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thestabiliser - Member
I get the fear going back after a piss
Honestly made me laugh out loud.
I can empathise though,I regularly take client calls whilst sat on the throne,very surreal at times ...
Trailblaiser
I'd second Citalopram, and raise you a Zopiclone to drop off the night before.
I don't enjoy my work much these days.
Still here.... Though it's nearly all done now...
DrP
I am going away for December. I'll let you know in January 😉 Have done what I can with scheduling, training and documentation.
I dread it the day before and the longer the break the more the dread but then once I'm back actually it's fine and I usually enjoy being back after a rest. Just build it up in my mind.
Yep. First day back today, after a week from hell where I was burgled and lost all my work kit (amongst lots of other stuff)
Spent the first hour convincing security I was me, and could I have a new pass and locker key. Then straight into 2 interviews where I had 5 mins to prep and read the cvs followed by a mgmt meeting then a 2hr kickoff where I had to lead on visioning and run a workshop on corporate governance (having lost all my notes and prep, so I had to wing it)
I genuinely did not even open email today. I'm knackered and In need of taking a holiday....
Visioning? Does that involve Peyote and a spirit guide?
As was suggested up there. For me anything longer than a week and I add a day to catch up and figure out if anything important has happened.
I dread the return, full of worry, that everyone else will have polished off the biscuits. But there's still loads left usually, makes it look as if I'm the only one that eats them.
Only really get a bit narked if someone else has dropped a big tree I'd had my eye on.
3. Read only 3 days emails, mark the rest as read - they will email again if it is important.
This, I often ignore emails to see if they'll email again, or call. If they don't I just file it away or delete it as it obviously wasn't that important.
I'd second Citalopram, and raise you a Zopiclone to drop off the night before
I didn't find Zopliclone at all effective, even at twice the max dose, still only got about 1-2 hours sleep when I was really ill with anxiety. Citalopram worked like a charm though, was back to 6 hrs sleep in a week (40mg IIRC).
I've always been a worrier whilst on hols. The closest I've come you a resolution is a decent handover and a decent manager who has your back whilst away (ie; if it happens whilst you're off they'll deal with it). Not perfect but a start. W@nker bosses make holidays pretty pointless.
Spent 23 years working for the same company and towards the end it was hell - couldn't enjoy a nights sleep, never mind a week off. As a senior manager, had people ringing me up, who knew full well I was on holiday - and lost my shit at them on numerous occasions. Dreaded going back.
Have run my own business for 7 years now and the stress levels are very manageable/non-existant. Will never work for anyone ever again!
I dread time off, took 4 days out of the business a couple of weeks ago plus the Sunday so 5 days in total and came back to a load of crap, 100's of orders not processed, invoices hidden, and stock not where it should be, as well as a raft of emails, then the boss says glad your back I'm off so I have my work, his work and sorting out for the monkeys that I work with.
Last time I took a whole week off I ended up going in part way through the week to sort things out.
Sacking a couple of the useless idiots I work with would make things better in a small team it's not fair on the others to have to carry lazy muppets,
Going back to work after time off as a mechanic is easy using the mantra shit breaks I'll fix it when I fix it join the que. If you try to que jump or rush me you go to the back again. People soon get the message and your left to do your job with out those interruptions that pile on the stress.
It is a worrying trend in your profession DrP. The issue is that they get a bundle of smart people give them lots of training. Then stick them in a mundane job. To be honest, that sounds like the worst situation and the only reason for doing it could be the money. But, you get the money. That is the contract you made for yourself. We all choose our jobs for different reasons, looks like you might need to reconsider. But DrP, the problem is that someone in that situation can get a bit sloppy. For lots of other jobs, that might not be so important, for yours it is very serious. We have all seen or experienced shoddy misdiagnoses or poor treatment from highly paid professionals like yourself. I don't claim this to be the case with you, but I can't help feeling that you have a relatively simple job, just do it to the best of your ability and when it gets tedious, recognise that that is why you get paid pots of money for doing a routine job.
I have almost no responsibilities in a dysfunctional office.
Leave is a great pleasure. As is being absent without leave. I'm not sure anyone notices.
🙂
I find it hard to go back to work on a Monday let alone after a week or two off.
Work is fairly stressful most of the time. Some days are better than others - a non-communicative boss 150km away, a few angry parents trying to cause trouble, slow pace that anything gets done at drive me to distraction.
There are days where I write a long email with things that must be discussed and actions put in place, to only delete it, as I know sending it will only frustrate me even more when I get no response to the questions asked.
I've signed for a further two years, 20 months left and the end feels a reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally long way off and yet tomorrow it might be grand.
I know I swing from happy to low, I've been aware of it for quite a few years, it never really verges on the manic, but I have hit some fairly low points here. really I should probably do something about it, but then what?
I'm self employed so I never, ever stop working. Even when I'm out walking the dog or going for a ride, I'm thinking about work. It's a choice I've made so I can't feel bitter about it. Ups and downs. Be grateful you have a job 🙂
i used to carry a phone with my emails on and reply at all hours.....
then one day i realized - they don't pay me enough for this shit if the place burns down because i reply to an email outside working hours then it was beyond my help (and its not in my contractual obligations)
my work phone is now an old nokia dumb phone and it goes in a drawer at the end of the day OFF and the only person that has my personal mob is my direct manager. He really will only ever call me if the place is burning down and never if im on prebooked leave.
When pushed on the matter - i pointed out my father had a heart attack at my age through stress. If you want me to get stressed about shit out side the time your paying me for you'll need to pay me a hell of a lot more. thats not to say i dont care and i will work late / early if needs be but if it wasnt burning when i left then the onduty engineer can take care of it and if he cant then my manager can decide who needs to deal with it - and ill get my call that way. - filters out the trivial shit.
