How to get through job that is the wrong fit

[Anonymous]

I am in a fed job that is just the wrong fit for me. The management is nice, the problem is the nature of the work. I don't enjoy it at all and find it incredibly stressful. The volume of work is overwhelming and I am regularly working nights and weekends. I've been here for almost two years. I cannot foresee that I will be able to find another fed job in the near future due to sequestration. I need to find a way to push through this for a while longer without going insane. My level of work anxiety has become so high that I had to begin taking medication. Any tips on how people change their outlook/handle stress to get through a job that is just really, really wrong for them?

[Anonymous]

I look at the people in my office who collect trash, deliver mail...and woman who say work in brothels, and given how lucky I am, I suck it up.

[Anonymous]

can you quit and give it to me?

[Anonymous]

Op, I am in a job that is the wrong fit as well, but it has many many benefits (formal and otherwise) that make me content to stay. One of the benefits is that I work a 40 hr week and no weekends! Even I, however, am probably getting to the point where I can't take it too much longer. Are you tied to the area, or can you look elsewhere? What's your education in?

[Anonymous]

I am trying to figure this out myself OP. In private sector though, not Feds.

Would you be willing to seek jobs outside of Federal employment? I am seeking Fed employment so I understand how you might not.

Trying to think of what else you can do to "survive" - can you take breaks here and there and just take a quick walk around the block? Is it possible to avoid working while home and on weekends so you can kind of "leave it on the court"?

I guess all I can say is take it one day at a time, that is what I am trying to do. After a few days off last week I came into cringing at the sound of my boss' voice, so not sure how much longer I can take it too!

[Anonymous]

Take a 2 week vacation if you can and start looking for another job.

[Anonymous]

OP, is there anyone in your department that is under-utilized and bored? Is there any way you could talk to your supervisor about maybe getting some help from such a person, who could take some of the load off of you? A bored junior analyst/assistant type might be thrilled to pick up some new skills.

I was overwhelmed at a previous job - literally working till 9 or 10 every night and some weekends. I liked the work but it was too much. So I got permission to start teaching parts of my job to a junior analyst. I took some stuff off my plate and she got new skills and experience that made her more marketable. Win-win.