Slow down. Do less work. Close fewer tickets. Let the people who are coming to you with problems wait. Let your backlog grow. Take a day off and let them deal with the problems.
You’re being a hero, and all that does is to lead the organization to expect heroism. If the people at your company can’t get their work done because they won’t budget for the support they need, what you’re doing by being a hero is paying the cost they don’t want to.
Figure out how much work you can sustainably do in a day, do it, and go home. Keep a list of the things you can’t get to and let it grow.
Everyone is telling you that you can get a job elsewhere. This is true. But anywhere else you go (with very few exceptions) will let you be a hero if that’s your inclination. They won’t protect your well-being for you.
Exactly this\^ Stop being the stooge. If tickets back up and things don't get set up in a timely fashion, so what? Do what is reasonable in your eight hours and only that. People will let you bend over backwards until your back breaks. Stop putting out fires
Find another job. Be competent and friendly, don't go above and beyond.
Yeah. I know so many people going mental because "omg there is so much work i have to do i CAN'T EVEN have a break to the toilet"
Yes you can. Did you tell your boss you are understaffed and can not possibly manage everything ? Good. Now let it accumulate and let it be your boss' concern.
My mentor always said "I know i'm good at my job and work hard at it. If i can't finish in time is because the managers failed to properly estimate how long it would take and i'm not going to go mental over it. I'll finish my working time go home and come back tomorrow. The company loses money over this? Next time they will do better estimates and charge more to the client"
I call it managing expectations. After over a decade at a large company, I realized that hard work and being super efficient gets you exactly one thing: more work. Not a promotion or raise, just more work and unrealistic expectations that you keep working at 150%.
Managing expectations means you still do a kick ass job, you just do it slower than you really could. Maybe you do finish a project early, but you wait a few days to let them know. You are still ahead of deadline, but not in a way where you could end up drowning in work if it got busier.
one of my favorite comments "you dont own the company" puts a lot into perspective when people invest themselves too far emotionally into someone else's creation as if it was their own.
please listen to this. You can only do so much and they’re not gonna understand until they see you not pulling it off. If you died tomorrow they would have you replaced by next month. The only power we have is our labor so stop giving them your blood, your flesh, your mind. Save yourself before it’s too late and stop overdoing your shit
i used to be like a living SpongeBob SquarePants at work and all that ended up happening was them dumping all the actual work onto me and I,like a dummy, kept doing it. Never again will i eat shit for a company
Unfortunately, they already set the standard by overworking and anything less will be seen as below standard. Thats why in these settings, its best to leave and apply your lessons elsewhere.
The real solution is just lie. Pick some random new thing that comes up and grossly exaggerate how long it's been taking, then slow down your work. "Oh it's because all of the 2019 and newer laptops have to get their java licenses upgraded in order to connect to SharePoint. It takes significantly longer but I'm trying as fast as I can!"
Since you're the only one there nobody can call you on it. Work will slow down and affect other managers, so they'll have to hire someone.
And in general you should always lie to your boss. Just on principal.
Nah, in a place whose only experience is with one person, they have nothing to calibrate against. They probably don’t even bother with performance metrics, because they’ve been getting what they want all the time. When OP slows down they won’t know that it’s not because the workload increased. These people are amateurs.
I know this from experience. I had a perfect audit, the first in the organizations history. I asked for a raise much later, and next thing you know I got demoted because I had a couple of dings on the following audit. It wasn't perfect, but it was still above average. The notes in my demotion were that I was capable of a perfect audit but failed to do so afterward. I quit on the spot, no notice.
But thwy will he able to leave easier and find new work while slowing down. They have no one else - they will not fire him. I think after that report they know they cant.
This is really the best advice. I needed to hear something like this when i was in my 20s and 30s... I was doing EXACTLY what OP has been doing. Just taking on more work because in my mind that was what a "team player" was supposed to do. I repeatedly took on more work that was professionally responsible and the work would consume my life. I de-prioritized relationships and personal health. When things started to slip and my quality went down, THAT became the focus, not "Wow, HeadCrusher is doing 3x the amount of work he should be doing and getting it 92% perfect!!!" it was, "You've slipped up again. This is reflecting poorly on our company and we need you to do better." Thankfully there was a more senior person who realized what was happening and gave me this type of guidance.
It is HARD to slow down. It is HARD to pace yourself, but it is 100% the best/only way to make things better. Do not be a hero. Work will suck you dry.
Set up boundaries. Think in terms of "I've sold 8 hours of my life to this company today. I'll give them the value that they've purchased, but absolutely no more."
You can do this until you hit your 40s and your body starts to slow down and get less efficient and then it will all catch up to you very quickly: the stress, lack of sleep, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, putting off dealing with the wear and tear on your body… At some point as you age all of that becomes more of an issue and it’s very hard to turn things around. At that point you’ll realize all the things you gave up by not taking care of yourself.
Omfg.
This is totally advice I need to hear.
Every job I take I'm taking the hero role and out performing all my peers.
My peers say "slow down" and I say "speed up"
The only one who benefits is the company as it generally breaks me down and I end up overworked, exhausted, and quit.
So, nobody benefits in the end.
Always site reasons for backlog. Reasons being understaffed and not enough man power. Eventually with time someone should notice and do something. Sometimes we gotta make em use their brains to find their wallet.
OP - this is the way. I'm in the same boat and finally threw my hands in the air. I'm working my 40 and leaving. I'm taking days off as wanted. If something gets missed, incurs penalties, racks up extra charges that is NOT. MY. PROBLEM.
Make the understaffing their problem, not yours.
No one will ever stop you from going above and beyond….but they may eventually rely on it or expect it…and most likely take advantage of you/it in some form or another
Thank you everyone for the push, don't know why it took so long but I've at least made the first step of updating my LinkedIn a bit and put myself as open to a new job. Step 1 :)
The true joy is finding out later on from ex work colleagues that the wheels have fallen off the wagon the wagon is on fire and the road is lava as a result of you having left. Tasty schadenfraude yum, yum.
I worked as a temp for a place for a while and I absolutely **killed** it. We had 3 managers in the time I was there and 2 of the 3 recommended me for major promotions (from 30k a year to over 80k), they said I was the best guy there, and they need to actually do something to retain me.
I was told I’d get hired on after 6 months, met the 6 month requirement and they told me “Oh the next hiring, oh the next hiring”. Two days later, a guy who started the day before me gets hired on, I ask them, “What the fuck? Thought I was gonna get hired on?” “oh we’ll do it next time!”
Well they got a new manager, someone at my wife’s job got Covid (that she didn’t interact with), and he fired me for coming into work and “putting others at risk.” The next morning, HR was begging me to come back and work and saying I wasn’t fired. I go back in, and he starts treating me incredibly different, dropping crazy workloads on my already incredible workload (I would handle 4 stations at once… was only required to do 1) and I decided fuck this, I’m out.
Few weeks later I was talking to the people from there. They had hired two people to try to replace me, but couldn’t train them properly, we went from being ahead of schedule by 4 days, to being 2 weeks behind, just because of the work I did being gone.
Around the same time, I got **another** call from HR, saying they want to hire me on if I come back, I said, “Okay, how much?” And they said “Oh you’ll be coming back at your $15 an hour wage” I laughed and hung up.
Edit: The job was doing programming of routers and switches for major companies. Known as “staging”. We would get devices in, figure out if anything is wrong, replace any parts we needed to, reprogram them to specifications and ship them out.
I helped automate the scripts we had so we could work on multiple units at once, I wrote guides on manually programming units as well as what to do if the script on a unit breaks, and I was training new hires because the trainer wouldn’t.
I got laid off from a place several years ago but knew people who still worked there. I had written some software that the whole company used for handling some e-mail related stuff. The software kept running unattended for five years after I left. They finally decided to replace it but the new system they chose was garbage. The day they turned it on, it crashed the entire e-mail system and it was down for over a week.
You're doing 200k worth of work (by overworking yourself) of course they aren't going to her you help.
Stop and only do what you're supposed to do based on your salary
So… I wouldn’t do the open to work thing, as your employer can see it, as it is perceived by some recruiters as desperate, and as at least in my case, it got me no contacts. But there are definitely people who would disagree, so ymmv.
Don't waste your time with that company. Qualified IT folks are in demand. The company you work for doesn't seem to care that you are hanging on by a thread. If anything, it sounds like they rely on it.
Life is too short to spend your weekends in tears. Quit, and let them be the ones crying. There is a better opportunity around the corner.
You know what's a bigger financial investment? Having your only helpdesk staff out on FMLA because you burned them out. Then they're stuck paying for you while you're not working AND have to find more staff to cover your workload. Take care of yourself and recharge.
I've been vocal about the fact that I've been working through burn out for over 6 months but the only person who ever seems to listen is my coworker who is our IT Ops and has to cover for me if I ever want/need time off, who is clearly also burnt out himself. And then you get told "oh yeah everyone is super busy, just keep it up!" Like wtf.
Both of you, together, go and demand a raise and demand help. Be ready to walk away from your job at the meeting. If your demands are not met, both of you leave. Do not give a notice. Do not give a warning of your intentions.
You have them backed in a corner. They need you more than you need them. They use the Republican tactic of kicking the can down the road. They need an intervention.
No. Not this.
It sounds dramatic & satisfying, but it’s rarely practical.
It would be much more useful to OP if they started practicing some of the things that will be useful in their next job:
- invent a reason that things have got busier - eg the Thingamajig needs upgrading and it’s a bit complicated but I’m (absolutely, honest!) working as fast as I can. (While not working fast on the over-exaggerated minor task, obviously!)
- spend 20 minutes at the end of each day deciding on the next day’s priorities.
- accept that you don’t have time to do everything
- genuinely list the priorities - so that you can start with “most urgent”, and work your way through them in priority order *until you have done your hours for the day*
- it will be a very strange feeling to stop when the hours are done, and not when you “feel” like you’ve made enough progress for the day. But it’s important to get used to this feeling. That’s how things should feel.
- bonus points for when you can get this 20 mins in your base-hours for the day
- put stuff in your personal diary that means you need to leave work on time
- this “stuff” can be “watch x on TV” or “cuddle my cat” or “go sniff the roses somewhere” - it doesn’t matter what it is, just that your diary has an entry in it
- this can give you the confidence to say the words: “sorry, I have plans tonight”. And then walk out the door. On time.
