Help...My New Job Is Stressing Me Out

Question:

“I’m only 3 weeks into my new job and I’m exhausted and stressed already.

I’m suffering from information overload and can’t sleep as I’m worried about all the things I need to learn.

I’m so distracted with helping my colleagues that I don’t have enought time to work on my work and learning.  I’m trying to be helpful, make friends and be a good team player but in doing so worry that I’m diluting my progress.

I’m trying to leave the office at sensible hours and not work silly hours like I used to in my last job.  But I’m constantly thinking about work outside office hours and so feeling stressed and exhausted the next day. Which makes me less productive and so creates a viscious cycle.

My boss is great and tells me I’m doing well. But it doesnt feel like it - i’m tired, stressed and at times overwhealmed.

What should I do?”

My Answer:

After the initial honeymoon period of a starting a new job, it’s very common to feel slightly insecure, stressed and overwhealmed a few weeks after into the role. 

Here are some suggested steps that will help:

1. Decide with your line manager what your top 3 objectives should be for the next 6 months and then put them in writing so that your committed.

2. Prioritise 70% of your time on activities which help achieve the top 3 objectives. Squeeze everything else (helping others,  ad-hoc projects etc) into the other 30% of time. Tell your line manager what you’re doing and get their backing

3. Conciously celebrate your small successes and progress instead of overly focussing on all the stuff what you haven’t learned yet

4. Find non-work related activities to fill up the spare time away from work so that your poor brain can switch off and rest

5. Remember:  starting a new job is like starting  a marathon - not a sprint.  It’s good to start strong, but do pace yourself. It’s only 3 weeks in and all the feedback is positive so go easy on yourself

By Sital Ruparelia

Comments

[Will at Virtualjobcoach]

What about trying to figure out what is making you stressed and working on that?
Is it:
- fear of failure
- feeling like you don't know enough to master the job
- feeling that your peers are ahead of you
- feeling that you are focusing too much on work

It could be any/all of these, but would recommend trying to understand the source of your stress. Keep asking yourself "why am I stressed" until you can't answer it anymore and review your results. Often stress manifests itself in unique ways, so trying to get to the 'root cause' of the stress will help you address it properly.

[Rodney Cooley]

This sounds like good advice. I'm still in the middle of a job search, but when I am employed again, it will be helpful to come back to this and set my priorities so I don't get overwhelmed.

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