Burning out, burning up? What should we do about it?

I am unemployed so I don't have to worry about work burnout. As for burning up in the heat, drink lots of cold things, and put cold wet things on your head. A few days ago I got drenched after a 59-second monsoon, when I was at the bus stop. I hung my clothes in the shower to dry, and they were still damp the next day. I put o my damp clothes, and they really cooled me of in the 30 degree weather. I went outside, and they were completely dry in no time.

I am not taking this summer easy at all. I have a compromised immune system and getting up in age and these puts me in a high risk category. As you know people die each year because of heat waves.

If you don't want those hours, I would tell them. As hot as it is, I can imagine it wears you out fast. It sounds like you are doing the same type of job as my daughter and they are running her ragged. They would not give her hours and now she is working over 60 a week. I am at home, so in the air most of the time.

Does India have the humidity we have, tho? My area of the country is in drought conditions. So, I'm keeping the air on. But it still gets hot in here of the evening when the sun hits the front of the house. Will have to get a fan with next check. As for work burnout, if you can get it done, a more regular schedule would help. All the same shift. It should settle down after your orientation days are over.

The greenery around me takes care of that GG. I also have a lush green and packed lawn on my terrace which looks after me when I am in my hall donwnstairs. With 31 windows I actually cannot complain. Since I do not go out much that the outside weather does not affect me What do I do when I am burnt out? I just breathe in through my nose and breathe out through my mouth around 5 times, sitting in my favourite place that overlooks my garden. A hot water bath helps me a lot too!

Your life sounds like mine right now. But I thrive off working so much, I can't just sit at home and do nothing. I usually sleep, and sleep or just sit at home (I need that time to myself). I use to work days, late evenings, and midnights but got burnt out pretty fast but I had money and not living paycheque to paycheque. The heat makes it even worse I find my afternoon seasonal boss is pretty decent so the other day I worked 3.5 hours instead of 5 - 7 hours as I felt so sick. I try to finish work early and sit outside relaxing. I find during the winter I get depressed and burnt out more as you are cooped up inside I tend to have a load more energy in the summer.

I'm just starting two weeks of nonstop every day work schedule with my company. I have a bread route for four days a week-Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Friday. But my company also does grocery resets (for my OLD employer!), so I'm picking up local work at a store remodel two days a week. Then I was sent a message for some new store conversions that are being done and I picked up 3 MORE days. I loved my old job but not happy with what our new supervisor was doing to us (hiring our jobs out to this other company). So I'm getting paid MORE money to work at my old job, I just don't have the health care plan (it sucked anyway) or the 401k. I'm sure I'll get burned out soon but these are only temporary.

I feel for you. I can't stand the heat. It literally makes me sick if I'm out too long in it.

I can really sympathize here. Blissfully, I have been retired for a few years now, but I remember well many times when work got out of hand. One job I started on swing shift going in to work at 3 and getting out at 11 pm, but after I had been there for a short time they changed to 10-Four meaning we would work from 3 pm until 2 am Monday through Thursday and be off Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Most of the younger people loved that because of the 3 day weekend. But then production went up and we had to work the weekend anyway, and still many of the younger people were happy because they got overtime. Then they started having us work holidays too, and as that paid triple overtime, the kids were ecstatic. But people were getting worn out after months of 10 hr shifts with only 4 days off in a whole year. Instead of being able to save up vacation time to take a vacation we were starting have to take a day off here and there just to get some rest because many of the employees were starting to get sick, which resulted in the rest of us having to work more overtime. Eventually, seeing no end in sight, I simply quit and took a lower paying job somewhere else in order to get part of my life back.

We have an air conditioner/dehumidifier that I stayed pretty glued to for two days. We also went to the movies for a break. Prepared and take cold plates. I hate swing shifts. A shift you can get used to. But constantly changing the shifts makes it hard.

After spending a year in Florida, it is nice to be back to nice, sane temperatures and humidity. Even the heat wave that we briefly experienced wasn't bad as far as I was concerned. I'm acclimated to this climate. Even if I don't remain in this particular state, I know that I can never again live in the south. I just can't handle the climate and lack of four seasons. I don't have a full-time job, so I don't experience work burn out. I'm looking for full-time employment or to expand my sales and/or writing to the point where that is my full-time job. However, I simply haven't gotten there yet.

You seem to have a tight schedule in the intense heat of summer.Normally,most people think nothing of M-F 6am-9am ,but can't bear the night shift let alone people at your age.You should strike a balance between work and rest.Here we suffered a drought soon before.Happily a sweet rain fell yesterday,which effected a change in temperature at the same time.

hi dear GardenGerty I guess if you were here work would be much easier for you. It just has started getting warm about a week ago, so far this spring and summwer was rather cool for the season and too rainy as well. I am a real nightowl soooo working at 6 am would present problems to me as I cant function well at that super early timer of day. Back to your question about work burnout. One cant always prevent it. It hit me last year cause I was doing quite a lot of overtime to catch up on the mountain of work and that was not only for a week or two but all the time. my boss knows of course I only have a part time contract for 6 hours a day, 30 hours a week but he thought I can fill a fulltime place workwise, obviously. My doctor set me on meds and also got me out for 5 weeks to recover from the whole frenzy in that place. I am doing much better now thanks to the meds I still take, they help a lot but wont make me depend on them too much so I will not be an addict. I try to relax on the weekends when there is no work and I also try to have an extra day off per month using my overtime and try to scatter my weeks of a bit evenly throughout the year for a good break.