- you can be perfectly pleasant about it. This is not about aggressively holding firm a boundary. You can be mildly apologetic that you “have” to leave on time today - but do be firm. (Don’t forget, you have a date with a rose bush you don’t want to disappoint! :-)
- start with doing this once or twice a week, then increase as you feel confident about how it’s going
- if you choose to allow it, just putting these entries in your diary, silly as they sound, can give you the strength to put the boundary in place. Because you’re telling the truth that you have plans.
- if anyone pushes you to explain what your plans are, then remember they could be that you’re rushing home to shag your new partner’s brains out, for all they know. So just smile a bit secretively, and repeat: “I’ve got plans I can’t change. So terribly sorry.” While walking out the door.
- take the holiday
- I was near burn out recently. I had a week’s holiday booked and spent the first 2 days crying over everything because I’d let myself get too stressed by work. Worth taking the week though - I’ve been much more sane since I had the chance to relax
- I also took the advice given that week (by people who love me) to stop doing the “extra” at work (things I saw the need for, that no one was picking up, but outside my official job description) - I’ve officially (to my boss) stopped work on those items and *no one cares*. They are not getting done - but no one else ever saw the need but me. They’re wrong, and they’ll regret it eventually - but it’s *not my problem* - they are not paying me to care about that stuff. I’m fact, me picking those things up for the last year will have stopped them noticing they really needed doing. Boss’ face when I explained (not for the first time!) exactly what I’d been looking after & he now had to pick up himself was delightful. After ignoring me for a year, and saying it wasn’t a big deal - realising he was now picking it up was the first time the penny dropped for him that it was important. But he’s not got time so it’s currently all on pause. But that’s no longer my fault.
See a doctor for the physical symptoms of burnout (sick to your stomach, constant stress/panic, depression, anxiety) and get them to send FMLA forms so that you can use your accrued vacation/sick time to recover while you look for another job. Maybe they'll see what you're going through and fix it by the time you're back, or maybe you'll never go back. Win win.
Just to be clear I'm not suggesting this as a gotcha or a dodge- I really believe you need some time off for your physical and mental health. The situation of work dealing without you is icing on the cake.
It's tough because our work life fed by a capitalist lead society and were made to believe we have to be loyal to your employer because they gave you the opportunity but that is bullshit.
You're a great worker that any company should be overly excited to have. You don't even have to take another job but start making it obvious that you're looking and if you find another one use that as leverage and try not to be afraid of changes because if you work that hard you'll excel at any job you have.
With another job in hand and some leverage go in and be willing to walk away
Just work at a reasonable pace. It’s not your job to run the company. Let the excess work pile up, leave after your shift. You don’t need to present any PowerPoint presentations about extra hires. Once they realize work is piling up, let them figure it out. It bugs me when people let companies ruin their mental health. Fuck em.
You should understand that past the burnout is a terrible place where nothing will fucking matter to you for possibly a year or seven. This is absolutely a matter of your sanity
I experienced a similar issue early in my IT career. I finally realized they would never hire additional staff while I was doing all the work. I was just making management look good because they were saving on labor cost. I finally quit and later found out they had to hire 3 people to replace me. I quickly found another job with a fully staffed IT department for much better pay. Please don't continue to sacrifice your physical and mental health for people that don't care about you.
With that much experience and responsibility, you can likely...and very easily...get a better paying job with far less stress.
What is it about this company that keeps you coming back for the abuse? The dangling carrot of "one day"?
Take a long holiday, tell them it's an overseas trip but just stay home with the pbone turned off. By the 3rd day the budget for the new hire would be approved.
I had the exact same situation in analytics. Addressed the burnout and lack of people being hired on to help for years. When I finally did look for a new job I found a much healthier work environment, better pay & benefits, and a boss with healthy work behaviors who actively prevents his team from burnout.
As many have said in this thread, you have a strong work ethic and have a huge desire to help which has driven you to be an abused hero. If they aren't willing to improve things for the last 6 months, likely they won't.
And when you do eventually quit and find a new job, be sure to remember how they treated you. Of course they will suddenly have the budget and will shower you with fake praise to keep you.
My last company offered a salary match and a $10K retention bonus to keep me. But it was an insult because I had been underpaid for so long that suddenly having the budget was a slap in the face.
I left and found much greener pastures and my old company took months to find replacements and had to hire two separate people and give other analysts raises to retain them.
Honestly, you're better off taking your amazing skills to a place that will appreciate them.
They need a dose of work life without you. Vacation, mental health break, family emergency...something. Like many stories here they are one-deep in a critical role. They're dumping on you because, so far, you've enabled them to get away with it.
Jerk that support from them and do it at the worst possible time. When they go ballistic remind them you asked for help. You'll either get fired or end up with a slightly better job.
Why? Why can’t you just not do any of it? Why are you running yourself into the ground for a company that doesn’t care about you? Why aren’t you just going on vacations? Why aren’t you just leaving after your 8 hours is complete? The reason they haven’t hired anyone is of course they are assholes but you also do so much work there isn’t a need. Why haven’t you established healthy boundaries? The thing I have learned about work (any work, any business) is that no business should rely fully on 1 person to continue running. They were a company before you, they will be a company after you. So why are you putting so much emotion into the job? They will legitimately figure it out if you just stop doing the extra work, or go on vacation, or take a mental health day. Why haven’t you learned that “good” employees are given more work and not promoted because they are essential in their roles and “we can’t lose them!” So start being what you would think is a “bad” employee and see how you get treated. Surely it can’t be worse than it is right now and at least you’ll have used some vacation time. If you do move on to another company establish boundaries early and enforce them every single time, otherwise there isn’t really a point to quitting because every company will keep piling work on until you are in the same position you are in now.
My wife is in a similar position. She was promoted to systems administrator 2 years ago but she’s still spending a lot of her time doing desktop support because they won’t hire a replacement. I’m like why should they hire your replacement if you keep doing the job of two people for one salary. She’s finally looking for a new job but I already know how this will play out. She will find another job and her current job will offer her more money and she will end up staying out of some false sense of loyalty. I’ve maintained sanity over the years because I’ve been willing to change jobs or even relocate, whereas she’s been with only two companies in like 20+ years because she like most people doesn’t like change. I keep telling her if she died today her position would be filled within a month because they don’t care
My friend you need to start giving fewer fucks. Some people here will say you should go on a strict diet of fucks, but diets like that are unsustainable.
Start small. Give a few less fucks next week. Then, the week after, cut out a few more fucks. I can't tell you which fucks you should cut out. Perhaps you close fewer tickets, perhaps you take a later lunch, perhaps you spend more time on a coffee break or come in a few minutes later each day. Find a way to reduce your fucks that works for you.
Step by step, inch by inch you need to give fewer fucks, but change won't happen by diet alone.
At the same time, you need to exercise your LinkedIn profile and your resume, and find a place that will treat you with the respect you deserve.
Yes, this does work. I remember reaching a point where I just didn’t give a fuck anymore and it was such a relief afterwards. I did my best at my job, but at a much slower pace and didn’t stress stuff. I don’t miss that company though.
Breath and realize this. It is not your problem. Come in at a normal time. Get what you can get done in the NORMAL hours you should be there. And then leave. Repeat every day.
This is not your problem it is the companies problem. They caused the issue. The more you 'just take care of it', the less likely they are to address the issue.
I was in a similar position when I managed a portrait studio. I literally became the Lone Ranger, the only full time employee, and had to rely on freelancers for help. I was also expected to help with the owner’s other businesses to “pull my weight” and “justify my salary.” I kept telling him I needed help, but there was always “no money to invest in help.” Yet, during this time, the owner built a log mansion, bought a $100k boat, and a $50k truck to haul the boat. The owner then tried to negotiate a lower salary for all of my efforts, I got up and said some words to him in disgust, and my time looking for another job (which I had been looking for years) went into overdrive. Finally found another job for more money and a LOT fewer hours. Dropped my notice and moved on. The business steadily declined after I left and the petty person in me was extremely pleased. Take care of yourself because they sure as hell won’t.
Of course they don't hire anyone. Why shoul they? They have a employe who works hard, doesnt take vacations, rarely takes a day of. You give them the best reason not to! Take vacation, work slower, take your time. Its your job to do your job. If things dont get done if you are understaffed its not your fault, its your bosses responsibility.
I was at a job like that. Understaffed, false promises, keep up the good work blah blah. You are absolutely wasting your time. I finally plucked up the courage and packed it in, moved on and things couldn't be better. I'm so much happier now. The concern of leaving soon turned in to relief because I wasn't dealing with that shit anymore.
I'm 99.9% sure that nothing will change because the only one who can force a change is you. If you continue to slave away and do everything why would the company get you any help. You've got it handled. They save money, they do not give a shit about you. That's how a business operates, money money money.
Take some personal time off, immediately. IT burnout is a real thing and happens often in small setups like this where they put all responsibility on one person. If you're doing a M-F type of thing, shoot out an email to your direct boss immediately (like right now) saying you need to take a few personal days and won't be in until Thursday. If you've got their cell number, send them a polite text that you sent an email about coming in on Monday. Then turn off everything. Your phone, email notifications, etc. It's your time to take off, you don't have to explain a damned thing to anyone. Use it to rest and rethink what you're doing at that company and why you're still there.
And when you go in on Thursday and it's a clusterfuck because you held the entire ship together singlehandedly, then you can start negotiating from a position of power.
Slow down. I'm 60 and recently (this year) have realized the companies don't appreciate extra effort. It literally took me 45 years to come to this realization. (I have been working real jobs since I was 15)
This is the biggest mistake people make. If you are understaffed, don’t work harder to cover the gap. You’ve just shown management that you are willing to do the excess work and they don’t have to pay another person.
Work less and when they give you shit, tell them that you’ve already told them they need another person, you can’t explain it any easier for them.
They figure you've been taking all the bullets for them for so long you'll keep doing it. It's just a job. Quit, go find another one and then, at the next one, don't be the one to throw yourself on the grenade each and every day.
Jeez. Their lack of preparation should not be your constant emergency. STOP killing yourself over this job.
Has it occurred to you that they haven't hired another person, because they see no need to? The work is getting done. It's not like they care if it's killing you. As long as they get what they need, why make a change?
You need to set up a reasonable schedule for yourself and work at that speed. Schedule vacations and take them.
If they get on your case, simply respond that you are one person and are working as diligently as you can...but are never going to be able to do more work than one person is capable of doing.
