Project managers feel burned out from long hours
13 posts across 12 communities in the last 30 days; 15% from r/mentalhealth.
“I'm so bored. I feel like an 85 year old in a nursing home, drooling out of the side of my mouth pressing 1 or 2 on the keyboard every once in a while while Claude completes all my work. I realize I have a mega first world problem and I should be much more grateful, but it's a…”
“Same, but 4 years. I’m kind of disappointed to see all the responses stating how normal this is. I hate it, lol. I’m even looking to move to something adjacent to the field, but not strictly PM. I’m a consultant and I usually have 3-5 projects running concurrently and the…”
“Thank you! [re: I’m burned out. Feeling guilt needing to end it.]”
Several project managers express exhaustion and burnout, with one mentioning a decade of experience. This suggests a systemic issue of overwork and potential unsustainable workloads within the profession.
SOURCES (21)
“Then you get tired as fuck and stop scrutinizing and just hire someone to end it. I was tasked with helping to hire my coworker a few years ago. I made the post and received a flood of applications from all over. Job wasn't even…”
“I'm so bored. I feel like an 85 year old in a nursing home, drooling out of the side of my mouth pressing 1 or 2 on the keyboard every once in a while while Claude completes all my work. I realize I have a mega first world problem and I should be much more grateful, but it's a problem nonetheless - regardless of how thankless it may sound. The joy of programming came from the struggle of getting the code to work, or solving a tricky bug with teammates. Now everyone just asks Claude for t”
“I congratulate you for your hardline professionalism . Now get the fuck out of our way so we can finish the job. [re: I’m tired.]”
“You know what? Fair enough. I’m just so tired of reading Claude at work talk about “gaps” “honest gaps” “honest caveat” etc and I took it out on you. It wasn’t fair 😅. Love your project and I’m actually working on something similar for my Linux distro (why I clicked in the first place on your post) [re: I got tired of the macOS Dock not changing for years, so I built my own]”
“It maybe due to you don't like exposure . I feel a lot better at night time rather than morning and day. I just want sleep in morning and day and do my work at night”
“Feeling exhausted is completely normal because processing constant new information drains mental energy quickly. To reduce overwhelm, clear your mind by writing everything down, focus on just one critical task daily, and set strict boundaries to unplug. Give yourself permission to rest, take short naps, and take it day by day.”
“I don't get time anymore, and to be honest, I'm that burnt out from my day of listening to people that I just zone out on my way home and go to bed and hour / hour and a half after I get home. I'm actually moving into a head of product role, and I hope my days improve.”
“Look, here's the thing, burnout can show in various ways. That can come from doing one of three things or all of these Too much of anything - Solution = Do less Too long doing anything - Solution = take breaks Too low in value (not having as much meaning) - Solution = get clear about what is important and meaningful to you and prioritize that. Everyone has more energy for high value tasks and less energy for low value.”
“Senior PM here. Without knowing specifics, I think as you gain experience, you will start to predict how things will play out before they happen and it’ll subconsciously make you arrange things in a manner that prevents those pitfalls from happening. Since everything is new to you, I can understand how it can be difficult to identify cumulative issues all at once. The way you feel is perfectly normal and it will get better with time. If it were easy, anyone could do it.”
“Working constantly and still missing every deadline is exhausting, and I've been in that exact spot. Deadlines and budgets that keep slipping no matter how many hours you put in means the hours were never the fix. Six to seven clients at fifteen months in is a heavy load for anyone. Two things helped me. First, stop absorbing bad news: the moment a date or budget looks at risk, say it out loud. Early warnings get forgiven, surprises don't. Second, keep a simple slip log, actual versus fo”
“If you're constantly behind and missing deadlines, you need to take a step back and investigate why. Are you lacking ressources? Is your scope correct or are you experiencing scope creep? Are timeliness overly optimistic for no good reason? You need to find the root causes and work it out from there. Also, structure your work. For the bare minimum, an open points list and risk register for each project. Though for the number of clients and relatively low monthly revenue, it sounds like you&#”
I am done. I am tired. I am Dr. submitted by /u/skyom1n [link] [comments]
“Same, but 4 years. I’m kind of disappointed to see all the responses stating how normal this is. I hate it, lol. I’m even looking to move to something adjacent to the field, but not strictly PM. I’m a consultant and I usually have 3-5 projects running concurrently and the context switching alone is driving me insane. Plus my company has been nice enough to spread my role thin so that I get to be PM and a resource/Implementation Consultant at the same time. Half the time I feel like I’m on a merr”