i"m glad you were able to get out of the Friday morning gig after being up late working Thursday night. i don't envy you that schedule. I'm pretty spoiled now, working for myself. Business is bad, but my writing earnings are picking up a bit, so that's good. My office is upstairs, and last year we finally got a swamp cooler because our A/C unit just couldn't keep up with the heat and it would get over 95 up here in summer. This year the swamp cooler keeps it down in the eighties most of the time, or even lower. On days when we're in triple digits, I have to retreat, so I go to the other house that does have A/C. But I can't work there on anything that pays, so I just read or sort things. Gotta rest sometimes.

wow what hours they putting it to ya hope you have A/C in there am doing best to stay cool 106 most days isnt fun and it will eget hotter

Your feeling ashamed about complaining about the heat and comparing it to the people in India brings to mind what I have said so many times about our lives. We have the tendency to compare our situation to others and then beat ourselves up because the people we are comparing ourselves to have it much worse. What we tend to forget is that we each are an individual and our reactions are based on how "WE" are handling our situation. It isn't fair to one's self to compare our suffering or problem with that of another. Doing comparisons like that make matters worse for each of us. We will force ourselves to do more because we feel ashamed of our complaining about our situation, which will make the situation worse because we aren't stopping to take the extra time to take care of ourselves out of our shame. I have mentioned my physical problems to a "friend" and each time I mention a problem this friend's problems are ALWAYS worse. I have asthma and she started in that she had COPD. I have the heart problem and she claims to have had several heart attacks (though through an exam there is no evidence of even a small heart attack) and the list could go on. I am not looking for sympathy for the physical problems I have, I continue to do what I can each day. I offered the information because the woman wanted to know. The interesting part of the story is that she doesn't look beyond herself and her problems. She wouldn't consider the fact that there are others suffering more than she ever realized, her focus is on herself. You, sweet lady, have looked beyond yourself and feel the shame that you are suffering but there are others that are suffering more. This makes your suffering worse because you carry the guilt of complaining about your situation. Don't feel badly about complaining about your situation. With your schedule you have earned the right to complain about the heat, schedule and the fatigue. You aren't exaggerating facts about your situation , you are simply stating that you are in a bad situation right now, and are hoping that it will stop soon. I offer prayers that the heat in all areas of the world will let up soon so that we ALL have some relief. With the schedule that you are dealing with, the stress of training for a new/old job, and the heat mixed in with everything you have every right to grumble. Please don't lay a guilt trip on yourself. Just remember that you are uncomfortable, stressed, and tired and that makes things seem worse. In a few weeks the stress of the new job will abate and with the stress eliminated the heat will be a bit less uncomfortable. Our temperatures are in the 100's, but we have had a few days where the temperatures are in the 80's which make the hotter temperatures feel even hotter. I send out sympathetic feelings towards everyone who is suffering from the extreme heat. I have been informed that I have to be a bit more careful because of the heat. I am on medications that don't mix with the heat...I've already noticed that with the heat and the medications I get really really (b)itchy; and I don't have the stress that you have. Just take care of yourself, try to keep cool, drink plenty of fluids, and remember that with the job if you make a mistake they can't cook ya and eat ya...

We are suppose to reach the 100s by later this week and I am not really looking forward to it. The biggest problem will be Saturday, when we have to drive at least 50 plus miles in a van with no A/C and only the driver's window rolls down.. Yep, it will be miserable, but it is for my nieces grad party, so I am going, but when I get back, I will either jump in our little pool, jump in the lake, or just throw myself in one of our A/C bedrooms..

Hey, I went to reply about freezing rice, but it refuses to post..(I hope that isn't another glitch here.) So I thought since this post is about the heat, that I would see if it will work here, because I have been able to reply on other posts. Here is what I said to your reply about freezing rice: "Oh, well thank you Gerty, for letting me know this. I had one of those with the rice and was told to never freeze it, but now I know better..:P"

Seems as if they are taking advantage of u & i hate to feel that people are doing me that way. As for the hot weather i'm mostly staying in the house. I sure feel sorry for people that have to work out in it. I really don't see how they do it.It is so hot & dry here it's just awful. My yard is just burnt up.

Well I am dealing with summer quite well seeing as it is the middle of winter here and quite cold where I am! It does not get super cold here, but it is too cold for my liking at the moment. I would rather have the heat that you are having. In regards to work burn out. In the past I would just push myself and keep pushing until I got sick and my body then got to rest and catch up again. These days working from home is a lot easier. I just try and balance everything so that I have time during the week to do something enjoyable in the form of outdoor recreation. I always try to do something relaxing as well like reading a book, watching sport on TV or chatting with you here on this here computer!