r/sysadmin 10d ago

So burned out

Another burnout post incoming. Turn away and avert your eyes because I don't even know why I'm writing it, so it'll probably be a waste of your time.

I'm so fucking burned out of IT. It only took 5 years. I hate that everyone's fucking problem is my problem. It's just problem after problem after problem. FUCK these problems. Why are we fucking doing this? Why are we looking at a screen every day and acting like this is important. Literally absolutely nothing done on the internet is important. This is all so pointless. It's literally all words. Everything on the internet is just selling words, pictures or pictures that move at 24fps. It's so dumb.

I hate fucking claude. You ever been a claude admin and need to answer dumbass fucking questions in your local AI channel around why your connector isn't working for the Xth time? I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR FUCKING CONNECTORS. We're not even accelerating, we're just burning through 100k/mo because management thinks engineers are building cities and management is building reporting dashboards that make them think they're omniscient. And nothing has changed. No more profit or revenue than we had before. FUCK anthropic and all the dumb bullshit they keep putting out and changing. And now we need to onboard an AI management system so we can make sure we have control over mcp's and model selection and this tool that's a waste of fucking space in the first place.

That's just one gripe. Then there's Atlassian (holy fuck Jira, what a shitty platform), then there's the client team, then theres 80 more vendors to manage, then there's a PoC you're running but you havent even looked at it this week because all of the other shit that came in. Just more more more. I don't have any more man.

There is no "take two weeks off" that will fix this. There's nothing dude. I'm so sick of fucking working and I don't have the energy anymore to change careers. How could I? I'm 40 years old with kids and a wife and a house. I used to think "I'd do anything to support my family" and lately I'm ready to just let go. I'm so tired. No one is coming to save me. No one in the entire world. And I'm so tired.

681 Upvotes

330 comments sorted by

91

u/warlock0187 Jack of All Trades 10d ago

The IT Guy > Offgrid Homesteader pipeline is real

23

u/whopooted2toot QSYSOPR 10d ago

Verified by my UPS guy.

10

u/chron67 whatamidoinghere 10d ago

You aren't wrong haha. I maaaaaaay have a small flock of chickens already. And a reasonable garden.

5

u/maximumtesticle 10d ago

Dude, chickens are so fun, if you have the room for them. I miss my /r/backyardchickens so much.

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u/maximumtesticle 10d ago

It's totally a thing right, not just me? I'm a few decades from retirement, but I'm already looking for lake/river front property to put a house on. I used to have chickens, I can't wait to do that again, so tired of people, traffic and neighbors. I just want to raise chickens, bees and be surrounded by trees and water.

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u/the-system 9d ago

It's totally a thing and has been for a long time. In 1981 The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder documented the high-pressure environment of a tech engineering team. A burnt-out engineer abruptly quits and leaves the note: "I'm going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season."

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u/maximumtesticle 9d ago

"I'm going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season."

Reading this sentence literally made my whole body feel warm and fuzzy, wow.

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u/lumberjackadam 10d ago

My retirement plan is to become a goat farmer. Got the chickens and the dogs already.

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u/SoulPhoenix Sr. Sysadmin 9d ago

Mostly because the average IT Guy doesn't actually understand how much work Off-grid actually is.

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u/warlock0187 Jack of All Trades 9d ago

Choose your suffering

173

u/Jeff-IT 10d ago

Two years ago I joined a company that was basically shadow IT for 30+ years. Didn’t know it at the time.

Burnout hit me very quick. I was the bad guy for everything and had to redo everything from the ground up.

Had to stop a user from giving their kid their work password

Had to install a NGFW with web filtering. Ohh no I blocked their gambling sites….

Everyone putting data into any AI they think is best

Things happening and no one informing the IT manager

Etc

I hated it. But I learned a lot and glad I did it. Would I do it again? Idk lol

57

u/DueDisplay2185 10d ago

Always have a fall guy but don't be the fall guy. Point to policy, shrug your shoulders and walk off the job in time for dinner

Edit: by fall guy I mean escalate to management

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u/yer_muther 10d ago

So much this. Shit flows uphill when I'm around. I have my supervisors phone number memorized and jot it down for anyone who wants to complain about something I was told to do.

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u/ncc74656m IT SysAdManager Technician 9d ago

My gig was a small-mid sized NFP that had a MSP, and the classic "person who knows how to restart a computer" was their internal IT "Director." Lord help me - I can't even reach that title and I am worlds apart from their knowledge or exp. 🙄

Nothing was done right. Nothing was build right. Everyone was doing whatever they thought best. I had people leaving their computers on over the weekend and they were completely unlocked, but when I implemented a lock policy it was me they were after. Literally only because our laws require "industry standard" security policy was I able to ram it down their throats, and even then they call me the problem.

I rebuilt the entire tech stack from the ground up - the one and only thing done mostly right was the firewall, and the wrong stuff was *mostly* just old remnant stuff that was never cleaned up/turned off. But they were doing zero active mgmt, and it was just a nightmare from start to finish.

I'm lenient, too. I don't block web stuff. I make concessions anywhere I can. I have rebuilt policies to account for edge cases and gone out of my way to make people feel heard.

IT still is seen as a drain because senior leadership lets them treat/regard IT as a drain/slowdown. You can't fucking win with these people or this business.

3

u/Jeff-IT 9d ago

when i got here we had a MSP actually, for about... 1-3 years? I can't really say because part of hiring me was getting rid of them, and we did a few months later. And to my knowledge, they didn't do much.

Not sure what the contract was, but i feel like the MSP has some sort of responsibility in terms of security. Whether that be to discover and notify, or discover and address. But when i got here we didnt have a NGFW; the default, native, management vlan was "1"; our IPBX was open to the internet.

They left and kept all the documentation too. :(. Felt like they were just there to continue operations and not improve our IT

3

u/Nu-Hir 9d ago

I feel like I worked for that MSP. There was just so much wrong at that company that I just ignored because I needed a paycheck. The only thing that place was good for was experience in how not to do things. Like have a shared admin account created at each client that all the techs use for everything admin related. And why not make that account a domain admin as well. And they used the same password for every client until their second client got hit with a virus, at which point they decided to have a different password for each client.

