How do you leave work at work?

@toughTiger6481

"In reality tomorrow if you left ... they might speak of you for a time....... saying X did this project or that..... but sooner or later you are an afterthought only a few long timers even remember you .......

so giving them your time was for nothing literally."

This is the absolute truth, yet so hard for so many of us to grasp and understand. Thanks for your perspective.

@MeaningfulSilence

"I hope you could start focusing in all you are able to do while thinking about work, to change a bit the thoughts from ''many problems to solve" to "many problem solved"."

This is a great piece of advice. I have never thought about "many problems solved", only how much I have to solve. I think this is because the agency doesn't look at your successes or even give out accolades. When things are running smoothly its just us doing our job. They only seem to notice when things aren't up to par. I tell those under me they do a good job when they do, and give them praise as needed because that is how I was trained prior to coming to work for this agency. I think its time I learned to re-frame my thoughts to be in line with your "many problems solved" vs "many problems to solve" idea.

"If you got the role I am sure you are skilled as a problem solver, so maybe this is just a difficult time and you need to recharge your energy level...what about adding more relaxing moments in your daily/weekly life? Do things you really like, reward yourself even with something small."

Thank you for assuming I am a skilled problem solver. I like to think that I am but sometimes doubt myself. I do things I enjoy and try to relax all the time when I'm not at work, yet I still have a hard time getting the job out of my mind. Second shift has no immediate supervisor our section. I work first shift and supervise the whole section so I am always waiting for that phone call from my guys that something went wrong. Its not that I don't trust the guys who work second shift for me, its just that there are so many outside forces beyond their control that can cause things to go wrong. I'm working on ways to let go but its hard.

"Hope things will start being less heavy soon 😊"

Thanks for your thoughts, ideas and support. I'm hoping things get less heavy soon also.

@CharlieDont37

"When at work, I focused on work tasks completely. I left when the required tasks were complete for the day. When away from work, I shut off work and focused on being NOT at work. If I read, I read. If I had a meal, then I enjoyed a meal. If I had a cocktail, that is what I had. If I was called back, I switched to 'Work' mode. When that call-back issue was resolved, I went back to not being at Work. I am not saying this is a great life to live, but I felt that I managed and could enjoy the periods outside the office."

Thank you for this perspective. I like this idea and I am definitely going to try this. Starting in about 10 minutes. I have a 30 mile bike ride planned and I'm not going to think about work, only enjoying my ride.

"And remember, not all issues that you face are 'Life or Death', and that your business proceeds with and without you."

I have a tendency to make all problems out to be more than they are. As many times as I've worried the worst and things ended up not so bad or nothing at all, you would think I would learn to stop that, yet I can't seem to. And I am well aware that business proceeds with or without me, but again, I can't seem to grasp that for some reason. Probably because I am the responsible party at this time.

Thanks again for your insight and advice.

@hematite43

"I can relate. As a manager, I'm technically "on call" in case of a catastrophe. However, for the most part, I don't need to actually do much when I'm not at work. I do check emails to often and I take a lot of work home "in my head." Dreading what I'll be dealing with the next day...worrying about a particular meeting or conversation...being annoyed with something someone else has done or hasn't done."

Taking work home "in my head", dreading what I'll be dealing with the next day, and being annoyed with something someone else has done or hasn't done is my whole life. I have been in this position almost 2 years. I told someone the other day that taking this promotion has been the worst mistake of my life, second to my first wife. There is always the option of giving up the position, but, because of the work environment, it is probably more beneficial to just leave the job altogether. But that isn't an option right now. I need to work on some of these coping mechanisms.