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holy im burnt out!!

6K views 45 replies 24 participants last post by  abacab 
#1 ·
This has been an incrediable year. I feel very blessed for all the work coming my way. Expecially after a hard year like last year, which was one of my slowest years to date.

But for some reason just feel burt out. Its like i just dont enjoy it as much as I use to. The money is great, work is there and booked way ahead so whats my deal?

15 years in buisness and this is the first time I have felt this way.

any advice? :bangin:
 
#4 ·
You need a vacation---If you nearly died with worry last year and are now working your self to the max---

Plan a vacation--It'll give you something to look forward to.

I grew burnt out with my last business---after 20 plus years there were no more challenges ahead--
Just more work--I sold it---Never regretted it either.---Mike---
 
#7 ·
I on the other hand can't wait to feel "burned out" again. Suffered a huge disappointment this week when what might have been our largest job ever, fell through at the last moment. We have struggled horribly this year, with only a couple jobs lasting longer than one week.
 
#8 ·
vacation already planned. We are very lucky to be able to do 3 a year. end of july we go to vegas. And I am looking forward to it as I always do.

Im not sure what it is. I really noticed it today. Had no motivation, got a huge check from client and didnt even get excited like I use to. I even left early, only put in 8 hours today, usally do at least 10. maybe you guys are right, Maybe after vacation I will come back refreshed. Who knows??????
 
#13 ·
The same thing happened to me after about 15 years of owning my own business.

To make a long story short, I went to work for another deck company doing design, sales and running crews, lasted a season and I was miserable and quit. Then I went to work for another company doing the same thing as the first company. Better company but still miserable, lasted a season there also and quit. Went back to my own business the first of this year and have a sping in my step like you would not believe, and am running my business with a different attitude and style.

Looking back, it was all a good thing for me even though 2 years really sucked. I know I am better off because of the last 2 years. If you are as burnt out as I was just imagine working for someone else being told what to do and being paid about half of what is really fair. That might help a little bit. I might also recommend getting some sort of new hobby and put some love and energy into that for a while. Or possible change up your business by taking on some work that is completely different than what you nomally do.

If things like this don't work, just find a new line of work, life is too short to be miserable for very long.

Good Luck
 
#18 ·
I'm glad I do so many service calls. Different HO's, different job site, different routes to work, different lunch spots, different challenges and puzzles every day.

Keeps the spice in the job.

As much as I love remodels, (read $$) I get bored with them quickly too. Until the last day when everyone OOHS and AHHS over how nice it looks.
 
#20 ·
I can agree on the different routes to work. I also get tired of dealing with the same homeowner everyday. At first everyones all nice and like OMG i cant believe how fast things are goin. But then ppl get impatient, want their house and lives back to normal, which i cant blame them for. But like this job we're on now, 24x24 addition, then a 10x24 covered porch out the front we've been there like 5 weeks. They have 3 little yippy yap dogs and all they do is bark all damn day, nonstop. Dog chit all over the yard, by the doors on our trailer, all around the porch we're building. It starts to get annoying after awhile.
 
#26 ·
do what i do when i get home DRINK. i think this happens to all of us around 10 or 15 years in this buisness.i know i went thrue it.fricken hated those 6 or 7 month jobs.just wanted to get in pound it out and be done.now in out 21st year its not so bad because i learned to leave work at work.home is for relaxing after 5 i go fishing or just sit in the back yard by the fire pit and relax.on the weekends i go 4-wheeling ,fishing,hunting what ever i want to do.but it took me alot of years to learn this.
 
#29 ·
I think a lot of us think the same way-much to our chagrin.

We analyze potential issues and problems in our sleep and think about them at times we are supposed to be "off".

Makes for good conscientious contractors, but sometimes it's impossible to get things out of your mind.

I'm guilty of this all the time! Can't help it!
 
#31 ·
I feel like a lot of you guys, just seems like the same old same old, but the same old happens to be non stop stress!

This school project I am trying to finish up is kicking my butt, I have 30 days to finish 60 days worth of work. It's nothing new, just a matter of how much is it going to cost the company and how painful is it going to be for me. We are working 7 days a 10 hours a day trying to finish up.