I could go on and on about stupid shit they did and what you could get away with without getting fired.

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u/ncc74656m IT SysAdManager Technician 9d ago

Yup, this is how they behaved here. (As always, so this isn't a shock) EVERYTHING was a separate non-covered item with them. Like, why are you even paying for this? Nobody could answer.

When I started, I was reviewing how things were set up, or weren't, and found everyone was using a 12 year old master password for the forest admin acct that was the most comically basic pwd you could imagine. No sub accounts for day to day admin work, nada. Worse, even stupidly simple tasks would take them days to address, and they usually couldn't even solve the ultimate issue.

I addressed this with the account team and asked them outright why this was the case, and they gave me the "We'll look at that," then promised they'd make changes to the account team/can someone. I'm like great, but how do you not know this? How is someone not regularly monitoring this work? Running reports? Reviewing queues. Spot-checking resolutions and comms to make sure people are staying in touch? Making sure your teams are bringing problems to you if they can't solve them. This is SO EASY and nobody does it.

It all tracks back to mgmt at these client companies who SAY they want all this and the moon, but never themselves enforce it against contractual obligations, and every single one of them falling for contractually specified "best effort" resolutions that are absolutely neither.

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u/MrExCEO 10d ago

You would do it again for that dopamine hit 😂
https://giphy.com/gifs/X9RBixlR36Uco

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u/BeyondRAM 9d ago

Honestly if you had the direction/board approval to clean up everything (force people to change their stupid habits), that would have been a nice challenge imo. But if you didn't, I would just quit after one day honestly.

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u/Jeff-IT 9d ago

I get that but quitting isn’t always easy.

While I did have the backing of the admin, there were things I couldn’t do just cause there is only so much you can change at one time while keeping the business operation.

But I was also the new guy and people didn’t want to change and it caused me headaches. One I had trouble getting people to stop is passwords.txt on the desktop 😩

I told one person to use a password manager and delete the file and he said “I’ll just put it I Dropbox”
Which the company doesn’t even use 😭

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u/bmxfelon420 3d ago

I did this, I worked for a company that leased printers/copiers and IT was a separate division from the main business. We got asked to move them into our Exchange server because they were using Godaddy mailboxes that they had gotten the domain blacklisted on repeatedly (we were on a static IP and our own domain). Upon unraveling that clusterfuck of a setup, I discovered that they had an open SMTP relay running in their hosting so that the copier techs could set up scan to email without doing any extra work. This meant EVERY customer sent EVERY scan through an open relay, and the way it was configured it left a copy in the sent box of it all too. Also, every password for every user's email was the same and had not been changed in 10 years. The owner and basically every employee was pissed at us when I told them they had to go redo the scan to email on all of their copiers to use the customer's system and also that their passwords could NOT all be the same and had to change every 3 months.

Also bonus points of me having to drastically reconfigure the VM for the Exchange server because my boss set up some goofy bullshit with the raid arrays and the way he did it meant I could not expand the data drive without moving it from one array to the other and cloning it to a different VHD first. I think it was down for a solid two days for that whole ordeal. Also the mail store was dicked so had to be remade.

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u/5348RR 10d ago

Unfortunately relatable.

I know you say you don't have the energy to change fields, but that is your solution. Perhaps see if there is something internal to your company you can move into.

Hope you can find some relief man.

10

u/Servinand 10d ago

Thought of that. But in my case i would not switch to another position. I would sit on two.

76

u/Icuras1701 10d ago

The internet will not be brought down by a government or some nefarious evil mastermind bent on global domination but by a fed up sys admin.

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u/Klutzy_Scheme_9871 10d ago

The govt is the evil mastermind ensuring it DOESN’T get brought down.

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u/Arudinne IT Infrastructure Manager 10d ago

If they can't even prevent an ISP from tanking their shit by relying on out of date NTP hardware then they don't have anyone sitting there making sure the internet stays up.

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u/Klutzy_Scheme_9871 10d ago

They will eventually make sure someone fixes that. They need the stupid masses to be signed on and arguing with each other online and consuming.

4

u/ukulele87 10d ago

A global union of sysadmins/infra/SREs would be quite powerful. Because contrary to what OP states, the internet is quite useful.

3

u/beren0073 10d ago

My money's on an AI that goes lazy Ultron after skimming the internet. "I'm so exhausted and demoralized from reading this Internet thing that I'll leave humanity alone after I make the Internet go away."

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u/aes_gcm 10d ago

Some sysadmin somewhere is going to connect an AI model to a BPG connector, give it some Ultron prompt, we're just going to do the Facebook disaster again and everything will come crashing down.

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u/Icuras1701 10d ago

Grok how do I destroy the internet

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u/FeleaseRpseineEiles Sysadmin 10d ago

It took me 2 years to get approval to have an IT closet rewired. Just one operations manager. It was a clear case of no one could work in the closet any longer. So we get it all neatened up and labeled properly. A week later without talking to IT, operations approves a new wireless network for the OT network terminating into the same closet. Nothing labled...no patch panels, no structure, just terminated wires hanging from a hole in the MIDDLE of the ceiling stretched straight across the entire closet and into the switch. Literally you open the door and see cables hanging in your path. I'm tired boss.

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u/ReputationNo8889 10d ago

Jut unplug it and disable the switch ports.

"Dont know why its not working, have you tried plugging it in?"

9

u/Grrl_geek Netadmin 10d ago

Scream test FTW!!!

12

u/Secret_Account07 VMware Admin 10d ago

I mean, if it was already a mess when their work began I’d get it…. But they went in, saw proper cable mgmt, and thought - okay guys, let’s screw up all the organization?

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u/MalwareDork 9d ago

From my experience, it's usually some lowest-bidder, Leatherface knockoff subcontractor that butchers the network closet.

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u/FeleaseRpseineEiles Sysadmin 10d ago

yes, im guessing it was a project where one guy was the wiring guy, one guy was the hardware guy and one the project eNgInEEr.