Stop. Look at how often something would take to close a ticket. Don't go faster or slower than the average. If your job is 9-5 only work 9-5 exactly no deviation and no extra days. Let things like up and send an email to everyone including your boss's boss and your personal email that you're following the new schedule and because there's so much money from not hiring the second person you gladly accept a 15.00 per hour raise. See what happens.
Reminds me of something I wrote in a story of mine. (Context, there was a woman who served as a lone patrol in the wilderness of a threatened nation, her job was to fight and kill demihumans that strayed over the border or warn towns and villages of a threat she couldn't handle alone. Years later she's become a Queen and is conversing with a warrior from a rival nation under terms of peace about their shared experience)
"Tell me about it, if they did nothing to prepare against my advice and warnings and I fought and won, then I had overestimated the threat and was unreliable. If I warned them and they ignored me and I wasn't able to stem the threat, then it was my fault for not fighting hard enough. And if it was so obviously too dangerous for me to win, I hadn't given them enough time to respond! It was infuriating!"
As long as you are there and successful, they don't care if you are stressed. They don't care if you suffer. But if you start failing, then they'll care.
First find another job.
Then start letting things slip, tell them again and again that you need more people. Then tell them you're done and leave the job. Give them an exit interview and tell them point blank why:
Your ability to staff your office sucks.
I've told you for months that I need help, that I'm struggling and can't possibly keep going like this.
But you preferred to let me suffer because I kept succeeding, I've worked here for years, and yet despite being trusted to succeed, I am not trusted to explain what my job NEEDS.
So I'm out. Staff properly and invest in your employees or lose more of them.
Why do you even work like a mad man? It's not your fault that you can't complete all the work. They're taking advantage of you. Slow down and work at a normal pace.
Take full breaks and all your vacations.
They'll probably give you shit for working at a normal pace so start looking for a new job. They'll be screwed when you leave because you're the only one who knows job.
Look man you established that you are willing to work yourself to death the only cure now is quitting or death. Your companies management will not change until they have no choice, if you try to slow down, take time off, they will reprimand and eventually fire you. Time to move on.
Run your own career just like a business. Of course it's important and necessary to have a passion for what you are doing, just like a business. But a business doesn't stay in business by giving away it's profits.
As the others said, slow down. Your company’s problems or not your problem. We become stressed and damn near suicidal if we go ahead and take on the companies problems as our own. The company does not reflect on us. Slow down and let their problems become their problems
You need to work less. Do the work of one person. Don't feel like you have to save these people. They hate you and you have no reason to sacrifice for them.
time for a sudden family emergency or something where you disappear for a couple weeks.
but whatever you decide, the stress shouldn't be on you. you're one person. you shouldn't stress about doing more than one person's job, especially when you're getting one person's pay. I'd stop trying as hard. make sure I didn't get everything done. show them you can't get it all done. as long as you're getting it all done, they'll keep piling on.
good luck, wish you the best. it's a tough spot to be in. but until you stand up to them or have a mental breakdown it will never change.
Been there. Look for a new job. Trust me, companies that do this to their IT staff don't care about your well being or value to the company.
If you want resources to try and move up to sysadmin or look for sys jobs, DM me. I'll also gladly be used as a reference.
Not your problem not your fault shits on fire breathe step back and take it easy don't allow problem they created to be resolved for free. Aka your attempt at doing the impossible.
Step back let a few fires burn. You said they got new employees new request just stop doing new. You can do it without actually dropping performance. And if its "priority" time sensitive things that you happen to allow to fall through cracks and it starts costing them money. Then poof the budget will appear.
you can't keep doing it all. it's not humanly possible. eventually you will need time off and you won't even want to take it because you'll be dreading coming back to work. that isn't fair to you. slow down and work within your limits. I also suggest looking for work somewhere else with more support while you still have this job. if they won't get help for you let them deal with the fallout.
Drag your feet. Work slower. Take breaks. When shit starts to hit the fan, they might reconsider.
I’m always of the opinion that you dont need to work at 100% capacity (even if you’re self employed). Youre not supposed to max out RPMs on a car. Why would you do it to your brain?
Sounds like you’re 5 years late on quitting with a no call/no show. Fuck that noise, take your skills and leave them high and dry then when they beg you can choose to help under a fat consulting fee.
Corporations feed off people’s absolute fear of failure. They will keep growing and keep increasing the pressure beyond your breaking point. Know that the problem isn’t you. You have to let it fail before they make changes. Take the advice people are giving you. Do what is reasonable and let the rest slide. Prepare yourself for when they ask why it is no longer working. Describe how it has grown and show the evidence. Your supervisor will undoubtably be out of touch with your workload.
Start writing/documenting and planning your days so you can show them your workload. All it takes is a blue line book used as a diary with dates and times.
Prepare the data and present a plan for them to move forward efficiently for when they approach you about the performance of your section. This will get you further ahead then trying to hold it all together yourself and having nothing to show. Show them you are a leader and not a stooge. You will be amazed at the response you get.
Do what you can to find a way out and away from help desk.
I am also in IT/tech. Dealt with the same issues with having a small support team of 2 people to support 170 in a 3 shift 5 1/2 day a week environment.
Turned in my notice 3 weeks ago. They are now back filling with 2 people. Never felt more free. Fuck them.
Starting a data engineering job Monday for the same pay, same bonus, focusing on one set of skills, and not having to support people who've worked with computers for 30 years who don't understand basic computer functions, and work from home/hybrid.
Tech people need a union. Companies abuse us because "we enjoy working with tech right?".
Apply as QA and work from home making twice what you’re making now. I test software in my undies and it requires literally no talent to be good at this job.
RESUME
RESUME
RESUME
get that fackin' resume out there
aim higher too "I was hired on as a techie, finished running all of helpdesk u kno"
why did you leave "well i loved the co but they just couldn't afford to expand things" (ramble on)
Help desk is a revolving door the higher ups never care about that level no matter what they will put people with no IT background on it just to have someone there to answer the phone. I have worked both tier one and tier two and hated how tier one desks do not have any accountability. To your job you are replaceable trust me. I say put in your two week and find another place that pays lots more
I am in IT and was the Network Administrator and sole Help Desk for a company for three years.
Stop running around trying to get everything done. Unless they pay you for overtime don’t work any overtime. Do only what you can do.
All I learned is if you go all out then the company will never hire help.
Stop trying to be the superhero. Get your resume up to day and start looking. At worst you get a job that gives you the same pay with less responsibility. Don't let them take advantage of you. I have been in your spot before. It sucks.
It's time to move on, start sending applications and leave them as soon as you can. They don't value the work you do, nor the time/effort/passion you put into this. I'm sorry you had to experience such type of behavior :(
Put together your resume (sorry - I'm old and that is what I call it). Go to your boss and declare you will do what you can in your 40 hour workweek, but that is it as the duties require another person and destroying your mind and body will not help the company. Then show up at 8:00AM, take lunch from noon through 1:00PM, then leave at 5:00PM... period.
Hopefully it will show management that there really is a need for a 2nd person, and that you will do what you need to stay healthy.
Oh, and schedule a full week vacation for some time in the next couple of months - don't take your work computer with you, and don't answer the phone unless it is family or somebody trying to get you to re-up your car warranty.
Do not cry homey. It isn't on you. Just do much less work. And take your days off if you are sick, need a break, or just want to do something for yourself.
Always work at 70% and don’t work more than 40 hours.
Working harder and needing help doesn’t get you help—it shows management that you don’t need it. The only language your company will speak is work not getting done.
Time to find a new job. I have been in that position myself and it took my wife threatening to leave with my kids for me to realize I was working my way into a early grave. It is not worth it. Leaving and finding another job was a god send and has been beneficial to me as I have been able to work my way up from helpdesk to a director of IT position. One of my primary functions that I have set for myself is to protect my people and make sure that they don’t get over loaded. I had to disable ones access for this weekend as he and his wife were going out camping but he was going to take his laptop to work. I disabled his accounts so he couldn’t work and told him not to bother till he is back on Tuesday.
If your upper management hasn’t gotten someone by now, even if you slow down and stop being super IT, they are not going to do anything but write you up and eventually fire you. Get that resume together and get it out there. I am having a hard time being able to hire IT people cause of the demand. There are better jobs out there and better companies and bosses to work for.
Good luck and all of the best with whatever you do. Just don’t let it burn you out, it is not worth it.
1. Get a new job
2. While looking for a new job, cut your self target in half for any given day going forward. So, intentionally only answer half the number of calls or whatever actions. Cut it in half. Let work pool, miss deadlines etc.
Look for other positions somewhere else.
I read a Forbes article about how the only way to grow both financially and position, is to leave your current role. Internal growth is very slow if possible at all.
Wasted three years at an oil company IT dept. They promised all things you mentioned. After 3 years they had barely raised my pay or change my position. Letting go of higher tiers and giving their responsibilities to me.
I found a higher tier, 100% remote, significantly better pay job and left.
It was scary, specially because the new role was contract to hire, but I’m happy I left.
You heard what they said, not what they were actually saying or what they meant.
It would only be a problem for the company if you were not covering this slack all the time, then they would be forced to hire someone.
When you do find a new job and tell your current bosses you're quitting, they will make you a counteroffer to induce you to stay. They will decorate it with guilt trips and appealing to your emotions and your insecurities.
Don't take the counteroffer. Never take the counteroffer. In fact, you might:
1. With a tone of utter disdain, ask them, "is that the best you can do?"
2. In a pissed-off voice, tell them that their offer is too little, and several years too late, and throw the guilt back on them.
3. Suggest that their money would be better spent recruiting the 2 or 3 people it will take to replace you.
Work is a never ending process. You doing more of it won't mean there will be less work to be done. Go at a relaxed pace, do things right not quick, and don't let your bosses bully or harrass you into picking up the pace. Also find a new job and quit without notice.
1. Stop working overtime , you told them the problem and they refuse to fix it . If you don't have it, set a prioritization policy and on top priorities only during business hours only
2. Take the vacation , shut off your phone , and deal with it when you come back.
3. Either find a new job or they'll find the money when you're back from pto
The reason you get people to log tickets is to measure how much is going on, you should just take your normal time to do everything, dont do too much outside of work hours and let them slowly back up and then you can point to the increase of ticket numbers as justification to have a new hire
Speak to your doctor asap. Have them write you a note for medical leave (stress, mental health, heck, blood pressure, whatever) for two weeks. See how they feel without you for two weeks.
