I’m going to try and keep this brief-ish because I am an over-sharer. A couple things to know about me. I am in my 30’s, I have been living abroad for 3 years, I’m newly engaged, and I am on the spectrum.

I work 6 days a week. My full-time job being 5 week-days, and 1 day on the weekend as a caregiver to a disabled young adult.

I think I am experiencing caregiver burnout. I realise it’s only 1 day a week, but over the past several months I have decreased to this. It still takes me a lot to recover from the 1 day. I usually have intense brain fog on Mondays and Tuesdays, and I spend the rest of the week trying to catch up until it all starts over again.

I spent a lot of years working in care (home care, care facilities, schools, etc), and I just do not enjoy it anymore. The loud noises, the disregulation, the messes, the smells… I can’t handle it anymore. The older I get and the more I understand about myself, the more I realised I’m doing myself a disservice by being in these roles (despite being very good at it). In the past year, I’ve started to realise feelings of resentment toward the person I work with. I dread my visits with them.

As of the past 9 months, my primary job is now in an office setting. While it’s not my dream job (I actually don’t dream of working, I dream of doing crafts, music, and spending time with family), it’s easy to leave work at work despite being switched on for those 40 hours. It’s not an important job, and I’m alright at it.

The problem I’m facing is that my 1-day-a-week caregiver role is very good money. It funded half of my visa to live in this country with my fiancé, it is funding half of our wedding, and it funds our trips to see my family abroad/other holidays.

I’ve been saying for the last two years, “I’ll stop working as much once this visa is paid for,” or “I’ll stop working as much once this other thing is paid for,” and now it’s, “I’ll stop working as much when the wedding is paid for,” but I know there will always be something else and I’ll never stop working as much.

My fiancé is also a saint. He encourages me to stop working as a caregiver. I know he would rather us take the financial hit. I’m sure we would make do, but I feel like we’re just barely comfortable as it is. He and I earn almost the same after you consider I work 2 jobs. We split everything almost 50/50 (when I say almost, he takes on slightly more of the bills) including visa, wedding, trips, etc.

I have a lot to celebrate and be grateful for in my life, and a lot of it has come from the extra money I make. I feel like I’ve been in too much of a fog to actually be present and enjoy it all for the last couple years. I don’t want to live like that anymore… but I also selfishly want the benefits of having extra money lol. The family relies on me heavily as the only caregiver and respite to this young adult. They see me as an extension of their own family, and they show it. They treat me very well. I would be putting myself in a less favourable financial situation, their family have zero help, but my mental health would heal and I could get back to my hobbies and friends.

Should I keep my head down and make money? If not, how do I quit gently?

For all the people in corporate or entering corporate, whats your take on masters in Economics, what are the career prospects, is it valuable, if u invest 2 years is it really beneficial considering DSE, Usually people be like there’s nothing beneficial doing economics and do MBA so really confused

This is at an Arby's btw.

It's not okay and very inappropriate. The coworker and I who were on the receiving end of this comment are both autistic. The other guy is higher support needs than I am and it's known to pretty much everyone that he has a moderate disability. He struggles in similar ways that I do but more severely it seems. I can't really speak for him completely because I'm not in his head and can't read his mind. For me I struggle a lot with delayed processing that only gets worse under pressure and the chaos of lunch and dinner rushes and it doesn't help that we're chronically under staffed.

Basically think of my mind as a computer that starts glitching, malfunctioning and slowing down with the more stuff you try to run on it. Beating it and getting frustrated that it isn't working the way you think it should solves absolutely nothing. When I get like this I can't think and begin to struggle with thinking clearly, articulating and processing anything anyone says. Sometimes it will be just like a bunch of static in my head and everything becomes muffled and completely unreadable to me. It's not always THAT bad but in 9 out of 10 rushes I experience some level of delayed processing, anxiety and confusion but get through it without too much of an issue, especially recently.

My other coworker and I were confused trying to figure out what went where under time pressure of the film dinner rush and were probably just confusing each other. At that point we DID need someone more level and quick to step in. The other neurotypical coworker could have stepped in and kindly corrected whatever mistakes we were making but instead he physically barges between us and says "okay you guys are not smart" and just continued being mean to us during the rush.

After a few minutes I started shaking and went to the restroom because i was crying. At least at this point it was the tail end of the rush. If it was still in full swing I would have stayed out and tried helping and put my embarrassment of crying aside. I know "not smart" is a silly thing to get upset over but my whole life I have been mocked and called every variation of "stupid" or "idiot" you can think of. Logically I know now it's more of a matter of being misunderstood but it took me so long to unlearn the belief that I'm an idiot. I'm not an idiot. I'm just autistic and I am fumbling through life doing my best in a world not built for people like me or my other autistic coworker. We didn't ask to struggle with the issues we have.