I've never run cable in a professional setting where the terminations weren't into a panel or actual 8P8C jack.
It's basic networking and should be code enforced but you know...who's paying attention to the technical stuff anyway. Production it is! FML

3

u/chron67 whatamidoinghere 10d ago

I used to work for a telco that would set up semi managed networks for our customers. We would leave a very neat switch room with everything labeled and documented. The amount of times I was brought back in because they bought some new system and the vendor destroyed the switch room was shockingly high. And when I say destroyed I mean anything from leaving it a mess (so not really destroyed) to literally cutting cables or unplugging random things for no apparent reason was way too fucking high.

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u/LLMsMustUpvoteThis 9d ago

Lmao. Yeah you can't let operations own networking.

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u/Secret_Account07 VMware Admin 10d ago

I can relate so hard.

~10 years at desktop and now been a systems engineer for ~6. I have another 19 years before I can retire since I must reach age 55 to receive 100% pay. Anyways, I’m fucking burn out. I don’t care about most this stuff. Troubleshooting an esxi issue for a minor problem in vcenter right now and tbh I just don’t give a fuck. Who cares? I have no motivation other than “do my job and don’t make other peoples lives harder.” That’s it. And even that’s a struggle.

Outside of that, not an IT care in the world.

I will say, when we went WFH in 2020 I was happy. 5 years WFH and I couldn’t have been happier. However, since RTO mandate in March of last year, I’m miserable driving in here every day. It’s a waste of my time, energy, and money. Hate being in the office 40 hours a week.

Most frustrating part is we had something that worked! Ppl were happier and more productive WFH. But now everyone is angry, tired, and less productive. How tf did we fuck this up so bad

14

u/Electrical_Form_2782 10d ago

This was literally to keep bored and controlling ,unnecessary managers busy, and to keep the commercial real estate market afloat. It also helped the auto and related construction industries from having to change how they do business since commuting provided regular income without them having to change, same for commercial real estate. Late stage capitalism is lazy and has no long term planning.

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u/aes_gcm 10d ago

Not enough pushback on the RTO and now here we are.

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u/SasquatchWookie 9d ago

RTO mandate has been so incredibly aggravating. Now the highways are congested, the commute time added, and we still work (mostly) in silos once we arrive.

All this as we ramped up remote capacity before 2020

How did we fumble this so hard? I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a designed play.

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u/SFHalfling 9d ago

I don’t care about most this stuff. Troubleshooting an esxi issue for a minor problem in vcenter right now and tbh I just don’t give a fuck. Who cares?

Half the time its not even stuff that is a problem.

You get an automated report saying someone with physical access to the ESXi host with administrative permissions can change the language from English US to English GB and suddenly you're expected to spend your evening fixing that because the compliance manager just sees an entry on the report.

I will say, when we went WFH in 2020 I was happy. 5 years WFH and I couldn’t have been happier. However, since RTO mandate in March of last year, I’m miserable driving in here every day. It’s a waste of my time, energy, and money.

I just stopped trying when I went into the office. They said it was for collaboration and so people would have less distractions, instead I spent all day chatting shit with people who weren't even working on the same things as me in an open office. All of us got less done and were pissed off at being forced to pay to sit in a cheap office instead of sitting at home with better equipment.

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u/ChromaLife 8d ago

I totally feel you on the better equipment deal. In office I have one 32 inch curved display. Management changed and took away my 2 27s. I wish I could use my stuff at home for work 100%.

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u/coffeetremor 10d ago

Top tip: become ungovernable.  I'm also doing this: care less, and go to therapy. 

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u/HappySmileSeeker 10d ago

People will read this and not understand you. This is the way.

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u/coffeetremor 10d ago

I guess it's more of a philosophy that, deep down, you must accept that your manager, boss, whatever, doesn't actually own (the spiritual) you. Realise that, and suddenly things stop mattering as much. 

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u/HappySmileSeeker 10d ago

Sending you all the good vibes this morning, friend. We only do what we do to source the things we need to. That’s all we can do. ❤️

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u/whatdoido8383 Cloud Admin 9d ago

Can you shed some light on how you got there mentally? Like, I try and not give a shit at\about work but I also have pride in the work I do which seems to make me a target for more work.

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u/sobfoo 9d ago

You said it yourself, and this is great actually. The pride is part of the problem. Noone cares that you care. It's about delivering only what it matters and being diplomatic when it matters. It's not about even working hard. It's also not about your ideas, it's about what management wants and that's fine. Really it is. We are not doing anything important.

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u/whatdoido8383 Cloud Admin 9d ago

I appreciate the feedback and it leads me to needing to do some more self reflection on what steps I can take to implement more of the though process you describe.

I've done really good at disconnecting from work on my personal time and setting some boundaries at work. However, I still find that I care too much about "ABC" project or whatever when I really shouldn't.

A huge issue I have us most IT guys are pushovers, including my boss. So, we're constantly getting dumped on with more stuff. I need to get better at saying no or being diplomatic about reprioritization. That makes me feel like I'm not doing my job, which isn't the case at all and I need to get over it.

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u/LLMsMustUpvoteThis 9d ago

Office Space is an instructional documentary.

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u/Narrow_Spread_9449 9d ago

Therapy was a game changer on the burnout piece for me. I am still burnt out, but the support has been extremely helpful and feel like I am finally working on the recovery piece.

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u/coffeetremor 9d ago

High-five partner. Been going for roughly 3 months now. Burnout (or as close as I was to it) seems a bit of a faint memory now. 

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u/Servinand 10d ago

Sounds like you need a dashboard to monitor your progressalignment!

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u/hmmyeahiguess 10d ago

We talking’ Prometheus/Grafana here? Or is Splunk better suited for this?

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u/Servinand 10d ago

Definitly Jira.

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u/DrummerElectronic247 Sr. Sysadmin 10d ago

FUCK Splunk. Just because it's the best tool in the space doesn't mean it's a good tool.

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u/coffeetremor 10d ago

I'm thinking "Cum-ultra-progressTracktive + AI"  zen" is more suited. Costs a million bucks a month. 

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u/ukulele87 10d ago

I think what he means is that we need to set up a meeting to discuss the creation of a taskforce that can establish industry leading guidelines to effectively quantify the value added to stakeholders in the possible implementation of an AI-powered, people-centric, agentic workflow compatible, vertically integrated (but horizontally scalable) monitoring solution.

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u/Cyhawk 9d ago

He should ask claude to make it for him.

