Burn out

[wilder]

How do you handle burn out? This is my first dig season, we are working twelve hours a day, six days a week with no end in sight. "Focus on the ticket you are on, not what is in your queue" only goes so far when the tickets keep rolling in.

[Goldenboy]

It took me two or three years to finally realize it doesn't pay to worry. As far as coping with the dig season I always take a full week of vacation every July and October. This gives me the ambition to keep going without too much burnout.

[ProfessionalLocator]

Fist thing is be thankful for what you have got. A full time job during record unemployment, lot’s of extra overtime dollars coming in and Sundays off

I have commonly worked 8 and 10 weeks straight with no days off.

Once I worked on call for 5 weeks straight, or was it 6 weeks? It all became a blur. I just remember being away from home days at a time and living in the cab of the truck.

Okay, enough one ups manship.

This is your first season, a bit of a shock. Come October you will be complaining about not getting enough overtime.

To get past this without burn out you have to adopt some new attitudes and life style changes.

Start with attitude. You are getting 32 hours overtime a week which is 2 and 1/5 times your normal income. Start appreciating it by making a tally of all the extra money you take home a week. Then minus the extra expense like dinner at a carry out because you are working late. Keep a running total and count that money as it grows. After all, you are working too many hours to spend it so let it build up.

Now about that extra OT money. Many of the locators are ‘pocket rich” and spend it as fast as they make it. If they have $500 extra at the end of the month they feel compelled to spend it. My advice to all the enter this industry is to build up your savings account.

I do not mean the savings for the new car or big screen TV you want, I mean a savings account. In life you need months of extra money just in case you lose your income or for something bad that happens. Like you blow the transmission on your car, need dental work or have to bail some family member out of jail. I have seen all of these and more.

In James Clavells novel Noble House one character was a writer who kept two years of “drop dead” money in the bank. If his employer insisted on an assignment he did not want he could tell them to drop dead and quit. This gave him enough savings to cover his living expenses for up to two years while looking for another job.

As a locator you need several months savings dedicated just to cover your living expenses in times of unemployment. This happens a lot in our industry mostly in the Winter but also in any bad weather. Your area could get a week of constant rain and you will not go out or get paid that week. Or your area could get heavy snow and you out work for a week. I have hear many a locator who was working 6 and 7 long days a week in Summer complain that they were afraid of getting evicted come winter when one weeks income did not come in, they had spent all the OT money they had made on toys.

Another problem in Winter is layoffs for several months. This is usually not weather, just reduced workload. A big problem with some firms is they do not want to pay into the unemployment insurance fund so they look for a reason to fire their locators so they cannot collect unemployment, it happens. They fire locators, or even tell them they are laid off, in November. Then in January they are advertising for trainees without calling their “laid off” employees back. With some firms this happens all the time, I have seen it first hand.

So put most of the OT money into simple savings and put some into a “reward fund” just to spend on something you want. This way when you are working all those hours you know you are eventually going to get a treat. A goal / reward does help deal with the stress of extra work.



To deal with stress everybody needs their own time to themselves and you only have Saturday night and Sundays. This gets real complicated with a spouse, kids, girlfriend / boyfriend. Your ‘significant other’ will want you to spend time with them and if you don’t the relationship will suffer. So the two of you are going to have to work something out.

If there is another have that person do some of your chores Saturday so you will have some time together. It may be laundry or mowing the lawn but come Sunday you need no more work to do, you just worked 72 hours. Hey, if you live alone consider paying a neighbor’s kid to mow the lawn.

When Sunday comes an “other” in your life, will want you to spend the whole day with them. This fits some people’s ideal of life but the reality is far different. If a person has no time to themselves they get stressed out. So tell them you need 4 hours just to be alone and let the stress run out of your body. Now take them out to a real nice dinner or lunch, a really nice restaurant. Rent a move or go to a movie that you will both enjoy. Just make sure the time together is spent enjoyably. You need to take them out because they have been in that house all week long, they need to get out and they need you to take them out. Search the entertainment section of the paper and see if there is something special happening Sunday. Maybe take them to a play, dinner theater or whatever.

A trick I learned was we had a one hour lunch.
I put my laundry into the back of the work truck and took my lunch hour at the Laundromat once a week. Takes 24 minutes for the washer and about 20 to 30 minutes for the dryer.

[ProfessionalLocator]

Okay, now to address the issue of noobies complaining to the old pros I present the Monty
Pythons........