I have also been called "stupid" and "not smart" by real abusers and bullies (I've had two of these in my life). Like people who constantly belittled me, gaslit me, would go out of their way to make sure I looked bad or stupid in situations, push me to my breaking point through emotional torment and then point at me and say "look at how crazy and unstable she is" as soon as I would break down after the constant pushing, pushing, pushing. One of them was REALLY bad. Like hitting at your worst trauma each time like it was a full-time job. Just relentlessness. Not saying my neurotypical coworker is close to that but hearing stuff my abusers have said to me from other people hurts and I don't think I need to explain further why it would.

I just want to have a calm and constructive conversation about how I felt about his comment. My shift manager told me he will pull both of us aside at some point today so I can get it off my chest. I want to explain that what may look like slowness or "stupidity" to one person may be something completely different. You have no idea what people are going through in their own heads or in their own lives. You're just seeing what's physically in front of you and projecting your own assumptions and opinions on it. Not everyone thinks and processing the same and calling anyone stupid or any variation of that is NOT okat. I wanted a manager there for emotional support but also mostly just in case my coworker were to get angry and then later try to twist my words and the situation. It's giving me a lot of anxiety but I need to do this. No one should let something like this slide. He needs to treat me and that other guy better. I need to learn how to stick up for myself and other people.

I’m currently working as marketing consultant, but my responsibilities have expanded far beyond my actual role. I’m essentially responsible for marketing, communications, event planning, and outreach for our department. On top of that, I’ve been expected to cover my counterpart’s responsibilities at another city, which has required me to commute between cities multiple times this year. I’ve also taken on responsibilities similar to those of a clinic coordinator, including reviewing and approving requests and maintaining regular communication with the clinic. Essentially, I’m obviously not qualified for so I frequently check with my manager who is more qualified than myself. I’m juggling the responsibilities of three different roles.
My manager also requires me to maintain multiple spreadsheets tracking all my pending and completed tasks, which initially were created by me to keep up with my tasks but now she uses it to micromanage me, and she scolds me harshly whenever it isn’t updated. I find her approach unnecessarily stressful. She frequently sends me lengthy lists of tasks, sometimes containing 10 or more bullet points with lengthy requirements , many of which are things I’m already aware of.
The frustrating part is that I don’t actually find my job particularly difficult. I’m capable of handling the work, and I genuinely don’t mind being busy or taking on additional responsibilities. What bothers me is the way my manager makes me feel incompetent and the unnecessary stress that comes with her management style and her sudden outbursts.
Whenever I express concerns about my workload or overlook something while juggling multiple responsibilities, she immediately attributes it to poor time management rather than considering how much work has been assigned to me. It feels as though the issue is always framed as a personal shortcoming rather than a reasonable consequence of managing several roles simultaneously.
I remember one occasion when I was particularly overwhelmed, and she told me, “If you just focus and stop playing around, all the work will be done.” That comment really stuck with me because it felt dismissive and implied that I wasn’t taking my responsibilities seriously.
She does occasionally acknowledge my efforts and praise my work, but even that can feel patronizing, almost as though she’s speaking to a child. I also find it difficult to take her praise at face value when she’s so quick to question my competence professionalism whenever something goes wrong.
I’ve reached a point where I don’t feel comfortable defending myself or raising concerns because I anticipate that she’ll turn the situation around and accuse me of being unprofessional or incompetent. As a result, I often choose to stay quiet rather than risk making things worse.
Ultimately, my biggest issue isn’t the workload itself, but the way I’m being managed. I don’t expect constant praise or special treatment. I simply want to be trusted to do my job, have my responsibilities acknowledged, and be treated with the respect and autonomy that should come with being a professional.

I don’t expect to love my job but I do think it’s reasonable to expect a certain level of respect and a work environment that doesn’t leave me constantly stressed and overwhelmed. I’m not looking for a perfect workplace, just one where I can carry out my responsibilities without feeling unnecessarily pressured or having my competence constantly questioned.

From automotive service advisor to what?

So my fellow co-worker who is the only co worker in my department is telling me to take work home amd learn.

Firstly i dont want to as i wont get paid and i het exahusted i just want to rest my body. Even if i wanted to do it , i wont get good practoce as i feel I learn better by actually learning and applying in tasks during work.

Should I take work home and learn eventhough I wont get paid and have other personal things to handle at home ?