A greeter job at wal mart is looking pretty attractive right now.:rolleyes:
 
#32 ·
I'm not burned out, just tired. Tuesday night I'm up till 1am in the morning on paper work, and then have to get up at 5am and go to the job.

Wednesday about 2pm I hit the wall, went in the truck and had a nap for 40 minutes. Made all the difference.

But it seems almost every night I'm at it till 10 or eleven at night. I'm half working on a quote as I type this.

But I keep thinking "winter is coming", got to make the money while I can.

Winters are long and cold up here. :laughing:
 
#34 ·
This has been an incrediable year. I feel very blessed for all the work coming my way. Expecially after a hard year like last year, which was one of my slowest years to date.

But for some reason just feel burt out. Its like i just dont enjoy it as much as I use to. The money is great, work is there and booked way ahead so whats my deal?

15 years in buisness and this is the first time I have felt this way.

any advice? :bangin:
You've got Vietnam syndrom.

Just think about it. You've spent the last year on pins and needles trying to do everything you could to get by. Just getting a phone call from a lead would get your blood pumping. You got used to it, it became a way of life while you were on high elert trying to make it happen.

Now things have eased up and are coming easier. You're not on that adrenalin rush anymore, you've stopped firing on all 8 cylinders for the first time mentally with all that previous worrying. It's like coming back from Vietnam. A day ago you were being shot at and now you're walking around without those worries anymore.

Maybe you need to up the difficulty level to get the adrenalin pumping again. Maybe show up drunk at the next prospects house or drive over their mail box to give you something to over come. :laughing:
 
#35 ·
I read through this thread and remember the times when I've been similarly inundated with work and even stressed out at times. But Lord what I would give for that now!

I moved to NC from Memphis a little over 4 years ago due to my girlfriend getting relocated here, and I followed along because we planned on getting married.

I had worked in the same market (Memphis TN) for about 17 years working as a sub contractor most of those years and eventually the last 6 years as a project manager for a mid-sized construction company specializing in upper-end remodeling and custom home building. Since moving to central NC, I began working as an independent contractor for Sears Home Improvement Products doing kitchen remodels and cabinet refacing. However the past 18-20 months have been very slim pickings indeed. And for the past 4 months there has been absolutely zero, zilch, nil, nothing at all to do with Sears, and I have taken on anything at all I can round up. From building picnic tables, storage sheds, just anything that I can make some money on.

In all of my 51 years, I've never seen times as lean as they are now. On the other hand, I know things would be vastly different if I hadn't left behind all those contacts I had established over many years prior to my moving here (where I know nary a soul).

I've always loved what I do. I enjoy the challenges (the more difficult it is the better I like it), and I enjoy learning everything I can about my chosen craft and bettering myself and/or my abilities (and always will). I am indeed a consummate professional, highly skilled craftsman, and strive for perfection in all I do, so it has been a very difficult pill to swallow simply trying to find something to do around here just to make ends meet.

So as you folks whom are fortunate to have plenty of work on your plates during these difficult and trying economic times, please try and keep it in it's proper perspective (I know most here already do), which is how truly blessed you actually are!!
 
#36 ·
But for some reason just feel burt out. Its like i just dont enjoy it as much as I use to. The money is great, work is there and booked way ahead so whats my deal?
You've gotten used to it.

I'm not going to completely agree with Mike re Vietnam Syndrome, but that has elements of what you may be going through.

Regardless of what you're doing for a living, you go through stages with it. Newbie intimidation, semi-competence, competence... and then it feels like the challenge is gone. You're no longer learning and growing; you're just marking time.

At that point, you have a couple of choices. You can just settle down and run out the years with a status quo (kind of like many of the teachers we all had in school). You can decide to do even better in your chosen field with continuing education--there are always new developments coming down the pike, and early adopters face a whole new set of challenges before reaping any rewards to speak of.

Or you can re-aim your life at a different endeavor. Tough, and scary, but sometimes that's what it takes to regain the joy.