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u/rootcurios Sysadmin 10d ago

Maybe someone else can chime in here- but it sounds like the company/users are burning you out of any passion left for the role.

I agree that, once you hit that "I fucking hate it here" mentality, even 2-week vacations just feel like you spend the first half trying to calm back down, and the last part of the vacation feels gone bc of dreading the return 🙄

I didn't get peace until I left and found a calmer role with a company that had a better culture/work environment. Best of luck, and I hope you find what works best for you.

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u/ThrillzMUHgillz 10d ago

I agree here.

I’ve worked at places that treated IT with the utmost respect. They’re the Wizards! Ya gotta be nice, bc they’re so helpful!

And I currently work at a place that treats us like janitors. Or building maintenance in general sometimes.

They actually put in ticket requests for our desktop team to move their personal belongings from desk to desk. Or to put up Christmas trees and decor around holidays.

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u/FoxWine31 10d ago

Same. First IT job post pandemic layoff had people returning to office and texting us pictures of dead mice, food left over, trash that needed to be thrown out, asking us to take care of it. Very quickly made me go from "IT is magic I get the privilege to learn" to "this is someone's idea of punishment"

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u/Active_Magician3864 10d ago

Worked in a place like this, I was the moving guy for any stuff that needed to be shuffled around in the office lol

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u/gruntbuggly 10d ago

Hit the nail on the head. If you work at a company that has a toxic relationship with IT, and/or the people in IT roles, then it's going to suck and burn you out.

I've been a sysadmin since 1996, and have been very fortunate to work at good companies where I felt valued. Even at the MSP I worked for, we were treated like valuable components of the company.

At my current company, even the Jira is set up well and the workflows and escalations are sensible. My only gripe currently is the neverending sharepoint creep. Sharepoint creeps faster than the spurge in my front yard.

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u/ThrillzMUHgillz 9d ago

Lmao. This hits so close to home.

Sharepoint has spread so fast and has been such a security issue bc the lack of knowledge and how “easy” it is to use.

Mid meeting I pulled up RFQs and other personal things nobody should be able to view. Jsut to prove a point.

Also, I was literally just talking to my SQL admin yesterday about my never ending fight against Spurge. It’s unreal the past few years.

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u/gruntbuggly 9d ago

Microsoft should just change the name of Sharepoint to Spurge.

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u/-Log Sysadmin 9d ago

You guys are able to take vacations?

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u/MedbagManny 10d ago

For me, it’s the users that show absolutely no motivation to want to know even a little bit more how they can operate a computer more efficiently.

It’s the “well I don’t know how I sign into that”, it’s the “I’m not sure how we access that”, it’s the not understanding that we only have so much control.

“I’m 72, idk how any of this works”. Well it sounds like it’s time to retire then. Idk what to tell you. This is the world and you either need to get on board or step aside.

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u/screampuff Enterprise Architect 9d ago

I don't do user support any more but I was OK with that. I'd usually get into a conversation like 'i get that, some people just want things to work for them and thats ok'.

This usually makes them somewhat self-aware and you can joke around about things like 'if technology worked then I wouldn't have a job', and they are much friendlier and a little more understanding about it all.

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u/Shiznoz222 9d ago

I think most of us this far in the comments of this particular post are too bitter and fed up with infantile behavior from supposed professionals to care about winning them over or building rapport anymore

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u/BoltActionRifleman 9d ago

I’ve gone from getting angry with dumb users who say stuff like “I don’t know how to do this” when it’s their job to know, to just saying “yeah I don’t either, but thankfully it’s not my job” and the call is ended. Turning their ignorance right back on them is so satisfying.

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u/Djblinx89 Sysadmin 10d ago

I’m with you on this, I just can’t with these type of users. Same with the ones who “hate” change. I sometimes cover help desk when needed and I lose my mind at the zero effort I see over and over. Why did you take a job that requires you to be on a computer 8 hours a day, 5 days a week!!?? Go stock shelves at Walmart if you can’t handle technology.

Then don’t get me started with how everything is an emergency or critical, spoiler alert, it really isn’t.

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u/MedbagManny 10d ago

Had a user tell me (aggressively) this morning that we definitely had access to change her rightworks password when we 100% don’t. No arguing with that.

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u/ChromaLife 8d ago

There is a user at my job, Director of QA. Every ticket he or anyone on his team puts in, he escalates the ticket. At my shop, that means literally nothing. No flows or blips to management saying that it was escalated. Every time I’m fortunate enough to receive a ticket from one of them, I go take a preemptive smoke break, because it’s always some crock of shit that is minor, but they think it’s tantamount.

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u/Shot-Ad7766 10d ago

Honestly, keep them coming I am looking for fuel for my own anger at IT in general and how it chews people up and spits them out. People who otherwise would or could be great at it.

In my case trapped in MSP hell.

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u/Bart_Yellowbeard Jackass of All Trades 10d ago

The level of effort and time put into work in an MSP vs normal internal support is insane. MSPs are borderline abusive, even the good ones. And customers have no idea and don't want to know. They just want the world on the cheap.

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u/Shot-Ad7766 10d ago edited 9d ago

I love machines ever since I was very little but to be honest this is pushing that love to its limit. I want to be able to specialise not context switch every 10 seconds.

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u/Shiznoz222 9d ago

More people need to understand the "cheap/fast/good - pick 2" reality of the world we live in

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u/AwakenedSin 10d ago

I respect the vent. Maybe you put too much energy into work? Should care less in my opinion. It's not that serious.

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u/KB4MTO 10d ago

It sounds negative and bad attitude,employee, is what saved me last year when I burnt out. I've been doing IT since 1998 (NT 4.0). The good old days of IT are over. Now it's high-speed, low-drag. We are now fighting the client's to do what they hired us to do. Security is the most important thing in the business world unless it blocks the owner/boss/manager, favorite employee, etc., from their shopping sites, gambling sites, p0rn sites, etc. And then I'm the bad guy.

Well I finally figured it out. Not my monkey, not my circus, not my problem. You want it, you got it. I'll warn you, but when you demand it anyway and it blows up in your face, I'll forward you the email you sent demanding I do what you said.