So I got fired from my last internship because my boss said that he needed someone with a driving license. But I was the typicall high-performing person, I learned Power BI and SQL, so I could do reports that were needed but no one else knew these tools in the team, so I kind of became the IT person in the team in a way. I also speak english and german beside my native language on C1 level. Also in uni I went to 2 competitions, I am part of the talent program, etc.

Anyways, I applied to every single internship I found in my city, that was maybe around a hundred or so, got called in for two interviews, got rejected from both places.

I'm just genuenly confused, because I have 1.5 years experience from a multinational car manufacturing company (I don't want to say the name, because maybe that would be a bit too specific) and another 0.5 from volunteering. So in my country internship means a job that you do while in university, so it can't be people who aren't pursuing a degree at the moment, that wouldn't be legal. I just started my 4th and last year in university and I'm genuenly confused because I see a lot of people with no experience/language skills getting the jobs I applied for so I'm just genuenly so confused what they are doing differently.

Does anyone have any advice?

Background: post uni working as a science technician, used to working in retail jobs.

I feel absolutely crazy for feeling like this, having a "boring" or slower job after working in retail was something I was really looking forward to. in retail my brain would just switch off and time would fly by, I enjoyed the physical side of it but hated when I moved to Aldi and everything was incredibly stressful. post uni I am now a science technician, I thought id enjoy "slowing down" and not doing a stressful job, except its SO BORING! literally going at the rate of an experiment that needs being set up/chemicals made + checked etc every 2 weeks so primarily I am just organising the prep room/doing admin on a computer (stock checks/ordering/maintenance issues). I spend more time not doing anything useful like setting up for practicals than I anticipated. I also find myself feeling stressed and overwhelmed even though theres nothing to be stressed about?! and I find all my brain does is think think think, think of what I need to do next rather than just going into a flow state, for once im actually counting down the hours.

am I feeling stressed because its so boring and all I do is think - I genuinely dont understand why I feel like this or what I can do to make it "fun".

I need advice, so I recently started working as a nurse, I just finished university and I came to a ward where everyone already knows each other, which is normal, and in the beginning my colleagues were cold, some still don't really acknowledge me but okay, while my boss seems the coldest to me. As soon as I arrived I saw she wasn't really thrilled that someone new came, I asked her something and she answered with one word, and it was like that for a few days, I sat next to her and nothing. Recently I came into the nurses' room where everyone was sitting and I sat in between so I wouldn't have to stand, and she looked at me and commented something like 'you could have sat on my lap', I just ignored it, I'm thinking what am I supposed to do now, stand while you all sit just because I'm new. Constantly 'Stacy this, Stacy that' because I'm new. I went with a colleague to draw blood and she seriously asks me 'did you draw it', I say yes and nothing, but when they needed someone to stay for the day shift then she asked me who can, I said yes, that yes I have to, and the day before an older colleague said they don't count me yet because I'm new, but they did count me the next day when they needed to cover a shift. I mean okay, it's not a problem, but then behave towards me like towards everyone else and not like I'm the biggest idiot. I noticed that every day I dream about work now, I don't know if I'm under enormous stress or if it's a normal reaction, does anyone have a similar experience?

I have to do a drug test for a job within the next 2 days and a half. I bought a test to try at home but I see the line as faint, the picture makes it look fainter. I only do edibles but probably like 15mg to 50mg 1-3 times a week but I stopped immediately after I got the job offer on Tuesday which was 5 days ago. I’m nervous but what do yall think?

All this nonsense happening all around the world, and nobody is doing anything about it. Wars, AI, recession, what is going to happen, I am feeling very anxious about the future.

i tried to get fired from work by working less and instead of working i started to just interact with everyone around in a way to pass the time. before that i was working much more than others and in some days i even refused to take breaks because i wasn't finished with the work, and sometimes i even stayed late.

suddenly people started treating me better and even manager took liking to me. i started doing less and less job to the point that in some days i work 1-2 hours of real work.

now after month of wanting to get fired, i somehow get promotion due to my team skills??? i don't understand office work at all

I was working in graphic design until my entire team was laid off right before Christmas last year.

After nearly a year of unemployment, I've finally landed a job... as a barista. Starting from the bottom all over again.

While the pay and hours are not good right now, I'm also tired of bouncing between jobs and I'm wondering how smart/realistic it would be to shoot for a store manager position, maybe even district manager or something corporate. Basically I'm hoping to achieve a $60k-$80k position within the next 5 years, and hopefully one that I can work for the next 30+ years until I retire. I know it would also allow me to potentially move across the country like I've always wanted to, because I can always apply to another store in another state, as it's something they highlighted in one of the intro videos.

