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There are times when I feel that way. I question my choices in life and wonder why I'm so concerned with my job. But I also pause sometimes and tell myself to just toughen up. I had a summer job once working in a factory, and it was hard work. It was a lousy job, but it taught me how hard a lot of people, maybe most people, have to work to make a living. I'm sitting in a comfortable desk chair and I'm not going to get hurt working any machinery. And I'm making a living. So it's really not so bad.
For more context: I have an unhelpful department head as my boss who provides little support, and our small team is severely understaffed and under-supported.
C1, your reply was mean, cliche and unhelpful rather than empathetic.
All SD needs is empathy or relatability because working tirelessly in the corporate world (or others) is hard and demanding, whether or not there’s creativity in it. Sometimes people need to know they’re not alone in feeling exhausted by life’s demands. You’re not alone SD, I returned from PTO, over the holidays, with the same feeling of dread.
Feel you but at least you have a job still and weren’t laid off before the holidays. Maybe start looking for how to transition out of this industry, or take both short and long vacations every so often but that’s more of a bandaid imho.
Don't give the "industry" a free pass. Part of it is that. The client pays their marketing twice as much as agencies are able to pay theirs because clients want to pay enough for what they get. When agency folks go over "client-side" they say that in addition to increased pay, deadlines are much more flexible in-house. Because they are behind and often reactive, the agency gets abused with a little lead time.
But it's a bit of the US capitalist machine. Many European countries value family, vacations, and proper lunch breaks over cracking the whip.
I meant to say "marketing team" not "marketing."
I know he can be a bit of a super nerd, and very wonkish, but there is a recent episode of the Ezra Klein podcast about burnout that I found somewhat inspirational. The episode is called “burned out? Start here.” And was released on Tuesday, 1/7.
As the head of growth at my company, I often feel like the basic brand/campaign strategy should be defined by a separate brand marketing team. My role would be to refine it but that handoff line always moves. To combat this, I have focused on what I can control. My team, my time and my sanity. There have been times where I have to accept that certain things aren’t my best work, only that it was my best work under the circumstances.
I try to remain thankful that I have the fortunate option to put more effort into the ones that I really love and see value in.
The capitalist machine is toxic. You’re not alone.
Hope you can find your happy corner.
Also find that if you can act as the manager you wish you had, you can sometimes rise above the feelings and reacting to the toxic nonsense.