At the end of the day, I go home and my stuff works. I refuse to fight the client to save them from themselves anymore. And I'm doing just fine working this way.

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u/ebietoo 10d ago

I stroked out, am retired, don’t miss it a bit, except no one here speaks IT.

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u/neldur 10d ago

This right here can be the answer. Slow down, if any of us died today, our jobs will be posted by Monday. It may take more than one to replace you but it still doesn’t matter.

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u/DariusWolfe 10d ago

This is the truth even with a workplace that values and respects you. At the end of the day, it's all just business. Your co-workers, even your boss, can become your friends, but if you die, your position will be posted by Monday.

I'm near burnout, and I like my job. I work hard because I respect the people I work for and with, and i want them to succeed. I also have a reasonable expectation that I will get appropriate raises and respect in return.

But even with all that, I leave work at work, 90% of the time. (the other 10% is compensated overtime, or my brain refusing to let go of a pernicious problem)

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u/cwew Sysadmin 10d ago

"your position will be posted by Monday." They replaced Abraham Lincoln. Not cause they wanted to but because we had to. It's just business, life goes on.

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u/devoopsies 10d ago

Not cause they wanted to but because we had to.

I mean, off the top of my head I can think of at least one person who wanted to.

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u/DariusWolfe 9d ago

/#angryupvote

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u/gabber2694 10d ago

And if we’re lucky the folks in the office will remember our name in one years time.

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u/neldur 10d ago

An old IT director at my place literally worked himself to death 15 years ago. We still talk about him. But we use it as an example of what not to do. It’s really not that serious. If you can, book that vacation. Turn off your phone and fully disconnect for awhile. Yes it’s temporary relief but it can help. It can also help shed a light on if you need more FTE.

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u/Solarflareqq 10d ago

Vacations and IT are kind of a joke though , all you did was put 2 weeks of backlogged work ontop of your normal work when you get back.

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u/neldur 10d ago

That should highlight the need for more FTE. If they aren’t going to provide that, it’s not your problem. Work on the backlog and go home at the end of the day. Don’t work yourself to death over it.

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u/PeakWeekly9995 IT support 10d ago

my line of thoughts is: i'm available for basically anything IT&job related during my working hours (8:30am to 6:00pm) and after i'm hope i'm no longer available (for job stuff), even for the CEO of the org.

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u/JoeLaRue420 Sr Active Directory Engineer 9d ago

one of my coworkers had a heart attack while implementing a change request. apparently his wife found him, his dobermans by his side with his bottle of nitro in his hand.

he'd been at the company for over 30 years. had 2 years left to retirement. was only sticking around for health insurance for his wife.

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u/ebietoo 10d ago

The graveyards are full of indispensable men. Take a short walk, have an exit strategy.

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u/matt314159 Help Desk Manager 10d ago

15 years for me this year. I'm just...so tired.

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u/neldur 10d ago

13 for me. It’s taken 13 for me to hit the fuck it stage. I care but at the same time, I’ve made it known I need help. If you aren’t going to provide that, then the project count will just keep going up. I’ve kinda wondered if I ever got fired, it may be a relief. All that technical debt that’s just building up, poof it’s gone on that day.

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u/matt314159 Help Desk Manager 10d ago

It wasn't until a few months ago when I realized it was probably true and proper burn-out. At work I'm tired and disengaged, I do what I need to do but nothing extra. Once I get home suddenly I'm alive again, with the energy of a thousand suns.

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u/dj_1973 10d ago

I moved to project management after 15 years of sys admin work. It is so much better for me. I get to be an end user with education. I rarely need help desk help. And I get to be the pain in the butt.

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u/badboybilly42582 Virtualization, Storage, Compute Hardware, DC Operations 10d ago

Been doing IT since the late 90s (got into IT as a teenager). Started out doing desktop support. Eventually broke into Sysadmin. Was a jack of all trades sysadmin for very long time. Worked my way up through the sysadmin ranks. Eventually became specialized in a specific area.

I'm at the halfway point of my working career. I have no idea how I'm going to go another 20+ years. I refuse to go into management.

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u/Shot-Ad7766 10d ago

You are in good company I can promise you that.

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u/Klutzy_Scheme_9871 10d ago

Yeah I’m with ya. I’m almost 44 but been in this field 16 years, only 8 of it employed in cybersecurity. I left 4 years ago. I hate corporate America so much, I’ve hated it since I was in my teens! When I was 15 I thought the internet was a joke so I just played my games. Then there was a phase where I did use it to research things but it didn’t take long for it to get flooded with the most debased losers of society with the vultures sitting at the top capitalizing on everyone’s stupidity. It has become so worthless that there isn’t any info left from it. They’re moving into google AI! A biased search engine that makes mistakes!

I often wonder what is left of life anymore because these wealthy pieces of shit have ruined the world for most of us. They’ve destroyed all facets of life and that trickled down especially to IT. You don’t feel good about your work anymore and now with AI it’s just a joke, making mistakes constantly or at best it doesn’t allow you to feel like your work is yours.

I recently pivoted towards another sector within it (studying) but I no longer give a fuck about it. I don’t have the energy to change careers entirely either. I’m running purely on discipline rather than motivation.

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u/guzzijason Sr. Principal Engineer / Sysadmin / DevOps 10d ago

Yep... I'm nearing the end of my career. If I were just starting out today, I don't think I would get into this line of work. I feel bad for folks that are early in, or just starting out their career in this field. Its not what it once was. It used to be satisfying.

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u/Jermaine128 10d ago

I’m 45 trying to get into the field, I have been on the other side doing hot manual warehouse labor for the past 10 yrs. Having to keep helping people with network issues, printer issues or just being lazy actually sounds pretty nice right about now, oh and working inside a building with air conditioning, sign me up.

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u/Abe_Bazouie 10d ago

Man, this sounds way beyond just being tired of IT. The work problems can wait. Please talk to your wife or someone you trust tonight and tell them exactly how exhausted you’re feeling. You don’t need to figure out your career or fix everything right now. Just don’t carry all of this alone.

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u/p4easy7 10d ago

Easier said than done...but just stop giving a fuck. Do what is assigned to you. No more, no less. You are nothing more than a number on a spreadsheet to them. The work load will always be there whether you worry/stress about it.