^ I have turned off autoupdate on emails now for that reason. I got sick of seeing emails from problem folk just before I went to sleep.
I sleep a lot better now knowing I don't need to worry about work emails.
I use the favourites thing on my phone, friends and family are in it plus one person from work who knows they can get to me, otherwise its on that. And i don't open my work email at all now. A holiday is exactly that, i've cancelled 2 this year and i don't do anything important enough to warrant that.
sifting through amassed emails is a cushty few days at my desk after a jolly, kick back, headphones on, gently ease back into things...
Emails appear to be the bane of most peoples lives now at work, they`re a handy way to pass the buck "oh, I sent you an email" I reply " so what?" 😀
I have had more senior colleagues set an auto reply saying "I am on leave, your email has been deleted", with the thought that they'll get back in touch if its important when they are back.
I also love a sarky auto reply as well 😀
"If you're that bothered my works no is XXXXX" 😉
I dread it completely. I am relatively insignificant in my place. However I am more suited to leisure activities and rest than actual work, my work phone is switched off until I return, life's too short.
The thing about work is that it is designed never to be completed. IF you want to control it to the extent it stops and starts at your whim, you're in for a shock.
So, worrying about the build up of work when you're not there is futile - people will send emails, they'll do things/not do things. And when you're there you'll have work to do. You can't stop it.
So, unless you don;t need to work, learning to accept the state of affairs is your first task. After you've accepted it, start developing strategies to protect that acceptance.
I don't dread going back. It might cross my mind what someone else has asked me to do in order to make them look good but I don't play that game
As for emails CTRL-A followed by delete works really well
but I can't help feeling that you have a relatively simple job
You are aware I'm a GP, in the NHS, in 2016, aren't you?? (rhetorical question, BTW)
Jeesh... this is what we're faced with 🙄
DrP
I'm fully aware of that. I'm also aware that a lot of your time is taken up by administration and procedures. You see a very limited range of medical complaints, in the main. Most consultations are dealt with within 15 minutes. More serious and more rare complaints are often overlooked, precisely because they are uncommon. When diagnosed, the tend to be referred to a specialist, rather than dealt with by a general practitioner.
The level of complexity you have to deal with in the main is not great. When compared to large scale long term projects which other professionals deal with
CM you are trolling right?
Or do you actually believe that crap?
Either trolling or not... If the latter I'll get the biscuits....
I'm aware that it is controversial and that it would lead to arguments, but the evidence is there. Look at common primary care diagnoses, look at gp surgery times. Look at administration.
I'm not posting this stuff from speculation.
I'm one of those who regularly checks emails when on holiday and it's precisely because I do that I don't feel stressed about going back to work. Admittedly I'm more or less hte lowest of the low in my place of work so it's rare I have anyhtign important emailed me, but if I do I'd rather answer hte question if I can or send a holding email and put on my to do list/forward to someone else. That way I know I'll have no surprises on Monday morning. So much better than hte Sunday night wondering and wading through 100s of all staff emails on the Monday morning
I'm aware that it is controversial and that it would lead to arguments, but the evidence is there. Look at common primary care diagnoses, look at gp surgery times. Look at administration.I'm not posting this stuff from speculation.
None of which suggest it's at all simple. A bit like saying a PRINCE 2 project mgmt course takes 1 week whereas becoming a GP takes 7 years, therefore all project mgmt is 1/(7x52) simpler than being a GP.
The evidence is there for all to see.....
To be honest, I can't think of anymore more varied, complex and stressful than dealing with ill people every day when a wrong decision could kill someone.
Drat... been rumbled.....everyone'll be rushing to do it come next week....
DrP
It's worth setting up some rules on your inbox, so any guff that might need to be referred to, gets dumped into a sub folder automatically, then basically scroll through and immediately delete any other guff on your return. As you're scrolling down doing a purge, flag anything that looks serious, and leave non serious items un flagged. A skim read/preview is all it takes to do this.
Then you're just left with emails that are directly relevant to you.
I have a zero inbox policy, you never actually have zero, but it's rare I've more than 30 items which I can then easily prioritize with flags.
It makes me shudder when colleagues have 1000plus emails sat in thier inbox..delete it, file it for reference into a suitably titled sub folder, then you can actually see the wood for the trees.
When i was QC manager i would have a look on a Sunday night to see what nightmare i was walking into on the Monday. But these days in a different role i just leave the works laptop and phone at work.
And then walk away.
If its life or death (to the company i work for not literally) the people that need it have my personal mobile number but **** that im on holiday.
Ive just worked from June with no days off except bank holidays next week im off for a week cannot bloody wait!
Post seems to have disappeared..
Anyway.
Not all will race to do it.the training is very hard, you need to be really smart and work very hard. But therein lies the problem. You have a group of really smart hard working people, who like a challenge who are then faced with a majority of routine problems. Of course there are the more serious cases and the long term care and management, but there is also a large amount of mundane diagnoses and treatment.
For folks who like an intellectual challenge, this must be death
I don't think CM is trolling in the traditional sense. I bet a lot of a GP role is repetitive for the intelligent people that make it through the training. A lot of day to medical conditions aren't as exciting as the pictures in the tropical medicine textbooks.
However, you can't let your guard down, a cough can be early sign of cancer or 2 days into a viral throat infection, it's not exactly simple or easy when it you consider the potential consequences of your decisions.
Plus, all that golf won't play itself you know. .
^ what he said. Except, most coughs aren't cancer and most earache aren't nerve damage. So much so that on the balance of probability it is sensible not to check for that.