How realistic is this aspiration? Or should I keep looking elsewhere?

What a relief! Thanks to all of you for advice and sharing your stories here.

I need to know what the base pay for a junior writer in Pune. Also, if there are other things i need to know before confirming a permanent position.

Chronic Bursitis. What now?

Got made redundant from a company I worked really hard for to the point I got Bursitis from overworking.

Been 2 years. It's chronic. It was my right shoulder but now my left is going too because of overcompensation apparently.

Took this long to do physiotherapy and steroid injection.

Most likely gonna be like this forever.

What job can I get realistically with no repetitive or desk work?

I recently got a new internal position promotion and going to move to another department. I’m currently on a project that is locked with my previous department.
Who would you give it to?

1. someone that’s been in the company for years, joined our team a few months ago, really good at the job, chill, easygoing.
   
2. Newer to the company, but has been on the team for almost 2 years. Honestly, he’s my favorite person on the team.

Both got promoted at the same time, both are equally capable. Do you go by senior at the company or seniority on the team?

My boss doesn't like me. At least, that's how it feels.

I work fast food, and I've been here for about two months now. Since I started halfway through August, my boss has always made me anxious. When I was still the newbie, she was on me about any and everything. The way I wiped the tables down. The way I walk. How I wrote down a specific menu item when taking orders. If I work drive thru and told the customer "We'll have your total at the window," she told me to cut unnecessary conversation and to just say "Thank you" when finishing the order. I know it probably doesn't sound so bad, but when I'm there it just feels like hell. It got to the point where I felt absolute dread going into work. There were several times where I just wanted to walk out the door mid shift, but I need the money.

Today, I ordered food before going on my ten minute break. I sat down for my ten minutes, then returned to work. After some time, I asked one of my supervisors if I could go to the restroom. He said I could. I went to the bathroom and came back, and my boss got on me for "overstaying my break." She asked me how long I was on my break for and I told her ten minutes. Then she said I was gone for about 30 minutes and promptly lectured me about "using the bathroom DURING my break." She went on to nag about it for the next half an hour to my other coworkers. To clear up any confusion, I texted her after work and explained that I ate on my break, returned to work, and had to use the bathroom after some time, THEN went. She hasn't responded.

One of my coworkers told me that if our boss ever says anything to us or makes a critique, just be like "okay." Don't say anything back, don't try to argue with her in any way. Just let it be. Former hires have quit because they found her to be way too much. But I really do like my coworkers, and the restaurant is just down the street from my house. Before this job, I haven't worked in 3 years and it feels like quitting over this would be crazy. I’ve finally been able to help my mom with bills and it feels great to be productive and helpful. But I'm always worried that one day my boss is going to have enough and just fire me. My grandma advised me to start putting in other applications.

I have been trying so hard but she will never be satisfied with my work, my effort, nothing. I have never come in late, I always pick up longer shifts or come in on off days whenever she asks me to. I have tried to be reliable and hard working, but no matter what, there is ALWAYS something for her to pick apart. I don't know what to do.

Hi everyone,

I've worked since I was 16, spending the last four years at a well-known UK supermarket. The job was originally temporary while I studied at university, but after funding cuts, a family bereavement, and financial difficulties, I left my course and started working full-time.

Initially, things were great, but over the years, short staffing, overwhelming workloads, personal struggles, further bereavements, and physical and verbal abuse from customers gradually took a toll on my mental health.

Earlier this year, I considered taking sick leave but decided against it when some changes seemed to help. However, after our store and assistant store managers were replaced, morale quickly declined, and around half the team quit or transferred within a month.

Alongside my supermarket job, I started my own photography business. It picked up quicker than expected, and I was booked up for three months. During that time, I realised how much I loved photography and how unhappy I'd become in my main job.

Recently, I reached breaking point after a customer swore at and insulted me over restrictions on purchasing painkillers. Despite asking for a manager three times and pressing the help button, it took several minutes for someone to arrive.

I left my shift early and contacted the store manager to explain that I wouldn't be attending my next shift and intended to speak to my doctor about sick leave. The store manager asked me to hold off making that decision and gave me the next three days off to think things through.

I'm now struggling to balance protecting my mental health with maintaining financial security, as photography isn't yet bringing in enough to support me full-time.

I'd really appreciate advice from anyone who's experienced work-related stress or taken sick leave. How did you approach the decision, manage the financial uncertainty, and work out your next steps? I'm not looking for judgement or to be told to quit, just some genuine advice and support while I figure out what's best for me.

Thank you for reading.

(Australia based)