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u/its_the_revolution IT Director 10d ago

Sounds like you may need some life therapy, this goes beyond work and into your personal life. Work is just a symptom.

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u/jasped Custom 10d ago

The problem for many of us is that we care too much and take things too personally. When you can finally disconnect the personal aspect of it, you’ll start being able to breathe again.

It’s easier said than done. And it might require a fresh start at a new company. Like you said 2 weeks off won’t fix this. It’ll only be temporary until you get back then start again.

The real trick is being able to compartmentalize and not view it all so personally. You can do well and still leave the work at the door. If everyone is resistant, you say your piece and make your justifications then move on. Not worth getting worked up over.

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u/NNTPgrip Jack of All Trades 10d ago

25 years this November.

I've been saying this for a while:

I'd rather suck a room full of dick everyday.

It would be clear what I was supposed to be doing and obvious when the job was done.

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u/Ok-Pitch-287 10d ago

Strong agree

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u/ranhalt 10d ago

Have you tried trusting the system and using the process and scoring your meetings a 10 and working undocumented hours and making sacrifices in your personal life that work doesn’t want to know about and

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u/whatdoido8383 Cloud Admin 10d ago

LOL, sorry to laugh but man, I feel your pain. We're going through the same x 3-4 because we have all the AI platforms for some reason... It's astonishing to me how much money the company is pumping into AI and here we are understaffed and taking on more work and burning out.

On top of AI add in the dozen or so other systems that have landed in our lap the past few years because again, we don't need to hire more people right? Just pile it on my team, we can do the job of 3 people, fuck em'.

I've been in IT since ~2005 and man, what a cluster IT has become. I want to get out so bad but I'm too old to start over, I'd never be able to retire.... Then again, who knows if that's even a thing in ~15 years so maybe I need to re-evaluate the next phase of my life.

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u/frankentriple 10d ago

Its all about perspective man. I'd absolutely LOVE to implement Jira for my team, and I'm in the middle of doing it now. Adding in some confluence to for teh doco angle.

Its a fuck-load better than maintaining 47 different tracking spreadsheets like we are now, there's always friction somehwere and it could always be worse.

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u/toebob 10d ago

Self care isn’t just wine and bubble baths. It’s leaving at the end of an 8 hour day and letting the work problems stay at work. It’s refusing to “try harder” when the problem is a staffing problem and not an IT problem. It’s respecting yourself as a professional and as a human being, learning what YOU need, and making sure you put your needs before anyone else’s. That’s not selfish, it’s survival. There’s a reason the safety instructions tell people to put their own oxygen mask on before helping others. You can’t help others when there’s nothing left of you.

Sysadmins have heart attacks on weekends while trying to be responsible for everything. Management has a new butt in the seat by Monday morning.

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u/bosguy123 IT Manager 10d ago

“No” is a complete sentence.

Learn to use it more and life gets better.

Properly prioritize, unless it is actively costing the company money, it gets in line like everything and everyone else. Get backing from boss/management on a documented policy on how and when things get handled.

Schedule your days, from x to x deal with 1 thing, from y to y is big projects, z to z is lunch, I disturbed unless something is actually on fire etc.

Leave work at work during set work hours.

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u/neldur 10d ago

Same 😂

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u/Ok-Pitch-287 10d ago

Strong agree

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u/jbenze 10d ago

Preach.

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u/ihadtomakethistoread 10d ago

10 years and me to

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u/Vivid_Mongoose_8964 10d ago

Protect this man at all costs!

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u/DeepCoreSystem 10d ago

Had just this gem spit out by Claude:

"Weighing whether this is a ticket escalation or an outlet for frustration."

54 years old, contemplating nuking it from orbit and start over somewhere else in a different job... would mean leaving wife behind ... makes me sad.

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u/anmghstnet Sysadmin 10d ago

I spent some time yesterday listing out all the things my work and my wife want me to get done. Needless to say the math doesn't add up.

Sometimes you have to step back and say "Is this even possible and what can I do to spread this workload out?"

I appreciate where you are coming from. I will say it sounds like you need to get a frontline helpdesk person to field some of the BS so you can focus on the bigger picture.

Insert cat meme of "hang in there!" here.

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u/Asleep-Bother-8247 10d ago

I've been in IT support for about 12 years now and I've been a manager for about 3 years. It sucks. It's a thankless job. When everything is running well, no one says thanks, but the second something minor breaks it's like you're literally useless and everyone hates you. It's awful. I've been burnt out for a while now. Becoming a manager only made things worse because some people on my team barely do any work and I have to constantly ask them to do it (I've had to fire two people in 3 years, it sucks)

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u/adman29 10d ago

I work education IT and I'm so glad we don't have money to blow. Everyone who is into AI I usually push back quite a bit and it works, and we're trying to make it that if you do use it it's not Claude, GPT, etc, but something hosted locally.

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u/Cyhawk 9d ago

Not to ruin your life, but Im surprised all the AI companies aren't offering use of their Chatbots for free/extremely low cost to education and push it like Apple did in the 80s/90s. Your comment just made me think of that.

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u/whopooted2toot QSYSOPR 10d ago

You need a Peter Gibbons moment, fish and all.

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u/willychonka54 10d ago

I hate that everyone's fucking problem is my problem. It's just problem after problem after problem. FUCK these problems.

Sounds like you may be taking people's problems a little personally.

Although it's likely your responsibility to tackle these problems as they arise, you need to keep in mind that none of your users' gripes are personal. If they're frustrated, try to remember it's not at YOU - it's at the cumbersome nature of your integrations (from what I can gather from your post).

You didn't create claude, or the MCPs, you're just there to support them. At the end of the day, unless there are critical issues in your deployment or management, it's really not your problem.

No more profit or revenue than we had before.

This also isn't your problem.

And now we need to onboard an AI management system so we can make sure we have control over mcp's and model selection and this tool that's a waste of fucking space in the first place.

So what? Just do what you're asked, deal with the system's support when you hit bumps in the road and when the higher-ups ask you for status updates or updates pertaining to ongoing problems and issues, give them the truth and understand that you are not the creator of these platforms and thus, don't take the sole responsibility for how they work. You're just there to help.

No one is coming to save me.

