

Waxitron_Gazer posted...

people WANTING to work is so gross to me

Imagine if Drs felt like that

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

Imagine if Drs felt like that

yes im sure so many of them do it out of the goodness of their heart and not the sick paychecks

Wanna trade jobs?

guy living my dream life and complaining about it

Waxitron_Gazer posted...

people WANTING to work is so gross to me

Theres a reason a majority of retirees hit a stage of depression after the honeymoon period of their permanent vacation.

You could use that free time to look for a better job that you find more fulfilling. It'll be a gamble, but if you see yourself heading to a dead end, you gotta switch lanes

HudGard posted...

Theres a reason a majority of retirees hit a stage of depression after the honeymoon period of their permanent vacation.

there's a reason pavlov's dog recognized the sound of a bell, too.

Waxitron_Gazer posted...

there's a reason pavlov's dog recognized the sound of a bell, too.

lmao, comparing animal conditioning to a person's innate need to feel productive, be of value. Our self esteem grows with everything we can do. Youre confusing working a shitty job just to make somebody else rich to working a job that is your passion.

I get the feeling, my old job was super demanding and always had some kind of detective work to do, but started getting very overbearing and dysfunctional with changes in management and IT so I had to get out. Got a new job that was slightly dysfunctional with turnover when I started, but now after a year here working at the high level I'm accustomed to they're so caught up most days are just waiting for something to do. Feels like I'm devolving to a slug brain with how boring it gets.

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

Show off and grow my skills.

Why don't you take some online courses to learn new skills? You'd still be at your desk if something comes up that needs your attention.

theAteam posted...

Why don't you take some online courses to learn new skills? You'd still be at your desk if something comes up that needs your attention.

Ah, this is the kind of advice I need. Could even do it even when theres work. Thanks.

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

lmao, comparing animal conditioning to a person's innate need to feel productive, be of value. Our self esteem grows with everything we can do. Youre confusing working a shitty job just to make somebody else rich to working a job that is your passion.

nothing against doing things you like

but like, really dude?

CARRRNE_ASADA posted...

Every now and then we have periods of low productivity where we dont have much to work with. Ive spent the last few weeks barely working an hour a day and its taking its toll on me. At first its fun, cause I also WFH so hey lets browse the internet, play games, do some stuff around the house, exercise, but then the existential dread kicks in and it feels like a waste of time. Wishing I could be doing something productive. Also we have a new manager who...doesnt really do a lot of managing and its MIA most of the time and doesnt really know how to do his job so another reason to feel like this. Guess I should be looking for another job then, right? Well the job pays well, has good benefits and allows me flexibility to pick up my kid from school. So the pros far outweigh the cons.

I know a lot of people would love this, but I just want to be more involved with something. Show off and grow my skills. Guess I feel unfulfilled with the job. Anybody like this?

No. I resigned myself to not always having work to do after a few years of office work. It's just the nature of the beast. If you have a job where you cannot manufacture work then there's nothing you can do, aside from looking for a new job.

Shamino posted...

No. I resigned myself to not always having work to do after a few years of office work. It's just the nature of the beast. If you have a job where you cannot manufacture work then there's nothing you can do, aside from looking for a new job.

I'd advise always having an ear to the ground for the job market and having your resume reasonably up to date. I had a stretch of no work last year which wasn't totally out of the norm for that job but then I got laid off out of nowhere.

But you can definitely be improving your skillset on your down time. Just taking a few MS Office classes or something like that. Investing in yourself because everyone's always expendable.

theAteam posted...

I'd advise always having an ear to the ground for the job market and having your resume reasonably up to date. I had a stretch of no work last year which wasn't totally out of the norm for that job but then I got laid off out of nowhere.

But you can definitely be improving your skillset on your down time. Just taking a few MS Office classes or something like that. Investing in yourself because everyone's always expendable.

I think resigned was the wrong word. Realized is probably a better word, as in I realized there wouldn't always be work to do nor manufacture. It was a change from working at Target and in forestry where there was almost always something to do.