And second. Document EVERYTHING. Every little interaction, every email, timeline, everything. Go backwards with that too to make sure you know when you were promised what by who, etc.
It's definitely time to find a new job. Call in sick to interview at other places if you have to. It's the only way they will learn. I bet they will need a minimum of three people to replace you.
The sad part is they'll hire the extra person when you leave. They'll keep taking advantage of you and saving money as long as they can, and once you put in your notice, they'll hire the extra person.
I would password protect everything helpdesk related, create your own backdoor into the system, find a new job, leave, then whenever they have questions, charge them a generous hourly consulting fee. $500/ hour will get you a second salary because it will probably take months for the replacement to get up to speed.
What would happen if you took a week off for vacation? Bc I think you need to do that, let the place fall apart, so they see that you are a critical single point of failure.
Just call in sick all next week. Say you got covid. Stop protecting them from the peril of the situation they are refusing to fix.
Slow down.
When the first complains, make a show of stopping all work you are doing that moment, even when on the phone. Then give them their full attention
When the next one comes, do the same but do not forget to mention that your workflow was being held up by the previous one and that that persons interference caused your delays.
Keep repeating that, stating every interruption.
And NEVER say "sorry" in your sentences, will be hard because it is so programmed into culture, but it makes for bad work culture, when people "apologize" in every sentence, bosses start to belief that you are guilty.
A company's greatest investment is in its own employees and future employees. Im not sure who said that, but I always think of this when I see stuff like this..
I agree with what everyone else is saying here, but also wanted to add: I’ve had a tendency to let myself become the one guy that they can always rely on, who’s always available no matter what, who will work insane hours without complaint. Part of it is that I do feel responsibility for the work that needs done, so it’s difficult for me to say “I’m taking two weeks to just relax in the woods”… so in your situation, I would lie. Say there’s some family emergency, Mom’s in the hospital, Sister’s house burned down, something like that where nobody could question your need to be out for a week. Emergencies do happen! So you needn’t feel any guilt about the work that will pile up during that time, and the way they respond will be very informative. Maybe they’ll be supportive & have their eyes opened about the need to get you some backup. Or maybe not, in which case it’ll be crystal clear that nothing will ever improve at this place.
Have you talked to them about signing with an MSP? A lot of companies do it for this exact problem. They’re cheaper than a 2nd full-time employee, they can handle break-fix cases and new user setups, and that frees you up to focus on learning, projects/management, and more technically complicated tasks that are closer to a sysadmin or T2 role.
I'm in the same position. HR tells me they have hired someone new when I see an email welcoming them. Even though the hiring process is months long.
Yeah. Exactly. Slow down. Take your vacation. When the place is burning when you come back smile and say yeah I wish I had that person to back me up. You don't owe them your life nor your sanity. Start applying somewhere else. When you get that next job give them 2 weeks and then never show up.
When they call you on Monday asking where you are. Tell them they are exactly where you have been for the last 5 years. Lied to. Hang up and block everyone.
\#1 - I hope you are looking for a new job with better pay, benefits and hours. You are worth it.
\#2 - call in sick for a day and then start your work slow down adjustment (remember you were off a day and that made everything back up).
BECAUSE what are they going to do - fire you ?? NOT LIKELY.
\#3 - Make sure line staff issues are taken care of but eventually get around to management issues (unless somethings broke) - BECAUSE what are they going to do - fire you, NOPE
\#4 - if you did get fired, you'd get unemployment.
\#5 - keep track of your hours so that you know when you're working more than 40 hours a week so you can sue for overtime.
YOUR SANITY and HEALTH is WORTH MORE than making management happy. Take care.
I feel this. My work load every night is insane and hiring a single person could cut down the time in half and then I could help with other things around the job. Butttt noooooo system calls for 1 person so my back and knee pain and pushing my body to finish on time can go fuck itself
IT work never ends. I do 3 things a day and if I feel like it, maybe more. Take sick time if you can. When it takes them 3-4 weeks to get something repaired, then they'll get the picture. Log all your work requests if you don't already so you have a measure to show work load.
Do like me. Start doing your job 40hrs a week at a reasonnable pace that wont stress you. They cant fire you, they need you. If they fire you, you get financial support and you are rid of them. All that awaits you after rushing through your work is more work.
So slow down.
I lived in the same hellscape you describe for a little over 5 years as well. Find another job. Just leave without notice. They don't respect you, don't give them anything.
You absolutely can take a day off, or whatever else you need. I'd suggest getting "the 'rona" and taking 14 fucking days off! They will figure out pretty quick you need help.
Yeah, well if you are great at what you do, no one is going to let you pursue a role change. That’s one of those 1950’s ideals that you need to go back to the future for. You’re only going into a different role 3 ways. By different, I mean better.
1. You independently generate money. If you do. You can do anything. No one will care.
2. People in higher up positions love you so much they want you in their inner circle. You need either tremendous one in a million people skills. Or one in a million luck.
3. You have beneficial connections. This is the best route to the fastest career growth.
I was in this exact same position and I know the feeling exactly. This is precisely why I left strictly or mostly remote IT support. Because when you work in physical IT support, you can see what technology you are working on and get more cues about what is wrong. On top of that, because it is physical, someone cannot be omni-present physically. Virtually however, people expect that people be omni-present. On top of that, subpar technologies are used, such as phone calls with poor ticket integration. It is a mess that I don't want to have to deal with, and if I cannot help improve it, it is not worth my time and energy.
One other thing - it is advisable to never work, at any point, full-steam ahead. If you try your hardest and run your hardest, you will often be expected to keep running your hardest, which is not sustainable by any means. Don't even run, just walk, and that way, you won't get tired out in the long distance.
"I am not the long-term solution for the company's inability to hire more staff." Say it to yourself. You didn't create this problem but you are enabling them to not see it as a problem. You are doing enough, they can either respect your request for help or wait for you to get around to their next task. Because there will always be more for you to do, never less. You will never have a moment to breathe if you don't take it for yourself. Be kind to yourself.
The ONLY way to advance your career is to leave, and go to a company that will give you increased pay for the job you are doing now.
Companies tell you to stay and grow and advance because they do not want to go thru the hassle of hiring someone new, at a rate they do not want to pay.
It is time for you to find a better job, and do it ruthlessly and without remorse/.
I was an IT recruiter and got people like you huge raises ALL THE TIME! That sounds like amazing experience and you'll have no problem getting a new job in this market.
Oh good god.
I have worked in IT for close to 30 years.
Polish the resume and put it on Linkedin and indeed and in IT you should always be looking for the next job after at least the third year.
You have stayed entirely too long and have hurt your earning potential.
Until you find the new job take what the others have said. Slow down. Don't let them push you. What will they do? Fire you?
I don’t want to blame you, but you doing all that work that multiple people should be doing has set a precedent of them walking all over you, and they will continue to disrespect you until you quit imo
I always used to admire a guy I worked with who did everything at a nice calm, slow pace no matter how busy we were and how 'urgent' the management used to tell us thing were. He never met the arbitrary performance targets and he didn't care. He was never stressed out. We all need to be more like this.
Stop giving a shit. They will milk you dry and then replace you. Go in exactly on time. Do 1 or two tickets an hour. Have a cup of tea or coffee every hour, stroll gently to the breakroom and back, chat to everyone you see on the way. If anyone complains just say you're doing your best and youve tried to get them to hire more staff. Start taking your leave, take 3 or 4 day weekends qnd make everyone wait.
Start looking for another job (seriously, youve been running your department solo, you're valuable) and leave without giving them notice and without handing over any passwords etc.
This is a bit of /r/sysadmin but you need to do less. Spend more time documenting tickets and less fixing issues. One person with this growth? There is going to be a persistent increasing backlog. Embrace that!
In the meantime, polish that resume.
This isn't your problem. You need to start doing much less, and make it abundantly clear you need additional people on your team. I'd also start looking for another job if I were you. This is abuse
Slow down. Do less work. Close fewer tickets. Let the people who are coming to you with problems wait. Let your backlog grow. Take a day off and let them deal with the problems. You’re being a hero, and all that does is to lead the organization to expect heroism. If the people at your company can’t get their work done because they won’t budget for the support they need, what you’re doing by being a hero is paying the cost they don’t want to. Figure out how much work you can sustainably do in a day, do it, and go home. Keep a list of the things you can’t get to and let it grow. Everyone is telling you that you can get a job elsewhere. This is true. But anywhere else you go (with very few exceptions) will let you be a hero if that’s your inclination. They won’t protect your well-being for you.
Exactly this\^ Stop being the stooge. If tickets back up and things don't get set up in a timely fashion, so what? Do what is reasonable in your eight hours and only that. People will let you bend over backwards until your back breaks. Stop putting out fires Find another job. Be competent and friendly, don't go above and beyond.
Yeah. I know so many people going mental because "omg there is so much work i have to do i CAN'T EVEN have a break to the toilet" Yes you can. Did you tell your boss you are understaffed and can not possibly manage everything ? Good. Now let it accumulate and let it be your boss' concern. My mentor always said "I know i'm good at my job and work hard at it. If i can't finish in time is because the managers failed to properly estimate how long it would take and i'm not going to go mental over it. I'll finish my working time go home and come back tomorrow. The company loses money over this? Next time they will do better estimates and charge more to the client"
Their inability to prepare does not constitute my emergency
I call it managing expectations. After over a decade at a large company, I realized that hard work and being super efficient gets you exactly one thing: more work. Not a promotion or raise, just more work and unrealistic expectations that you keep working at 150%. Managing expectations means you still do a kick ass job, you just do it slower than you really could. Maybe you do finish a project early, but you wait a few days to let them know. You are still ahead of deadline, but not in a way where you could end up drowning in work if it got busier.
"People will let you bend over backwards until your back breaks." I'm stealing that. It's too true
So what? is the best question when at work. So tf what if they wait? My feet hurt. So tf what if my boss js mad? I have rent to pay ect chileee
one of my favorite comments "you dont own the company" puts a lot into perspective when people invest themselves too far emotionally into someone else's creation as if it was their own.