Four Yorkshiremen Sketch

Monty Python



Four well-dressed men sitting together at a vacation resort.

Michael Palin: Ahh.. Very passable, this, very passable.

Graham Chapman: Nothing like a good glass of Chateau de Chassilier wine, ay Gessiah?

Terry Gilliam: You're right there Obediah.

Eric Idle: Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin' here drinking Chateau de Chassilier wine?

MP: Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a cup o' tea.

GC: A cup ' COLD tea.

EI: Without milk or sugar.

TG: OR tea!

MP: In a filthy, cracked cup.

EI: We never used to have a cup. We used to have to drink out of a rolled up newspaper.

GC: The best WE could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.

TG: But you know, we were happy in those days, though we were poor.

MP: Aye. BECAUSE we were poor. My old Dad used to say to me, "Money doesn't buy you happiness."

EI: 'E was right. I was happier then and I had NOTHIN'. We used to live in this tiiiny old house, with greaaaaat big holes in the roof.

GC: House? You were lucky to have a HOUSE! We used to live in one room, all hundred and twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the floor was missing; we were all huddled together in one corner for fear of FALLING!

TG: You were lucky to have a ROOM! *We* used to have to live in a corridor!

MP: Ohhhh we used to DREAM of livin' in a corridor! Woulda' been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting fish dumped all over us! House!? Hmph.

EI: Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered by a piece of tarpolin, but it was a house to US.

GC: We were evicted from *our* hole in the ground; we had to go and live in a lake!

TG: You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and sixty of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road.

MP: Cardboard box?

TG: Aye.

MP: You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the morning, clean the bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down mill for fourteen hours a day week in-week out. When we got home, out Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!

GC: Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at three o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, go to work at the mill every day for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were LUCKY!

TG: Well we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox at twelve o'clock at night, and LICK the road clean with our tongues. We had half a handful of freezing cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at the mill for fourpence every six years, and when we got home, our Dad would slice us in two with a bread knife.

EI: Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, (pause for laughter), eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."

MP: But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe ya'.

ALL: Nope, nope..

[Paint'n & Flag'n]

First dig season is always hard for the noobs. Just starting out learning how to locate, route your tickets, and deal with the heat. Over time it will get better. Before you realize it you'll be able to double the amount of tickets your're doing in a day and the work load wont look so bad but till you get the experience and time in its gonna be hard. But learn to focus on what you are doing.

If you feel real stressed out take a short break before starting another ticket. You will be more prone to miss something when your stress level is real high. Try to not focus on any damages or getting damages, focus on the job. Did you read the prints completely, are you getting a good tone on the cable you're running. If you think, have a funny feeling, or suspect something was wrong or missed step back and regroup. Recheck your cables with your prints or rerun the hook ups. The one thing that will make your stress level worse is a damage that could have been prevented.

Hang in there its not going to be easy at first but it will get easier over time. Next year you'll look back and realize it isnt as bad as it looks right now.

Stay focused, be sure everything was done before billing out, take a short break if needed (drink a bottle of water before starting the next ticket) and try not to worry about things out of your control.

[Linerider]

Often, a guy will be a 3 day millionare when he gets paid during the busy times. Come slow times they're broke.

Pace yourself and your expenditures. When you're working and getting overwhelmed and frustrated, remember that come October you can take some time off because you saved $$ when you were makin' it.

As far as the here and now, don't rush anything. Remember that in the morning, it'll all start again. The morning after that? Same. Once dig season is gone you can relax. Don't rush or allow yourself to be pushed. Work at a safe and productive pace.

The alternative is what many are seeing these days - no job.

[AULupstate]

Burn Out??????????????

Learn AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, QUIT, Go to the next company, LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, QUIT and so on and so forth until you get a position where you don't suffer from Burn Out, Fatigue and a Generally Shitty attitude towards EVERYONE.


Worked for me.

[yahoo]

i would not think you could get burn out in just one year?????try doing 3 years straight of never slowing down and then we will call that burnout!!! just my thoughts

[Mke]

Burn out is a given in the industry. I think everyone suffers from it from time to time. Some implode, some trudge on. I had a co-worker who crashed and burned on a random Tuesday. Came in to work monday, and he was fine. Tuesday came and he missed his meet on site. The crew called the boss and the boss said, "Thats not like him". He called his cell and no answer. The boss drove over to his house at about 9am, and poor ole Jake was sitting outside in a bathrobe sitting on a tree stump sipping some coffee. Boss asked him "Hey Jake, you comin to work today?" Jake said, "nah, not feelin it right now". Boss asked "you ever coming back to work?" Jake said, " i'll have to check with the magic 8-ball, but it doesn't look promising."