I've taken all of those routes at one time or another, and had an interesting and not too boring time of it. OTOH, I ain't rich (in money terms) by any means. :laughing:
 
#37 ·
I'm off the tools 99% of the time these days, but when I get to feeling burned out, I find a challenge that is non-critical to the job and grab a greenhorn and teach him something. Showing someone how to do a job properly and quickly is a joy unto itself and is quite rewarding.

Bear in mind, I'm not a one man show. I have back ups for my back ups. This allows me to train and cross train all the folks in our organization. This means we don't rely on just one person day in and day out. Many of us can step in and do the jobs of others.

When it all starts to get to me I take a break and get into the field and start troubleshooting and planning how to proceed. Talking to the guys and checking the schedule to be sure what I'm thinking is what is going on. Once I'm satisfied, I grab a greenhorn and put him on a challenging task to work with me. This way, he's more valuable to us and to the project manager. It's surprising what two men working together on one area of a job only can push the job along.

Sometimes is building a cut table, or setting up tool stations with dedication power and dust collection. Sometimes is laying out cuts on joists or rafters. Sometimes its building pony walls or just grabbing the bobcat and cleaning up the site so the water drains away from the work area, or getting some bales of straw and busting them to keep a muddy walk mud free.

Nothing succeeds like success. Some days its better to do several small things that will ease the load when the big jobs are ready to be done.

Quality is a reflection of perfection. Its not a perfect reflection, because perfection is an ideal, not a reality. A team is several people working together to achieve the same goal as quickly and as well as they can.

I love team building and orchestrating the work. Gives me warm fuzzies and confidence in our plan and our team. I call it positioning to win. We try not to fight fires all day, but rather anticipate the fires and prevent them before they can start. This takes a lot of trust in others. That is a hard thing for us in this business to do. But, I don't let that stop me. We're going to do this, and well.... even if it kills us. So get on board or get lost.

That's how I keep the burn outs from toasting my bunns.
 
#38 ·
3 months ago I was pissing and moaning about how burnt out I am and how I need a break.

Wifey said "just remember the times when you don't have work and how you get..."

I was like "whatever...pfft".:rolleyes:

3 months later and it's like someone sucker punched me in the gut. Sitting around, being absolutely useless and wasting Oxygen. Nothing beats a man down harder than not working. It gets much worse after you do everything in your power to get back and working and still nothing comes through.

So...relish in your exhaustion my friend. You're doing a hell of a lot better than some of us :thumbsup:
 
#39 ·
I haven't had a day off in over a month, I don't have any complaints, but I will probably take a three day vacation when I get a chance. Even though my family keeps bugging me to do some jobs for them, they love having a carpenter in the family, but they will have to wait.

I've been bidding my jobs higher than normal due to the amount of busyness I have right now. I still want to generate more calls though so I can land a few of my high priced jobs and hire employees to do them for me, as opposed to putting on the tool bags myself.
 
#41 ·
It probably happens to most business owners.
Handling the stress and ups and downs is what seperates us from the rest.

When I get a bit burnt I Think long and hard of what it would be like being an employee again.

I think it's safe to say you wouldn't be taking three vacations. Hell you would probably have to ask permission to take one.

I cut my teeth in this business on large commercial jobs where I would count the minutes each day for the coffee truck to arive. First for morning coffee then for lunch.
Sometimes I will stop and grab a cup of coffee from a coffee truck I see making a stop. Damn, that distinct smell of a roach coach brings me right back in time to when I was an employee and just going through the motions of life.That experience usually perks me up.
 
#42 ·
Sometimes I will stop and grab a cup of coffee from a coffee truck I see making a stop. Damn, that distinct smell of a roach coach brings me right back in time to when I was an employee and just going through the motions of life.
Isn't it weird how aromas bring back memories? There must be some kinda synapse link or something between smells and memories in our brains.
 
#46 ·
You need to find meaning in your life outside of work. I was burned out for a good five years, mildly depressed, when I started work on setting up a non-profit corporation. A couple of months into it, and I noticed that I magically enjoyed the work again, even the stuff I used to hate when I wasn't depressed.
 
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