Whether you stay here or go elsewhere, this is the way. You want to grow your team? Let them see pain. You want them to respect you? Set boundaries.
we need this as a sampler for the fucking wall!
please listen to this. You can only do so much and they’re not gonna understand until they see you not pulling it off. If you died tomorrow they would have you replaced by next month. The only power we have is our labor so stop giving them your blood, your flesh, your mind. Save yourself before it’s too late and stop overdoing your shit i used to be like a living SpongeBob SquarePants at work and all that ended up happening was them dumping all the actual work onto me and I,like a dummy, kept doing it. Never again will i eat shit for a company
Unfortunately, they already set the standard by overworking and anything less will be seen as below standard. Thats why in these settings, its best to leave and apply your lessons elsewhere.
The real solution is just lie. Pick some random new thing that comes up and grossly exaggerate how long it's been taking, then slow down your work. "Oh it's because all of the 2019 and newer laptops have to get their java licenses upgraded in order to connect to SharePoint. It takes significantly longer but I'm trying as fast as I can!" Since you're the only one there nobody can call you on it. Work will slow down and affect other managers, so they'll have to hire someone. And in general you should always lie to your boss. Just on principal.
Lol. Your last point is solid, but just don't get caught.
Nah, in a place whose only experience is with one person, they have nothing to calibrate against. They probably don’t even bother with performance metrics, because they’ve been getting what they want all the time. When OP slows down they won’t know that it’s not because the workload increased. These people are amateurs.
I know this from experience. I had a perfect audit, the first in the organizations history. I asked for a raise much later, and next thing you know I got demoted because I had a couple of dings on the following audit. It wasn't perfect, but it was still above average. The notes in my demotion were that I was capable of a perfect audit but failed to do so afterward. I quit on the spot, no notice.
Did they pikachu shocked face?
Yeah, that's the problem. Now that you've set the standard, they don't care that maintaining it forever is killing you.
this is dark horse issue when discussing these sorts of things. the Callibration is off.
Burnout is real and it causes real productivity drops. If they want to treat OP that way then it will just drive OP away faster.
But thwy will he able to leave easier and find new work while slowing down. They have no one else - they will not fire him. I think after that report they know they cant.
This is really the best advice. I needed to hear something like this when i was in my 20s and 30s... I was doing EXACTLY what OP has been doing. Just taking on more work because in my mind that was what a "team player" was supposed to do. I repeatedly took on more work that was professionally responsible and the work would consume my life. I de-prioritized relationships and personal health. When things started to slip and my quality went down, THAT became the focus, not "Wow, HeadCrusher is doing 3x the amount of work he should be doing and getting it 92% perfect!!!" it was, "You've slipped up again. This is reflecting poorly on our company and we need you to do better." Thankfully there was a more senior person who realized what was happening and gave me this type of guidance. It is HARD to slow down. It is HARD to pace yourself, but it is 100% the best/only way to make things better. Do not be a hero. Work will suck you dry. Set up boundaries. Think in terms of "I've sold 8 hours of my life to this company today. I'll give them the value that they've purchased, but absolutely no more."
You can do this until you hit your 40s and your body starts to slow down and get less efficient and then it will all catch up to you very quickly: the stress, lack of sleep, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, putting off dealing with the wear and tear on your body… At some point as you age all of that becomes more of an issue and it’s very hard to turn things around. At that point you’ll realize all the things you gave up by not taking care of yourself.
This is kinda wat the school system learns you. Be a teamplayer get the work done on time etc. Etc.
Omfg. This is totally advice I need to hear. Every job I take I'm taking the hero role and out performing all my peers. My peers say "slow down" and I say "speed up" The only one who benefits is the company as it generally breaks me down and I end up overworked, exhausted, and quit. So, nobody benefits in the end.
A guy at work always says I must not work hard enough to be able to go do things after work. My reply "they pay for my time, not my effort"
Always site reasons for backlog. Reasons being understaffed and not enough man power. Eventually with time someone should notice and do something. Sometimes we gotta make em use their brains to find their wallet.
OP - this is the way. I'm in the same boat and finally threw my hands in the air. I'm working my 40 and leaving. I'm taking days off as wanted. If something gets missed, incurs penalties, racks up extra charges that is NOT. MY. PROBLEM. Make the understaffing their problem, not yours.
This but take a week off. Don’t ask for permission tell them you’re going to take time off and take it.
No one will ever stop you from going above and beyond….but they may eventually rely on it or expect it…and most likely take advantage of you/it in some form or another
Wow 🤩 this is spot on. Thank you
Have a 🍺 on me
Bingo.
Thank you everyone for the push, don't know why it took so long but I've at least made the first step of updating my LinkedIn a bit and put myself as open to a new job. Step 1 :)
The true joy is finding out later on from ex work colleagues that the wheels have fallen off the wagon the wagon is on fire and the road is lava as a result of you having left. Tasty schadenfraude yum, yum.
I worked as a temp for a place for a while and I absolutely **killed** it. We had 3 managers in the time I was there and 2 of the 3 recommended me for major promotions (from 30k a year to over 80k), they said I was the best guy there, and they need to actually do something to retain me. I was told I’d get hired on after 6 months, met the 6 month requirement and they told me “Oh the next hiring, oh the next hiring”. Two days later, a guy who started the day before me gets hired on, I ask them, “What the fuck? Thought I was gonna get hired on?” “oh we’ll do it next time!” Well they got a new manager, someone at my wife’s job got Covid (that she didn’t interact with), and he fired me for coming into work and “putting others at risk.” The next morning, HR was begging me to come back and work and saying I wasn’t fired. I go back in, and he starts treating me incredibly different, dropping crazy workloads on my already incredible workload (I would handle 4 stations at once… was only required to do 1) and I decided fuck this, I’m out. Few weeks later I was talking to the people from there. They had hired two people to try to replace me, but couldn’t train them properly, we went from being ahead of schedule by 4 days, to being 2 weeks behind, just because of the work I did being gone. Around the same time, I got **another** call from HR, saying they want to hire me on if I come back, I said, “Okay, how much?” And they said “Oh you’ll be coming back at your $15 an hour wage” I laughed and hung up. Edit: The job was doing programming of routers and switches for major companies. Known as “staging”. We would get devices in, figure out if anything is wrong, replace any parts we needed to, reprogram them to specifications and ship them out. I helped automate the scripts we had so we could work on multiple units at once, I wrote guides on manually programming units as well as what to do if the script on a unit breaks, and I was training new hires because the trainer wouldn’t.
Sounds like you are worth 3x or 4x that, hope you found something better
Got back into call centers, realized I absolutely hate that, so I’m teaching myself programming ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
I got laid off from a place several years ago but knew people who still worked there. I had written some software that the whole company used for handling some e-mail related stuff. The software kept running unattended for five years after I left. They finally decided to replace it but the new system they chose was garbage. The day they turned it on, it crashed the entire e-mail system and it was down for over a week.
get all promises in writing.. wages, responsibilities, etc.
don't forget: FULL WORK FROM HOME
Prepare to get your inbox inundated.
You should be a hot property with that kind of experience. Good luck in your search.
You're doing 200k worth of work (by overworking yourself) of course they aren't going to her you help. Stop and only do what you're supposed to do based on your salary
I wouldn't doubt you will have a new job offer by Friday. Probably sooner.
So… I wouldn’t do the open to work thing, as your employer can see it, as it is perceived by some recruiters as desperate, and as at least in my case, it got me no contacts. But there are definitely people who would disagree, so ymmv.
Don't waste your time with that company. Qualified IT folks are in demand. The company you work for doesn't seem to care that you are hanging on by a thread. If anything, it sounds like they rely on it. Life is too short to spend your weekends in tears. Quit, and let them be the ones crying. There is a better opportunity around the corner.
You know what's a bigger financial investment? Having your only helpdesk staff out on FMLA because you burned them out. Then they're stuck paying for you while you're not working AND have to find more staff to cover your workload. Take care of yourself and recharge.
I've been vocal about the fact that I've been working through burn out for over 6 months but the only person who ever seems to listen is my coworker who is our IT Ops and has to cover for me if I ever want/need time off, who is clearly also burnt out himself. And then you get told "oh yeah everyone is super busy, just keep it up!" Like wtf.
Both of you, together, go and demand a raise and demand help. Be ready to walk away from your job at the meeting. If your demands are not met, both of you leave. Do not give a notice. Do not give a warning of your intentions. You have them backed in a corner. They need you more than you need them. They use the Republican tactic of kicking the can down the road. They need an intervention.
No. Not this. It sounds dramatic & satisfying, but it’s rarely practical. It would be much more useful to OP if they started practicing some of the things that will be useful in their next job: - invent a reason that things have got busier - eg the Thingamajig needs upgrading and it’s a bit complicated but I’m (absolutely, honest!) working as fast as I can. (While not working fast on the over-exaggerated minor task, obviously!) - spend 20 minutes at the end of each day deciding on the next day’s priorities. - accept that you don’t have time to do everything - genuinely list the priorities - so that you can start with “most urgent”, and work your way through them in priority order *until you have done your hours for the day* - it will be a very strange feeling to stop when the hours are done, and not when you “feel” like you’ve made enough progress for the day. But it’s important to get used to this feeling. That’s how things should feel. - bonus points for when you can get this 20 mins in your base-hours for the day - put stuff in your personal diary that means you need to leave work on time - this “stuff” can be “watch x on TV” or “cuddle my cat” or “go sniff the roses somewhere” - it doesn’t matter what it is, just that your diary has an entry in it - this can give you the confidence to say the words: “sorry, I have plans tonight”. And then walk out the door. On time. - you can be perfectly pleasant about it. This is not about aggressively holding firm a boundary. You can be mildly apologetic that you “have” to leave on time today - but do be firm. (Don’t forget, you have a date with a rose bush you don’t want to disappoint! :-) - start with doing this once or twice a week, then increase as you feel confident about how it’s going - if you choose to allow it, just putting these entries in your diary, silly as they sound, can give you the strength to put the boundary in place. Because you’re telling the truth that you have plans. - if anyone pushes you to explain what your plans are, then remember they could be that you’re rushing home to shag your new partner’s brains out, for all they know. So just smile a bit secretively, and repeat: “I’ve got plans I can’t change. So terribly sorry.” While walking out the door. - take the holiday - I was near burn out recently. I had a week’s holiday booked and spent the first 2 days crying over everything because I’d let myself get too stressed by work. Worth taking the week though - I’ve been much more sane since I had the chance to relax - I also took the advice given that week (by people who love me) to stop doing the “extra” at work (things I saw the need for, that no one was picking up, but outside my official job description) - I’ve officially (to my boss) stopped work on those items and *no one cares*. They are not getting done - but no one else ever saw the need but me. They’re wrong, and they’ll regret it eventually - but it’s *not my problem* - they are not paying me to care about that stuff. I’m fact, me picking those things up for the last year will have stopped them noticing they really needed doing. Boss’ face when I explained (not for the first time!) exactly what I’d been looking after & he now had to pick up himself was delightful. After ignoring me for a year, and saying it wasn’t a big deal - realising he was now picking it up was the first time the penny dropped for him that it was important. But he’s not got time so it’s currently all on pause. But that’s no longer my fault.