Most of us feel that way from time to time, but usually we just suck it up and deal with it. The best advice I have to deal with it is.....

1) vent here, we all have been there and listening to other people gripe makes us comfortable in knowing we are not alone.

2) Repitition. Keep your locate process the same. Once you got your routine down it makes things easier. Keep a mental checklist and always double check.

3) Task at hand, Keep focused. Don't think about the Sharks Vs Redwing game you are missing, just keep focused on the job. Know that you can't leave till your done.

4) Never say No. No is a negative phrase. Don't say no to overtime, call out lists or out of towners. You can say "I would love to but I have "this" already scheduled."

And if all this doesn't work just locate while uttering profanity in a constant stream and when ever you are in a meeting with your DM, make awkward "dead hooker" jokes.

Just a thought

mke

[yahoo]

Burn out is a given in the industry. I think everyone suffers from it from time to time. Some implode, some trudge on. I had a co-worker who crashed and burned on a random Tuesday. Came in to work monday, and he was fine. Tuesday came and he missed his meet on site. The crew called the boss and the boss said, "Thats not like him". He called his cell and no answer. The boss drove over to his house at about 9am, and poor ole Jake was sitting outside in a bathrobe sitting on a tree stump sipping some coffee. Boss asked him "Hey Jake, you comin to work today?" Jake said, "nah, not feelin it right now". Boss asked "you ever coming back to work?" Jake said, " i'll have to check with the magic 8-ball, but it doesn't look promising."

Most of us feel that way from time to time, but usually we just suck it up and deal with it. The best advice I have to deal with it is.....

1) vent here, we all have been there and listening to other people gripe makes us comfortable in knowing we are not alone.

2) Repitition. Keep your locate process the same. Once you got your routine down it makes things easier. Keep a mental checklist and always double check.

3) Task at hand, Keep focused. Don't think about the Sharks Vs Redwing game you are missing, just keep focused on the job. Know that you can't leave till your done.

4) Never say No. No is a negative phrase. Don't say no to overtime, call out lists or out of towners. You can say "I would love to but I have "this" already scheduled."

And if all this doesn't work just locate while uttering profanity in a constant stream and when ever you are in a meeting with your DM, make awkward "dead hooker" jokes.

Just a thought

mke

[CableAvoidanceTool]

Burn Out??????????????

Learn AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, QUIT, Go to the next company, LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, QUIT and so on and so forth until you get a position where you don't suffer from Burn Out, Fatigue and a Generally Shitty attitude towards EVERYONE.


Worked for me.

LOL I love this!!!!

[orangeboots]

After 18 YEARS i think i finally hit the wall, cant take it any more.

[Bad Robot]

Burn out is a given in the industry. I think everyone suffers from it from time to time. Some implode, some trudge on. I had a co-worker who crashed and burned on a random Tuesday. Came in to work monday, and he was fine. Tuesday came and he missed his meet on site. The crew called the boss and the boss said, "Thats not like him". He called his cell and no answer. The boss drove over to his house at about 9am, and poor ole Jake was sitting outside in a bathrobe sitting on a tree stump sipping some coffee. Boss asked him "Hey Jake, you comin to work today?" Jake said, "nah, not feelin it right now". Boss asked "you ever coming back to work?" Jake said, " i'll have to check with the magic 8-ball, but it doesn't look promising."

Most of us feel that way from time to time, but usually we just suck it up and deal with it. The best advice I have to deal with it is.....

1) vent here, we all have been there and listening to other people gripe makes us comfortable in knowing we are not alone.

2) Repitition. Keep your locate process the same. Once you got your routine down it makes things easier. Keep a mental checklist and always double check.

3) Task at hand, Keep focused. Don't think about the Sharks Vs Redwing game you are missing, just keep focused on the job. Know that you can't leave till your done.

4) Never say No. No is a negative phrase. Don't say no to overtime, call out lists or out of towners. You can say "I would love to but I have "this" already scheduled."

And if all this doesn't work just locate while uttering profanity in a constant stream and when ever you are in a meeting with your DM, make awkward "dead hooker" jokes.

Just a thought

mke

Man, this is just flat out brillant MKE, you really have a well rounded and very realistic sense here. Steve, I think this or some version of this needs to be a sticky IMHO.