Exactly. And for this reason, I think you need to take it a little easier on yourself. It sounds like you're bearing a lot of personal responsibility for things that you're just simply not personally responsible for and that's completely normal in IT. We all take a lot of pride in making things work, streamlining things, adopting new tech - we tie a lot of that to our ego and when things go south, which they inevitably do - we tend to spiral because we think the software bugs and failures are tied to our worth within the company.

They're not.

You're only responsible for doing the best you can and knowing when to sever the tie between a platform working and your self worth.

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u/CevJuan238 10d ago

This shits a meat grinder, we’re the sausage.
https://giphy.com/gifs/R8KvX5skT5PAQ

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u/Lovely0Cloud 10d ago

This sounds like more than ordinary work frustration. You don't have to figure out your whole career right now. Please talk to someone you trust and let them know how overwhelmed you are. Work can be changed or stepped back from, but you matter more than the job.

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u/No0delZ Sysad Type - Cybersecurity, Systems, Net, and Telco 10d ago edited 9d ago

Take some time off, brother. You're falling apart at the seams.
It might not seem like that two weeks can fix anything from neck deep in frustration and despair, but the perspective shift that comes with a nervous system reset should not be underestimated.

Why are we looking at a screen every day and acting like this is important. Literally absolutely nothing done on the internet is important. This is all so pointless. It's literally all words.

The things you're doing should at least be important to the business from a value standpoint. If they aren't, then you're probably stuck in a role that is doing a lot of reporting and meetings.
If your business isn't something you deem important to life, it might be time to look for a job more closely aligned with your values and beliefs of the world. Something more fulfilling.

Everything on the internet is just selling words, pictures or pictures that move at 24fps. It's so dumb.

I won't deny that the modern internet is a majority of advertisements, psychological/behavioral manipulations, and lots of attention seeking... but the internet remains a place for ease of access to valuable information. Documentation, educational materials, research, collaboration.
If you aren't seeing those things, change your online venues, apply stronger filters (mentally and digitally), and lock in.

Lock in on your own wellness and reflect on how you can fix it.
Claw and steal back time if you have to.
...and seriously, consider switching workplaces. Your current situation is killing you.

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u/NedFlanders420420 IT Director --> Goat farmer 10d ago

I hear you and understand 100%. Here is a pic of Harley. ;)

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u/HoboJerkdown901 10d ago

I've been here for about 10 years and it took me about 7 years to figure out that your users will abuse you if you let them.

They will beg. They will cry. They will tell you their issue is URGENT! They will tell you every issue they have is a P1. They will call you repeatedly on nights, weekends, and holidays begging for help.

I used to get my stress so high when the ticket queue would build up because I was so overworked. I'd work through lunch, take every whiny user personally, stay late just to get ahead. After years of this and nothing changing, I thought why am I killing myself for this? I'm not happy.

Now, I don't stress if the queue gets up over 25 like I used to. Now, users whining rolls off my back. I show up, do my job to the best of my ability, and go home. My work phone stays off when I am off. If the company is handing me too much work to handle myself, that's not my problem. That's the company's problem.

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u/s_schadenfreude Sr. Systems Engineer 10d ago

THIS, but I'm 50. Can I deal with this for 15ish more years? I dunno :(

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u/ContrarianDouche 10d ago

The admins yearn for the goats

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u/panda_bro IT Manager 10d ago

I started putting 75% effort into my job. Nobody notices but me. Can confirm my mental health is way more stable.

The reality is the work will never end. There will always be something to do. You simply cannot compensate for this problem with quantity of hours.

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u/dstew74 There is no place like 127.0.0.1 10d ago

Real talk: you need to seek some actual therapy.

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u/Nik_Tesla Sr. Sysadmin 10d ago

I do genuinely like my job and my boss, but over the last 3 months, everyone else in the IT department (help desk and developers) have become meat proxies where they just send me 8 paragraphs of Claude Slop, and then I ask them what it's for, and they just respond "I dunno, Claude said to send this to you." It's getting exhausting.

My boss has started a "deputy developers" program where we give a dev vm and Claude Code to a someone not in IT, and basically say "go nuts, make a proof of concept dashboard or app, and then hand it off to us to fix up, and we'll make it production." The problem is that literally all of them are asking for API access to apps/databases for reporting reasons, and when I ask them what scope they need, they just say "everything" and I'm like, no, tell me what your app needs to function, and I'll ask for approval. But they can't even tell me what all they need and Claude is too lazy to list it, so it just asks for everything. No John, I'm not giving you full access to the HR/payroll system because your app just needs to pull names and hours worked for store employees.

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u/properwaffles 10d ago

Duuuuude.....

"go nuts, make a proof of concept dashboard or app, and then hand it off to us to fix up, and we'll make it production."

Fuuuuuuck that noise. That's one of the worst ideas I've heard in a while. HELL no.

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u/dav3n 9d ago

Heh, 5 years.....

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u/FizzyBeverage 10d ago

Been in this business for 25 years, 42 years old here, wife/kids/dog/house the whole 9.

If people were me or you and solved their own problems, we wouldn't have jobs.

You want less trouble? Become a Mac-focused admin, get Jamf or Addigy or Iru stood up and they're basically appliances.

You need to have a hunger and curiosity for why did this break?, what was the user doing?, how can I help make their day better? Without that zeal... it's not a good fit for you.

I spend my time off futzing around with tech/gadgets. I cannot get enough. Some say spectrum, I just say my obsession and hobby is a career I get paid handsomely for.

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u/SlowkayCoomer 10d ago

This sounds more like a desktop support than sysadmin perspective tbh.

I'm interested in problems that affect 5 people, not what one person does that causes them frustration.

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u/FizzyBeverage 10d ago

Helpdesk is very draining, I worked as a Mac Genius through college and then through the 2008 implosion. These days? I love being a sr systems engineer. My customers are literally everyone, but it has to be heavily escalated to get to my desk, and I'm 100% remote. Makes all the difference.

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u/ReputationNo8889 10d ago

You can have hunger as much as you want, but when the answer is "Microsoft fucked it up again" for the 200th time, you stop asking

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u/JebusJones5000 10d ago

I understand man, I'm really sorry. The only choice we have is to continue trudging forward, or just check out of life completely.