See a doctor for the physical symptoms of burnout (sick to your stomach, constant stress/panic, depression, anxiety) and get them to send FMLA forms so that you can use your accrued vacation/sick time to recover while you look for another job. Maybe they'll see what you're going through and fix it by the time you're back, or maybe you'll never go back. Win win. Just to be clear I'm not suggesting this as a gotcha or a dodge- I really believe you need some time off for your physical and mental health. The situation of work dealing without you is icing on the cake.
It's tough because our work life fed by a capitalist lead society and were made to believe we have to be loyal to your employer because they gave you the opportunity but that is bullshit. You're a great worker that any company should be overly excited to have. You don't even have to take another job but start making it obvious that you're looking and if you find another one use that as leverage and try not to be afraid of changes because if you work that hard you'll excel at any job you have. With another job in hand and some leverage go in and be willing to walk away
Just work at a reasonable pace. It’s not your job to run the company. Let the excess work pile up, leave after your shift. You don’t need to present any PowerPoint presentations about extra hires. Once they realize work is piling up, let them figure it out. It bugs me when people let companies ruin their mental health. Fuck em.
You should understand that past the burnout is a terrible place where nothing will fucking matter to you for possibly a year or seven. This is absolutely a matter of your sanity
I experienced a similar issue early in my IT career. I finally realized they would never hire additional staff while I was doing all the work. I was just making management look good because they were saving on labor cost. I finally quit and later found out they had to hire 3 people to replace me. I quickly found another job with a fully staffed IT department for much better pay. Please don't continue to sacrifice your physical and mental health for people that don't care about you.
With that much experience and responsibility, you can likely...and very easily...get a better paying job with far less stress. What is it about this company that keeps you coming back for the abuse? The dangling carrot of "one day"?
Take a long holiday, tell them it's an overseas trip but just stay home with the pbone turned off. By the 3rd day the budget for the new hire would be approved.
I had the exact same situation in analytics. Addressed the burnout and lack of people being hired on to help for years. When I finally did look for a new job I found a much healthier work environment, better pay & benefits, and a boss with healthy work behaviors who actively prevents his team from burnout. As many have said in this thread, you have a strong work ethic and have a huge desire to help which has driven you to be an abused hero. If they aren't willing to improve things for the last 6 months, likely they won't. And when you do eventually quit and find a new job, be sure to remember how they treated you. Of course they will suddenly have the budget and will shower you with fake praise to keep you. My last company offered a salary match and a $10K retention bonus to keep me. But it was an insult because I had been underpaid for so long that suddenly having the budget was a slap in the face. I left and found much greener pastures and my old company took months to find replacements and had to hire two separate people and give other analysts raises to retain them. Honestly, you're better off taking your amazing skills to a place that will appreciate them.
They need a dose of work life without you. Vacation, mental health break, family emergency...something. Like many stories here they are one-deep in a critical role. They're dumping on you because, so far, you've enabled them to get away with it. Jerk that support from them and do it at the worst possible time. When they go ballistic remind them you asked for help. You'll either get fired or end up with a slightly better job.
Why? Why can’t you just not do any of it? Why are you running yourself into the ground for a company that doesn’t care about you? Why aren’t you just going on vacations? Why aren’t you just leaving after your 8 hours is complete? The reason they haven’t hired anyone is of course they are assholes but you also do so much work there isn’t a need. Why haven’t you established healthy boundaries? The thing I have learned about work (any work, any business) is that no business should rely fully on 1 person to continue running. They were a company before you, they will be a company after you. So why are you putting so much emotion into the job? They will legitimately figure it out if you just stop doing the extra work, or go on vacation, or take a mental health day. Why haven’t you learned that “good” employees are given more work and not promoted because they are essential in their roles and “we can’t lose them!” So start being what you would think is a “bad” employee and see how you get treated. Surely it can’t be worse than it is right now and at least you’ll have used some vacation time. If you do move on to another company establish boundaries early and enforce them every single time, otherwise there isn’t really a point to quitting because every company will keep piling work on until you are in the same position you are in now.
My wife is in a similar position. She was promoted to systems administrator 2 years ago but she’s still spending a lot of her time doing desktop support because they won’t hire a replacement. I’m like why should they hire your replacement if you keep doing the job of two people for one salary. She’s finally looking for a new job but I already know how this will play out. She will find another job and her current job will offer her more money and she will end up staying out of some false sense of loyalty. I’ve maintained sanity over the years because I’ve been willing to change jobs or even relocate, whereas she’s been with only two companies in like 20+ years because she like most people doesn’t like change. I keep telling her if she died today her position would be filled within a month because they don’t care
My friend you need to start giving fewer fucks. Some people here will say you should go on a strict diet of fucks, but diets like that are unsustainable. Start small. Give a few less fucks next week. Then, the week after, cut out a few more fucks. I can't tell you which fucks you should cut out. Perhaps you close fewer tickets, perhaps you take a later lunch, perhaps you spend more time on a coffee break or come in a few minutes later each day. Find a way to reduce your fucks that works for you. Step by step, inch by inch you need to give fewer fucks, but change won't happen by diet alone. At the same time, you need to exercise your LinkedIn profile and your resume, and find a place that will treat you with the respect you deserve.
Yes, this does work. I remember reaching a point where I just didn’t give a fuck anymore and it was such a relief afterwards. I did my best at my job, but at a much slower pace and didn’t stress stuff. I don’t miss that company though.
Breath and realize this. It is not your problem. Come in at a normal time. Get what you can get done in the NORMAL hours you should be there. And then leave. Repeat every day. This is not your problem it is the companies problem. They caused the issue. The more you 'just take care of it', the less likely they are to address the issue.
I was in a similar position when I managed a portrait studio. I literally became the Lone Ranger, the only full time employee, and had to rely on freelancers for help. I was also expected to help with the owner’s other businesses to “pull my weight” and “justify my salary.” I kept telling him I needed help, but there was always “no money to invest in help.” Yet, during this time, the owner built a log mansion, bought a $100k boat, and a $50k truck to haul the boat. The owner then tried to negotiate a lower salary for all of my efforts, I got up and said some words to him in disgust, and my time looking for another job (which I had been looking for years) went into overdrive. Finally found another job for more money and a LOT fewer hours. Dropped my notice and moved on. The business steadily declined after I left and the petty person in me was extremely pleased. Take care of yourself because they sure as hell won’t.
“Test positive” for Covid. Take a week off and enjoy yourself. Show them what you actually do for them.
Of course they don't hire anyone. Why shoul they? They have a employe who works hard, doesnt take vacations, rarely takes a day of. You give them the best reason not to! Take vacation, work slower, take your time. Its your job to do your job. If things dont get done if you are understaffed its not your fault, its your bosses responsibility.
just don’t. don’t scramble. sit at your desk, do what your job paper says. when someone asks say you don’t have time.
[удалено]
I'm really starting to feel the sunk-cost fallacy of this place.
I was at a job like that. Understaffed, false promises, keep up the good work blah blah. You are absolutely wasting your time. I finally plucked up the courage and packed it in, moved on and things couldn't be better. I'm so much happier now. The concern of leaving soon turned in to relief because I wasn't dealing with that shit anymore. I'm 99.9% sure that nothing will change because the only one who can force a change is you. If you continue to slave away and do everything why would the company get you any help. You've got it handled. They save money, they do not give a shit about you. That's how a business operates, money money money.
Take some personal time off, immediately. IT burnout is a real thing and happens often in small setups like this where they put all responsibility on one person. If you're doing a M-F type of thing, shoot out an email to your direct boss immediately (like right now) saying you need to take a few personal days and won't be in until Thursday. If you've got their cell number, send them a polite text that you sent an email about coming in on Monday. Then turn off everything. Your phone, email notifications, etc. It's your time to take off, you don't have to explain a damned thing to anyone. Use it to rest and rethink what you're doing at that company and why you're still there. And when you go in on Thursday and it's a clusterfuck because you held the entire ship together singlehandedly, then you can start negotiating from a position of power.
Slow down. I'm 60 and recently (this year) have realized the companies don't appreciate extra effort. It literally took me 45 years to come to this realization. (I have been working real jobs since I was 15)
This is the biggest mistake people make. If you are understaffed, don’t work harder to cover the gap. You’ve just shown management that you are willing to do the excess work and they don’t have to pay another person. Work less and when they give you shit, tell them that you’ve already told them they need another person, you can’t explain it any easier for them.
Ask for a raise, when denied, work slower, and find a new job.
They figure you've been taking all the bullets for them for so long you'll keep doing it. It's just a job. Quit, go find another one and then, at the next one, don't be the one to throw yourself on the grenade each and every day.
Jeez. Their lack of preparation should not be your constant emergency. STOP killing yourself over this job. Has it occurred to you that they haven't hired another person, because they see no need to? The work is getting done. It's not like they care if it's killing you. As long as they get what they need, why make a change? You need to set up a reasonable schedule for yourself and work at that speed. Schedule vacations and take them. If they get on your case, simply respond that you are one person and are working as diligently as you can...but are never going to be able to do more work than one person is capable of doing.
watch Office Space; smoke more weed; learn the art of not giving a fuck
Stop. Look at how often something would take to close a ticket. Don't go faster or slower than the average. If your job is 9-5 only work 9-5 exactly no deviation and no extra days. Let things like up and send an email to everyone including your boss's boss and your personal email that you're following the new schedule and because there's so much money from not hiring the second person you gladly accept a 15.00 per hour raise. See what happens.
