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I've practiced for 30 years, I'm burned out, I feel like a rusty robot, it's no longer a career, it's a pay check and saving as much as I can for retirement. How much money is enough? Who knows. All the regulations, mandates, insurance games, documentation requirements, goals, incentives, my life has turned into one big game, taking care of people is no longer the focus, satisfaction surveys and 5 star ratings are center stage. Feel trapped, don't appreciate my ability to work however, and I am probably pounding sand and need a reality check. No job change anticipated, it's the same everywhere. I'm going to be 59 shortly, need benefits for me and my spouse. Anybody else feel this way? Is this how it gets towards the end of full time employment? If my father were alive he would tell me to stop whining, be glad I can get up, walk, talk, and if nothing else, go to work, keep your nose to the grindstone until you can't do it anymore, don't dig holes for other people, they'll dig their own and eventually fall in, and consider yourself working for God. [maybe I answered my own dilemma] But I want to walk out of there, wipe my hands and feet clean and be done with it, do something totally different but I see no options. I don't want to take a financial risk investing in a new business, I don't have that kind of brain. Trapped and burned out, what a way to wind things down. Anyone want to take me on? Anyone with similar thoughts/feelings? Any thoughts on coping when you're stuck and have to work for benefits and a paycheck? Any feedback appreciated. Thanks.
If you have the financial means, BAIL and don't look back! I did, it was the best decision I ever made.
I feel that way right now and I'm 32. I cannot wait to retire. I'm trying to convince my husband that we should downsize our house so that one or both of us can retire or go down to part time work. Work sucks. Consumerism sucks. I've consumed enough crap, I just want my time back.
I've practiced for 30 years, I'm burned out, I feel like a rusty robot, it's no longer a career, it's a pay check and saving as much as I can for retirement. How much money is enough? Who knows. All the regulations, mandates, insurance games, documentation requirements, goals, incentives, my life has turned into one big game, taking care of people is no longer the focus, satisfaction surveys and 5 star ratings are center stage. Feel trapped, don't appreciate my ability to work however, and I am probably pounding sand and need a reality check. No job change anticipated, it's the same everywhere. I'm going to be 59 shortly, need benefits for me and my spouse. Anybody else feel this way? Is this how it gets towards the end of full time employment? If my father were alive he would tell me to stop whining, be glad I can get up, walk, talk, and if nothing else, go to work, keep your nose to the grindstone until you can't do it anymore, don't dig holes for other people, they'll dig their own and eventually fall in, and consider yourself working for God. [maybe I answered my own dilemma] But I want to walk out of there, wipe my hands and feet clean and be done with it, do something totally different but I see no options. I don't want to take a financial risk investing in a new business, I don't have that kind of brain. Trapped and burned out, what a way to wind things down. Anyone want to take me on? Anyone with similar thoughts/feelings? Any thoughts on coping when you're stuck and have to work for benefits and a paycheck? Any feedback appreciated. Thanks.
You have described an attitude that is common for many as they approach retirement age... or began to see that they have sufficient resources to retire if they chose to. They shift their focus from the career to retirement, which makes the career seem even more onerous! (Retirement invariably seems more attractive, except to the very few who would rather work than retire).
The same attitude is also common among folks in their 40's who experience a 'mid-life crisis.' The problem this re-focus creates for many is similar to that faced by long-distance runners who start focusing on the finish-line too early in the 'race' ... and run out of 'steam' before they get to the finish line.
Everyone ultimately 'retires' at some age! The real question is not whether you should continue to 'plod along until you drop dead in the harness', but, whether you have the resources and retirement plan to 'successfully' retire early. Almost everyone asks the "How much is enough?" question. A good, independent financial planner (or two) can help come-up with a rational, reasonable answer. I retired at 61 and never looked back or regretted it (even though I also had to pay for health insurance for 4-5 years until Medicare kicked-in). Many others do likewise after finding themselves 'living to work, instead of working to live.'
If you are 'waiting for your father's permission to retire "early",' you may find yourself in for a long wait! Is your career what he wanted you to do, or what you wanted to do? Did he 'burn himself out, while continuing to work for something other than his own life? -- If you are ready and able to retire (and have been practicing medicine for 30-years), there is probably nothing to prevent it ... except, perhaps, someone else's boundaries on your life. Who, for example, is defining "early" in your mind?
