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Rising Star
On a lighter note ! 😝
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Is this post even real? You seem completely out of touch with reality.
So you’re upset that someone more successful than you wants to leave the rat race? Huh?
Does your company offer short term disability leave benefits or FMLA as an option? Might be worth considering rather than quitting outright, if you think you have a real future at your company.
I would move to a less intense in-house position before transitioning to barista. People say money is not important, but the amount of money you’d be saving towards your retirement alone would be such a huge jump between attorney and barista that I feel fairly confident you will regret making that kind of a disruptive change in your life. If not in-house, I’d try other jobs/careers that if they don’t outright use your legal knowledge then at least others could plausibly assume you are/are more competent by nature of being an attorney. Barista is not that. What about publishing? Writing? Licensing? I feel like you have so many options before barista haha I am sweating out of concern you will do something rash! 😮💨
Rising Star
Barista is also NOT an easy low stress job…
Not crazy. I was in roughly the same position as you (close to burnout, lots of room to grow), but ultimately took a cash pay cut for another IHC role with a much better team and a product I enjoyed way more. Growth potential is also smaller. But this was a game changer for my mental health, and I am so happy. The comp is still great (275 cash, plus equity, c/o 2020) and I feel like I can work here for years. I guess my point is that I’d try to find another IHC gig first, because that might make all the difference. If you really feel like you need a sabbatical, I’d take it. I took a long one ages ago (I had a career before law school) and it did wonders for me. It’s your life, don’t let the bitter fishbowl crowd keep you in a job that’s not good for you.
Also, I’ve been in service before. Yea it can be stressful, but it’s a very different kind of stress than what youre likely going through. Not stupid to think being a barista might help you. Theres literally an entire subculture called baristafire (check reddit) dedicated to what you are contemplating.
I also would add that I have so many friends in tech (non law) making 400k+ working 9-5 that regularly burn out and take sabbaticals. It’s very common (my wife did it for 6 months).
Rising Star
Is it the clients? Specifically their lack of planning turning everything into a fire drill?
You might not need time off, you might be able to salvage with some new tactics to keep them in line.
First and foremost, I am so sorry that so many people seem to be unable to respond with compassion and without attacking you personally and/or just being nasty. No one deserves that. Everyone deserves some empathy and understanding. I think we’re all in a struggle of some kind and don’t always show up as our best selves.
Second, I have soooo been there with the burn-out. I feel you. It can be really tough to manage individually. There is a lot being written about how it’s an organizational problem and needs to be addressed with organizational changes. But that doesn’t help you right now.
Third, I agree with other comments about taking time off. Start with two weeks as soon as it is humanly possible to do it. If things are at a total crisis point for you, then at least a week, like, next week, with more planned soon after that. I was really fortunate and took three weeks off when the combo of really serious family stuff and a very demanding job reached a point of total overwhelm. It wasn’t enough but it took the edge off. Perfect world, I hear it is something like 6 week leave. Next, definitely connect with a therapist. They can really help you focus on building more boundaries, etc.
After that, take a very hard look at how you spend your time. To maintain the boost you get from time-off, set some rules for yourself about when you do work and think about work. This will depend on your work style/best times to get work done. For example, I cannot do work on weekend because I work really long days. Working weekends— including letting myself think about work challenges— puts me over the edge. Also, I cannot keep working really long days on any sustained basis. Also, look at what your work days involve. Having a ton of meetings and no time to do work is a really problem. This will require you to use a really critical eye about what work warrants your time and what doesn’t. Sometimes the questions you get are really about helping the business identify the next business step and not taking on what should be their work. Also, take a really hard look at your inventory of meetings and find some you can decline or repackage. When I say repackage, I mean if someone or a small group constantly put time on your calendar for one off meetings, then set up a weekly meeting for that person or offer “office hours” when they can reach you. If you have back to back 30 min meetings, try to cluster a few sets together and then give yourself a break. Set a limit on the number of hours you’re in meetings every day or per week and hold the rest of the time for doing work. I hate HATE that this falls to us to manage, and I wish I had the magic solution that would solve it.
Finally, are there responsibilities you could ask your manager to move. I’d start with things you’ve handled for a while that would be a stretch opportunity for someone on your team to get some experience. And I’d frame it as you have a lot on your plate, took an inventory and realized XX would offer a good opportunity for YY or ZZ colleague.
I’d take these steps before considering leaving your current role if that role generally checks the right boxes (don’t know what those are for you but could be a good manager and team, enjoy the work, decent pay, etc.). That said, it may be that these steps just don’t cut it and you have to go. A new job could be worse or not check the critical boxes. Or it could be perfect. I just think adding a job search on top of crisis level burnout is not a recipe for success. As they’d say in medicine, stabilize the patient first.
These are just things I’ve had to do and it is an ongoing effort to stick to them. It so shouldn’t be this way but it is for now….
Good luck. You WILL figure this out but it is hard and will take time. I’m pulling for you (and anyone else in the struggle).
A million girls would kill for this job, Andrea.
Not a good reason to stay imo