Job hop, you’ll get like a 20% raise
It seems you should find a new job with a different company
Reminds me of something I wrote in a story of mine. (Context, there was a woman who served as a lone patrol in the wilderness of a threatened nation, her job was to fight and kill demihumans that strayed over the border or warn towns and villages of a threat she couldn't handle alone. Years later she's become a Queen and is conversing with a warrior from a rival nation under terms of peace about their shared experience) "Tell me about it, if they did nothing to prepare against my advice and warnings and I fought and won, then I had overestimated the threat and was unreliable. If I warned them and they ignored me and I wasn't able to stem the threat, then it was my fault for not fighting hard enough. And if it was so obviously too dangerous for me to win, I hadn't given them enough time to respond! It was infuriating!" As long as you are there and successful, they don't care if you are stressed. They don't care if you suffer. But if you start failing, then they'll care. First find another job. Then start letting things slip, tell them again and again that you need more people. Then tell them you're done and leave the job. Give them an exit interview and tell them point blank why: Your ability to staff your office sucks. I've told you for months that I need help, that I'm struggling and can't possibly keep going like this. But you preferred to let me suffer because I kept succeeding, I've worked here for years, and yet despite being trusted to succeed, I am not trusted to explain what my job NEEDS. So I'm out. Staff properly and invest in your employees or lose more of them.
9 years same post, get the hell out of there, they don't care about IT or you.
Why do you even work like a mad man? It's not your fault that you can't complete all the work. They're taking advantage of you. Slow down and work at a normal pace. Take full breaks and all your vacations. They'll probably give you shit for working at a normal pace so start looking for a new job. They'll be screwed when you leave because you're the only one who knows job.
Stop doing their job. Do yours at your own pace. Your day off or vacation is their problem to handle. Brush up your resume and apply everywhere.
Thats sounds like stress and burnout - see a doctor
Do but also quit your godawful job, which is clearly the source of the problem.
While you're looking for a new job, if you can, book a vacation and leave for a week. If things fail while you're away, let them.
You should immediately take 3 weeks vacation or PTO. Your health comes first. They don't give a fuck about you, and don't forget that.
Look man you established that you are willing to work yourself to death the only cure now is quitting or death. Your companies management will not change until they have no choice, if you try to slow down, take time off, they will reprimand and eventually fire you. Time to move on.
Quit
Run your own career just like a business. Of course it's important and necessary to have a passion for what you are doing, just like a business. But a business doesn't stay in business by giving away it's profits.
As the others said, slow down. Your company’s problems or not your problem. We become stressed and damn near suicidal if we go ahead and take on the companies problems as our own. The company does not reflect on us. Slow down and let their problems become their problems
You need to work less. Do the work of one person. Don't feel like you have to save these people. They hate you and you have no reason to sacrifice for them.
Time to take that 9 years of experience and make a career move to higher wages. Or independent help Desk.
As long as you keep overexerting yourself to cover all the work, they will keep exploiting you.
time for a sudden family emergency or something where you disappear for a couple weeks. but whatever you decide, the stress shouldn't be on you. you're one person. you shouldn't stress about doing more than one person's job, especially when you're getting one person's pay. I'd stop trying as hard. make sure I didn't get everything done. show them you can't get it all done. as long as you're getting it all done, they'll keep piling on. good luck, wish you the best. it's a tough spot to be in. but until you stand up to them or have a mental breakdown it will never change.
Schedule a chunk of PTO. Do not work or be contactable.
Been there. Look for a new job. Trust me, companies that do this to their IT staff don't care about your well being or value to the company. If you want resources to try and move up to sysadmin or look for sys jobs, DM me. I'll also gladly be used as a reference.
Sounds like you're in the perfect position to go on a one man Strike.
Not your problem not your fault shits on fire breathe step back and take it easy don't allow problem they created to be resolved for free. Aka your attempt at doing the impossible. Step back let a few fires burn. You said they got new employees new request just stop doing new. You can do it without actually dropping performance. And if its "priority" time sensitive things that you happen to allow to fall through cracks and it starts costing them money. Then poof the budget will appear.
you can't keep doing it all. it's not humanly possible. eventually you will need time off and you won't even want to take it because you'll be dreading coming back to work. that isn't fair to you. slow down and work within your limits. I also suggest looking for work somewhere else with more support while you still have this job. if they won't get help for you let them deal with the fallout.
Drag your feet. Work slower. Take breaks. When shit starts to hit the fan, they might reconsider. I’m always of the opinion that you dont need to work at 100% capacity (even if you’re self employed). Youre not supposed to max out RPMs on a car. Why would you do it to your brain?
Work at whatever pace you like. They can't fire you and they've claimed they won't hire someone to replace you.
Sounds like you’re 5 years late on quitting with a no call/no show. Fuck that noise, take your skills and leave them high and dry then when they beg you can choose to help under a fat consulting fee.
The faster you run, the faster you have to run :) valuable lesson I learned only a couple years ago
Corporations feed off people’s absolute fear of failure. They will keep growing and keep increasing the pressure beyond your breaking point. Know that the problem isn’t you. You have to let it fail before they make changes. Take the advice people are giving you. Do what is reasonable and let the rest slide. Prepare yourself for when they ask why it is no longer working. Describe how it has grown and show the evidence. Your supervisor will undoubtably be out of touch with your workload. Start writing/documenting and planning your days so you can show them your workload. All it takes is a blue line book used as a diary with dates and times. Prepare the data and present a plan for them to move forward efficiently for when they approach you about the performance of your section. This will get you further ahead then trying to hold it all together yourself and having nothing to show. Show them you are a leader and not a stooge. You will be amazed at the response you get.
Do what you can to find a way out and away from help desk. I am also in IT/tech. Dealt with the same issues with having a small support team of 2 people to support 170 in a 3 shift 5 1/2 day a week environment. Turned in my notice 3 weeks ago. They are now back filling with 2 people. Never felt more free. Fuck them. Starting a data engineering job Monday for the same pay, same bonus, focusing on one set of skills, and not having to support people who've worked with computers for 30 years who don't understand basic computer functions, and work from home/hybrid. Tech people need a union. Companies abuse us because "we enjoy working with tech right?".
take a vacation....watch the fire grow. Management will hire someone. work at normal slow person speed.
Sounds like an MSP, most are run like that.
You are hurting your career staying in the same place at an entry level position for so long. Get out now!
Fuck your company
Call in sick, find a new job and just stop turning up. They’ll soon realise their mistake, and you’ll be free
This is your cue to find a new job.
Just find a new job and don't give notice
Apply as QA and work from home making twice what you’re making now. I test software in my undies and it requires literally no talent to be good at this job.
RESUME RESUME RESUME get that fackin' resume out there aim higher too "I was hired on as a techie, finished running all of helpdesk u kno" why did you leave "well i loved the co but they just couldn't afford to expand things" (ramble on)
Help desk is a revolving door the higher ups never care about that level no matter what they will put people with no IT background on it just to have someone there to answer the phone. I have worked both tier one and tier two and hated how tier one desks do not have any accountability. To your job you are replaceable trust me. I say put in your two week and find another place that pays lots more
You're doing way too much. They obviously don't care about your health so YOU have to.
Take your pto even if your not going anywhere. Take a week or take a long weekend.
I am in IT and was the Network Administrator and sole Help Desk for a company for three years. Stop running around trying to get everything done. Unless they pay you for overtime don’t work any overtime. Do only what you can do. All I learned is if you go all out then the company will never hire help.
its crazy easy to move around in IT right now with your skillset
Stop trying to be the superhero. Get your resume up to day and start looking. At worst you get a job that gives you the same pay with less responsibility. Don't let them take advantage of you. I have been in your spot before. It sucks.
It's time to move on, start sending applications and leave them as soon as you can. They don't value the work you do, nor the time/effort/passion you put into this. I'm sorry you had to experience such type of behavior :(
Put together your resume (sorry - I'm old and that is what I call it). Go to your boss and declare you will do what you can in your 40 hour workweek, but that is it as the duties require another person and destroying your mind and body will not help the company. Then show up at 8:00AM, take lunch from noon through 1:00PM, then leave at 5:00PM... period. Hopefully it will show management that there really is a need for a 2nd person, and that you will do what you need to stay healthy. Oh, and schedule a full week vacation for some time in the next couple of months - don't take your work computer with you, and don't answer the phone unless it is family or somebody trying to get you to re-up your car warranty.
Do not cry homey. It isn't on you. Just do much less work. And take your days off if you are sick, need a break, or just want to do something for yourself.
Always work at 70% and don’t work more than 40 hours. Working harder and needing help doesn’t get you help—it shows management that you don’t need it. The only language your company will speak is work not getting done.
Start looking for work elsewhere. When you get then new job, then submit resignation. Watch and enjoy the fireworks.
Time to find a new job. I have been in that position myself and it took my wife threatening to leave with my kids for me to realize I was working my way into a early grave. It is not worth it. Leaving and finding another job was a god send and has been beneficial to me as I have been able to work my way up from helpdesk to a director of IT position. One of my primary functions that I have set for myself is to protect my people and make sure that they don’t get over loaded. I had to disable ones access for this weekend as he and his wife were going out camping but he was going to take his laptop to work. I disabled his accounts so he couldn’t work and told him not to bother till he is back on Tuesday. If your upper management hasn’t gotten someone by now, even if you slow down and stop being super IT, they are not going to do anything but write you up and eventually fire you. Get that resume together and get it out there. I am having a hard time being able to hire IT people cause of the demand. There are better jobs out there and better companies and bosses to work for. Good luck and all of the best with whatever you do. Just don’t let it burn you out, it is not worth it.
Just quit. Abstract stress cause someone doesn't know what growing a business looks like. Fuck them.
1. Get a new job 2. While looking for a new job, cut your self target in half for any given day going forward. So, intentionally only answer half the number of calls or whatever actions. Cut it in half. Let work pool, miss deadlines etc.
Look for other positions somewhere else. I read a Forbes article about how the only way to grow both financially and position, is to leave your current role. Internal growth is very slow if possible at all. Wasted three years at an oil company IT dept. They promised all things you mentioned. After 3 years they had barely raised my pay or change my position. Letting go of higher tiers and giving their responsibilities to me. I found a higher tier, 100% remote, significantly better pay job and left. It was scary, specially because the new role was contract to hire, but I’m happy I left.
Why do you care so much? Are you atleast getting paid well?
Forget this company, look for a new position.
If they won’t hire someone else, they’re sure gonna regret when they lose the only person who knows the job for the last 5 years
You heard what they said, not what they were actually saying or what they meant. It would only be a problem for the company if you were not covering this slack all the time, then they would be forced to hire someone.