It all hinges on your comfort zone when it comes to the money. I've been planning for my retirement since my 30's and at 57 I'm pretty sure we'll be fine. I can retire when ever I want to but it just doesn't feel right yet. I work for a pretty decent place but since they went to the 12 hour shifts I've been working a lot of night shifts, double shifts, or only 4 hour hour shifts. The burn out is chasing right behind me and I may go before my planned retirement at 60. I ay if you have the money go for it. If you don't have the money then take a vacation and keep your nose to the grind stone. Being able to eat is way more important then wanting to be lazy.
I feel that way right now and I'm 32. I cannot wait to retire. I'm trying to convince my husband that we should downsize our house so that one or both of us can retire or go down to part time work. Work sucks. Consumerism sucks. I've consumed enough crap, I just want my time back.
Totally agree.
Read the "Mr Money Mustache" blogs. If you are motivated, willing to step back and remind yourself what is really important in life, chances are you can retire early.
sounds like you need a lapdance and an attitude adjustment
change up your routines
when you wake in the am, do 15 minutes of exercises, drink two glasses of water and find 5 things to be thankful for
(say them out loud)
if you are really out of sorts, volunteer at a womans abuse shelter,,, after 3 weeks, you will be so thankful of your life
maybe you need more friends in your life-activities- ilook forward to every weekend, to go fishing or play golf
get more involved with your friends..
form a poker night - a lot of guys love to play poker and have a couple of drinks
Read the "Mr Money Mustache" blogs. If you are motivated, willing to step back and remind yourself what is really important in life, chances are you can retire early.
Live simply. Live well.
I'm 100% with you! I envy his lifestyle so much... I just need to get my husband on board. MMM spends his days doing the things I wish I was doing (home improvment, building, family, etc.). For me, the hardest part would be going out to eat less. And, even that, it isn't so much that I love to dine out, but that I often get so wrapped up in my hobbies and projects that taking the time to shop and cook feels wasteful since I have so little time left after working.
Someday, I hope to join the ranks of retired people. Hopefully soon.
I've got an elderly mom, my job is high stress.
My life isn't about my work anymore, my priorities have changed.
I don't WANT to learn any new skills. I'm burned out and TIRED. I don't want to WORK. PERIOD.
No at this job, Not at a new job. I'm done. I'll have to coast at work until at least 62...8 more years.
People keep saying find something else, get new skills, find a new interest.... why do they keep pushing that, I know what I said. I don't want to work.
I know it makes no sense...but I sometimes WISH my company would lay us all of from my union covered job, so I could get 47 weeks of vacation pay and severance. I could take care of mom, leave this job I don't want to go to every day.
My job doesn't have sabbaticals. MAYBE that might reenergize me. But we don't have those.
SO I hate going to work everyday.
But as has been said we're blessed to have jobs...there are people who'd trade with us in a minute.
Doesn't help us any, but it can lead to spells of gratitude.....and attitude is part of it too.
Oh my goodness have I been there, done that!
Is it possible, in your job, to take a few days in a row off ( such as a long weekend) to rest and recoup, do something you enjoy, take a short trip somewhere- maybe with your mom if that's possible- just to get away from the stress for a short time? That's what I was able to do to sustain myself through the politics and other grief I encountered in my last job... if you've got even a little time off to look forward to, it makes those hours at work a little more tolerable.
Or as you say, "coast" as much as possible at work, carry out your duties as you're contracted to do, but if it's possible to disengage your emotions as much as you can from the workplace, you can look forward to rewarding yourself with your outside activities.
There comes a point when health – physical and mental – hangs in the balance and if a positive action is not taken, the body or mind act of their own accord and begin to break down. Some jobs are tolerable in older age, and some aren't. And burnout is very real, and potentially harmful. So ask yourself, could you be saving your life to get out now? Could you be compromising it to stay in?
The other thing is that we fall into other possibilities when we leave something behind, whether it's a job or a relationship or whatever. There's a cost-benefit to just about everything. Ways of supplementing income after retirement can emerge as a matter of necessity or happy accident. If you think it's mild burnout, go the distractions route – quarterly vacations to someplace exotic, new hobbies or learning, etc. IOW, spend money now on these distractions while keeping your job and the years will pass. But if it's serious burnout, first get a checkup and then do a reality check with yourself.
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