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Burnout / coping with burnout

B

boarcity

overloaded with work? behind with the round? have you ever felt like its getting too much ?

id think it has happened to nearly every window cleaner at some time . burned out physically and sick of it is a real risk in this job.

so what did YOU do at this point? i know that a lot of windies quit at this time,go on to do a different job,then later regret the decision .

[ I was at the burnout point about 4 yrs ago,my family advised me to downsize my round and carry on . but my instinct told me not to do that ,so i then took on a helper ,part timer and this worked for me . iv never felt burned out since]

 
I am currently overloaded with work. I have way too many customers and seem to fall further and further behind. I have had quite a few phone calls/comments asking where I am. I have to work most saturdays to keep things moving.....so its a constant 6 days a week, weather permitting. I still take on new customers if they are neighbours or on the same street as this makes sense...condensing your round etc. Trouble is, I havent got round to ditching any of the more awkward properties or those out of the way. I know it would make sense to take someone on, but I really do like working by myself....not that I am anti social.....its just nice and uncomplicated. So the plan is to select about 30 or 40 properties to ditch and therefore ease the load and claim a few saturdays back.

 
It's better to burnout than fade away!

I'm knackered. Not had a full week off since Christmas 2012. My wife wonders why I'm grumpy.

 
Stress manifests itself in many different ways. It's not all about earning loads of dosh and working all hours godsend but rather managing a good balance so you can spend quality time with your loved ones too.

I've seen so many couples split up due to what I call the workaholic mentality.

 
I am currently overloaded with work. I have way too many customers and seem to fall further and further behind. I have had quite a few phone calls/comments asking where I am. I have to work most saturdays to keep things moving.....so its a constant 6 days a week, weather permitting. I still take on new customers if they are neighbours or on the same street as this makes sense...condensing your round etc. Trouble is, I havent got round to ditching any of the more awkward properties or those out of the way. I know it would make sense to take someone on, but I really do like working by myself....not that I am anti social.....its just nice and uncomplicated. So the plan is to select about 30 or 40 properties to ditch and therefore ease the load and claim a few saturdays back.
I'm in a similar boat.

I still take on 'nice' jobs, very well paying ones etc. My website states that we are only adding new clients to a waiting list to try to stop some of the calls. I'm always behind and working 6 days a week. Getting the 'where are you' calls and emails. If I take an afternoon off with the kids I feel guilty that I'm not out there getting on with it. This month I have lost almost a week due to a fault on the van. Then lost a few more days due to my controller going wrong. Pushing me further behind.

So I'm not over happy atm.

 
I've just come out of the busiest phase I had since starting. Back to normality of being booked up 1-2 weeks ahead which is where I like to be. Don't knock the prosperous times fellas, they'll look after you when the days get gloomy.

 
Dropping jobs isn't easy either. People know people. If they are related in some way, so you can offend people and get a bad reputation.

I have dropped whole villages and still had other people ring to check if they were being dropped and the lived 30 miles away.

 
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sold some of my round that i couldnt do on my own and went solo as my head was away with it

 
try to think ahead lads , dont just keep running on the treadmill .

i plan breaks from it every now and again, by putting money to one side ,a little and often ,soon mounts up.

 
Depends what you want I suppose as managing staff can be very stressful too.

I'm happy to keep it simple and not worry about the rest.

 
try to think ahead lads , dont just keep running on the treadmill .
i plan breaks from it every now and again, by putting money to one side ,a little and often ,soon mounts up.
I have another weeks holiday away at the end of the month. It does you good and its lovely to take the family away. It can be stressful trying to catch up as much as you can before your hols.

As for dropping customers, I can see it being a difficult one as I am friendly with most of them.

As Smurf said earlier, it should be about striking a good balance between work and leisure.

 
best thing I did was getting guy to work with me

so much easier, had to work on my own this morning until my mate came, was saying to my missus sod that never again

 
I am doing 2 jobs but looking forward to turkey In october

It's keeping me going

 
best thing I did was getting guy to work with meso much easier, had to work on my own this morning until my mate came, was saying to my missus sod that never again
yeh, i know that feeling. about a year ago for whatever reason none of my workers were working one midweek day so i decided id relive the old days, just me on my tod . how lovely, a day on my own, just me .

but the customers dragged me down "on your own again are you? didnt work out eh "

by lunchtime id had enough and tootled off home !

 
I am doing 2 jobs but looking forward to turkey In octoberIt's keeping me going
You need to look forward to something like an holiday. Makes all that hard graft seem worthwhile, when you are sat in the sun with a cold beer in your hand. You come back refreshed and eager to graft once more.

 
Sat in the sun with a cold one..sounds like me down the allotment most evenings when I can manage it

 
One thing I am planning to do, to ease the workload is to buy a backpack......just to be used for the awkward and dangerous windows. I find that its these type of windows that really slow you down....hence, work backs up

 
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