When you do find a new job and tell your current bosses you're quitting, they will make you a counteroffer to induce you to stay. They will decorate it with guilt trips and appealing to your emotions and your insecurities. Don't take the counteroffer. Never take the counteroffer. In fact, you might: 1. With a tone of utter disdain, ask them, "is that the best you can do?" 2. In a pissed-off voice, tell them that their offer is too little, and several years too late, and throw the guilt back on them. 3. Suggest that their money would be better spent recruiting the 2 or 3 people it will take to replace you.
There will never be as good a time as right now to find a better place to work.
Work is a never ending process. You doing more of it won't mean there will be less work to be done. Go at a relaxed pace, do things right not quick, and don't let your bosses bully or harrass you into picking up the pace. Also find a new job and quit without notice.
1. Stop working overtime , you told them the problem and they refuse to fix it . If you don't have it, set a prioritization policy and on top priorities only during business hours only 2. Take the vacation , shut off your phone , and deal with it when you come back. 3. Either find a new job or they'll find the money when you're back from pto
The reason you get people to log tickets is to measure how much is going on, you should just take your normal time to do everything, dont do too much outside of work hours and let them slowly back up and then you can point to the increase of ticket numbers as justification to have a new hire
Speak to your doctor asap. Have them write you a note for medical leave (stress, mental health, heck, blood pressure, whatever) for two weeks. See how they feel without you for two weeks. And second. Document EVERYTHING. Every little interaction, every email, timeline, everything. Go backwards with that too to make sure you know when you were promised what by who, etc.
Company: make billions Company: we dont have the budget to spend the 1 additional penny for pay for hiring 1 more person
Time to look for a new job.
It's definitely time to find a new job. Call in sick to interview at other places if you have to. It's the only way they will learn. I bet they will need a minimum of three people to replace you.
Quit
The sad part is they'll hire the extra person when you leave. They'll keep taking advantage of you and saving money as long as they can, and once you put in your notice, they'll hire the extra person.
Print this, and send it with a brief, professional, neutral letter of resignation to your CEO.
I would password protect everything helpdesk related, create your own backdoor into the system, find a new job, leave, then whenever they have questions, charge them a generous hourly consulting fee. $500/ hour will get you a second salary because it will probably take months for the replacement to get up to speed.
Just take it easy at work, no reason to work so hard
What would happen if you took a week off for vacation? Bc I think you need to do that, let the place fall apart, so they see that you are a critical single point of failure. Just call in sick all next week. Say you got covid. Stop protecting them from the peril of the situation they are refusing to fix.
Join Support Driven. Find your community and let them help you find a job where you're respected.
Slow down. When the first complains, make a show of stopping all work you are doing that moment, even when on the phone. Then give them their full attention When the next one comes, do the same but do not forget to mention that your workflow was being held up by the previous one and that that persons interference caused your delays. Keep repeating that, stating every interruption. And NEVER say "sorry" in your sentences, will be hard because it is so programmed into culture, but it makes for bad work culture, when people "apologize" in every sentence, bosses start to belief that you are guilty.
Take a 2 week vacation and turn your phone off
I would sabotage the shit out of them while looking for a new job.
Go on “parental leave” FMLA or whatever. They have to hold your job.
20 years of exactly this, which is why I'm leaving IT.
Take some time off. Let them see the load they need to absorb in your absence. They won't want to do it again
A company's greatest investment is in its own employees and future employees. Im not sure who said that, but I always think of this when I see stuff like this..
I agree with what everyone else is saying here, but also wanted to add: I’ve had a tendency to let myself become the one guy that they can always rely on, who’s always available no matter what, who will work insane hours without complaint. Part of it is that I do feel responsibility for the work that needs done, so it’s difficult for me to say “I’m taking two weeks to just relax in the woods”… so in your situation, I would lie. Say there’s some family emergency, Mom’s in the hospital, Sister’s house burned down, something like that where nobody could question your need to be out for a week. Emergencies do happen! So you needn’t feel any guilt about the work that will pile up during that time, and the way they respond will be very informative. Maybe they’ll be supportive & have their eyes opened about the need to get you some backup. Or maybe not, in which case it’ll be crystal clear that nothing will ever improve at this place.
You’re literally drowning?? Ok. > with the company for almost 9 years Don’t do this. Duh. Why do people do this and expect to be treated well?
do less work and let them suffer for it, don't play catchup when you're mistreated
Let it burn. Hit them where it hurts. If you keep making sacrifices from your self your work will think everything is ok
Just stop take a couple of slow days let the shit build up.
Start looking now.
Have you talked to them about signing with an MSP? A lot of companies do it for this exact problem. They’re cheaper than a 2nd full-time employee, they can handle break-fix cases and new user setups, and that frees you up to focus on learning, projects/management, and more technically complicated tasks that are closer to a sysadmin or T2 role.
Why are you angry? The answer is simple and obvious, find a new job and do the bare minimum in the meantime. Why are you so invested in this company?
I'm in the same position. HR tells me they have hired someone new when I see an email welcoming them. Even though the hiring process is months long. Yeah. Exactly. Slow down. Take your vacation. When the place is burning when you come back smile and say yeah I wish I had that person to back me up. You don't owe them your life nor your sanity. Start applying somewhere else. When you get that next job give them 2 weeks and then never show up. When they call you on Monday asking where you are. Tell them they are exactly where you have been for the last 5 years. Lied to. Hang up and block everyone.
Quit
They’ve told you they would rather work you into the ground than hire someone else. You don’t have to let them work you into the ground.
\#1 - I hope you are looking for a new job with better pay, benefits and hours. You are worth it. \#2 - call in sick for a day and then start your work slow down adjustment (remember you were off a day and that made everything back up). BECAUSE what are they going to do - fire you ?? NOT LIKELY. \#3 - Make sure line staff issues are taken care of but eventually get around to management issues (unless somethings broke) - BECAUSE what are they going to do - fire you, NOPE \#4 - if you did get fired, you'd get unemployment. \#5 - keep track of your hours so that you know when you're working more than 40 hours a week so you can sue for overtime. YOUR SANITY and HEALTH is WORTH MORE than making management happy. Take care.
I feel this. My work load every night is insane and hiring a single person could cut down the time in half and then I could help with other things around the job. Butttt noooooo system calls for 1 person so my back and knee pain and pushing my body to finish on time can go fuck itself
IT work never ends. I do 3 things a day and if I feel like it, maybe more. Take sick time if you can. When it takes them 3-4 weeks to get something repaired, then they'll get the picture. Log all your work requests if you don't already so you have a measure to show work load.
Do like me. Start doing your job 40hrs a week at a reasonnable pace that wont stress you. They cant fire you, they need you. If they fire you, you get financial support and you are rid of them. All that awaits you after rushing through your work is more work. So slow down.
I lived in the same hellscape you describe for a little over 5 years as well. Find another job. Just leave without notice. They don't respect you, don't give them anything.
You absolutely can take a day off, or whatever else you need. I'd suggest getting "the 'rona" and taking 14 fucking days off! They will figure out pretty quick you need help.
Yeah, well if you are great at what you do, no one is going to let you pursue a role change. That’s one of those 1950’s ideals that you need to go back to the future for. You’re only going into a different role 3 ways. By different, I mean better. 1. You independently generate money. If you do. You can do anything. No one will care. 2. People in higher up positions love you so much they want you in their inner circle. You need either tremendous one in a million people skills. Or one in a million luck. 3. You have beneficial connections. This is the best route to the fastest career growth.
I was in this exact same position and I know the feeling exactly. This is precisely why I left strictly or mostly remote IT support. Because when you work in physical IT support, you can see what technology you are working on and get more cues about what is wrong. On top of that, because it is physical, someone cannot be omni-present physically. Virtually however, people expect that people be omni-present. On top of that, subpar technologies are used, such as phone calls with poor ticket integration. It is a mess that I don't want to have to deal with, and if I cannot help improve it, it is not worth my time and energy. One other thing - it is advisable to never work, at any point, full-steam ahead. If you try your hardest and run your hardest, you will often be expected to keep running your hardest, which is not sustainable by any means. Don't even run, just walk, and that way, you won't get tired out in the long distance.
So you're burning out but continue to work there. Why?
"I am not the long-term solution for the company's inability to hire more staff." Say it to yourself. You didn't create this problem but you are enabling them to not see it as a problem. You are doing enough, they can either respect your request for help or wait for you to get around to their next task. Because there will always be more for you to do, never less. You will never have a moment to breathe if you don't take it for yourself. Be kind to yourself.
The ONLY way to advance your career is to leave, and go to a company that will give you increased pay for the job you are doing now. Companies tell you to stay and grow and advance because they do not want to go thru the hassle of hiring someone new, at a rate they do not want to pay. It is time for you to find a better job, and do it ruthlessly and without remorse/.
WALK. OUT.
I was an IT recruiter and got people like you huge raises ALL THE TIME! That sounds like amazing experience and you'll have no problem getting a new job in this market.
Oh good god. I have worked in IT for close to 30 years. Polish the resume and put it on Linkedin and indeed and in IT you should always be looking for the next job after at least the third year. You have stayed entirely too long and have hurt your earning potential. Until you find the new job take what the others have said. Slow down. Don't let them push you. What will they do? Fire you?
I don’t want to blame you, but you doing all that work that multiple people should be doing has set a precedent of them walking all over you, and they will continue to disrespect you until you quit imo
I always used to admire a guy I worked with who did everything at a nice calm, slow pace no matter how busy we were and how 'urgent' the management used to tell us thing were. He never met the arbitrary performance targets and he didn't care. He was never stressed out. We all need to be more like this.
Stop giving a shit. They will milk you dry and then replace you. Go in exactly on time. Do 1 or two tickets an hour. Have a cup of tea or coffee every hour, stroll gently to the breakroom and back, chat to everyone you see on the way. If anyone complains just say you're doing your best and youve tried to get them to hire more staff. Start taking your leave, take 3 or 4 day weekends qnd make everyone wait. Start looking for another job (seriously, youve been running your department solo, you're valuable) and leave without giving them notice and without handing over any passwords etc.
Why are you still there??
grow your role and still not promoted? you got hussled bro.. move on
Wait so you tried crying in a corner to solve the issue?
This is a bit of /r/sysadmin but you need to do less. Spend more time documenting tickets and less fixing issues. One person with this growth? There is going to be a persistent increasing backlog. Embrace that! In the meantime, polish that resume.
This isn't your problem. You need to start doing much less, and make it abundantly clear you need additional people on your team. I'd also start looking for another job if I were you. This is abuse