sports_fan said:
I've posted a little bit about my struggles in the past and lately it has been as bad as ever.
My job responsibilities have changed pretty drastically within the past few months and I'm having a very difficult time coping. The stress is to the point where I have trouble sleeping at night and constantly working extra hours.
I do have some good days still but part of the problem is that I'm experiencing extreme highs and lows. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on leveling out the highs and lows. If I could keep myself a little more stable I might be able to manage.
With my education/experience I don't think I could find a better paying job but may need to find something lower stress and stomach a pay decrease
Hey, sports_fan.
I was in the same boat a few years ago. My career was killing me from the inside out. Until about the last 9 months, I didn't even realize how bad it had gotten. Stress had caused extreme yo-yos in weight, inability to handle even basic responsibilities and vicious mood swings that affected my family.
I started with meds, which kept me off the ledge. But ultimately, I found the root of my depression was my career in accounting. I had started officiating basketball and football and never felt more alive while I was dreading getting up every day for my day job.
I was completely unable to focus for more than a few minutes at a time. Even the most basic tasks seemed to overwhelm me and I went through 3 jobs in 4 years. I was a worthless employee. The problem was, I'm not a slacker by nature. I graduated from college in 4 years with a 3.6 gpa while playing college basketball. I went back to grad school and then passed the CPA exam while working full-time with a young family. My first few jobs out of college I showed nothing but promise and achievement.
But ultimately, the higher I went, the more I struggled. Accounting has 2 things that I have found are not compatible with me. One, it is very isolated and social interaction is limited. I'm a social person and struggle when left alone for too long. I just like people and need to be in communication with others regularly. Two, it is very repetitive. I would always start a job like a champ, but the more things repeated over and over (monthly cycles are the norm in accounting), the worse I performed. After 15 years of bouncing around, I finally looked at my career as what was possibly the problem. Now that I have changed careers, I can say with some confidence that the career was truly the problem.
I've been at my new job as a construction project coordinator for about 20 months now. I spend most of my day in communication with others. There is some repetitiveness to my job, but there is finality to a job and once complete, we move on to the next one. Sometimes I'm super swamped and sometimes I'm twiddling my thumbs. I love it and am starting to strive. But most importantly, I enjoy my job. I like coming to work and don't get overwhelmed. And last year, I actually tapered off of my medication without a setback.
I'm basically sharing all of this to say that your career is not who you are and it is better to change jobs and make less if it can save your mental state. My job change has saved me and my wife is happier, even though our budget is tighter. Also, you may be surprised how well some of your current job skills will translate to another career. I have a lot of knowledge about finance and accounting that makes what I do simple to me, where some of the other people in my department struggle.
Good luck and I'd start thinking it though and doing something sooner rather than later.