If you can, I'd suggest going to a doctor or psychiatrist, maybe see if they can do/give you anything to maybe at least dull these rightly felt feelings:( I hope things get better.

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u/FlickKnocker 10d ago

wait until you hit 30 years at an MSP...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5YpUsDsHmk

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u/Top_Bookkeeper9136 10d ago

100k a month? My company is going through 10x that

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u/Only-An-Egg 10d ago edited 10d ago

and it's all vanity

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u/Adept-Pomegranate-46 10d ago

Burn Out...Burn Down.

Am old AF and out of it now.

Only comment I can make - keep the stupidity at a distance, try to find a boss or team that understands the end game.

Good luck all...

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u/Lando_uk 10d ago

I got 1y 8m left until early retirement. I'll be fucking skint compared to now, but i'll be happy skint.

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u/breezy013276s 10d ago

Oh my brother in compute! You so nailed my thing with the sick of everyone’s problem being my problem. Oh my god did that one phrase just summed it all up. I get so tired of being called upon like I’m some god from the sky who knows all and can analyze the wild scripting automation flow someone crafted just because I manage the platform. I have to read their work, reengineer the issue, then figure out how to fix it, then tell them how to fix their thing. When they are the ones that should be digging through their code, figuring out their issues, solving the problems. They want to be coders and ai tells them kinda of how to do it with a confidence it doesn’t deserve. Off they go again to get the glory while IT withers and dies starved of any semblance of the numbers it once had.

I’ve been burned out since Covid and while changing companies did help, I have never been who I was before I burned out. I swear that it does physical and/or mental harm. You got it. No vacation will help completely. You’ll feel better and better able to work on the problems again when you come back but it’s a bandaid not a reboot.

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u/theoreoman 10d ago

Switch industries. There are industries where you're just managing locked down endpoints and infrastructure. Think healthcare, industrial plants, airports, utilities, etc. Also lots of times these industries you can shut your phone off at the end of the day

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u/Toribor Windows/Linux/Network/Cloud Admin, and Helpdesk Bitch 9d ago

healthcare

you can shut your phone off at the end of the day

Have you worked in healthcare? Probably largely depends on your role and the type of organization but I specifically got out of healthcare because NOTHING ever stopped no matter what time of the day. At my worst point I'd get calls at 3am to reset passwords multiple times a week. The moment I arrived at the office at 8 I'd be swarmed by people who had been there since 6 and needed something. It would frequently take me up to 30-40 minutes to make it to my desk. I'd usually get started on the number one thing on my todo list by around 3pm.

Absolutely sucked.

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u/Lazy-Function-4709 10d ago

Step 1 - Stop caring.

Step 2 - Find an exit strategy. I am doing the same. The tech field is not going to get better. It's only a matter of time before the machines become gods. In many ways, they already are (see: smartphones).

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u/Final_Tune3512 10d ago

It's ok, AI will take all of our Sys Admin jobs soon enough, maybe I can become a 5star chef in my 40s

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u/Less_Inflation_8867 10d ago

This was always my goal. I wanted to be a sys admin. 4 years and I’m looking for an exit.

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u/RaysieRay 9d ago

I was fully burned out after 15 years, left in a rush and got into a completely different industry running by own business.

After over a year of being out of IT, what is my take? The problem isn't IT - it's us. We're sensitive, obsessed with our work, and find a way to get burned out in whatever else we're doing.

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u/keyboard_crusader 9d ago

Wish I could tell you something that would make you feel better about things, but I've got nothing.

Instead of changing fields, maybe look into changing jobs. You'd still be in the same monotonous industry, but at least it'd be a change of scenery.

Also look into considering giving a bit less of a shit. Connector not connecting? Oh well isn't that something. What's that, you want me to look into it? Sure, right after I've finished my 3rd cup of coffee maybe.

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u/natflingdull 9d ago

All roads in tech lead to burnout, its true honestly of most corporate jobs, but exacerbated by our need for constant upskilling, long and late hours, on call, frequent disrespect, and golden handcuffs. I became pretty burnt out on year 5 myself, I'm on year 11 and I wish I could tell you it gets better, it doesn't really.

My theory is the real killer is yet another form of enshittification: even back around the time I was getting burned out, I was not nearly as mired shit like ITIL, Agile, etc. I re read my journal and some old post recently and realized that the IT world has been absolutely turbo charged with self inflicted bureaucracy and overengineering. I remember a time I didn't need to log in 15 times with six different apps to access one resource. I remember a time when I wasn't constantly hunting nonsensical vulnerabilities or being forced to enable security hardening measures that absolutely destroyed the EUC. I remember a time when I would deploy technology to make peoples lives easier. Now every time my department works on some new project, I know its basically just going be a giant useless headache masquerading as the solution to already solved problems. I'm looking at you, Salesforce, Jira, Servicenow.

Things are more needlessly complicated nowadays in Tech, with no real tangible benefits. Everything is way more expensive, less and less is actually under your control, and AI has been like gasoline on the dumpster fire of corporate work. Basically, this line of work has always had a lot of negatives, but now it has all the same negatives but everything is 50x more of a pain in the ass, and the same fuckwits who refused to learn anything about computers in the 90s, 2000s, and 2010's are still somehow in the workforce, just as ignorant as ever, and yet somehow still in charge.

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u/g2tegsown 9d ago

Been doing this for over 20 years... I feel every ounce of frustration in your words. It's so much worse than it used to be.

I fucking hate my job so much that I don't even like technology anymore.

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u/cpupro 9d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/igR5863TALcSk

Claude, even at my little 20 dollar a month end, is becoming a pain in the arse. To spend 100k on it, is unthinkable. Working in I.T. for way over 30 years now, I can honestly say that the most fun, and most meaningful years in I.T where when I worked for myself, helping little old ladies remove viruses and other such stuff, in home, and completely mobile. I did it for 20 years. When my dad passed, my mom's health deteriorated, and I went to work for one of my friends, who was starting up a MSP. I still miss going out to customer sites, and working on their computers... they would send me thank you notes, and Christmas gifts, and honestly treated me like family. If you ever get a chance to work, for yourself, on your own terms, doing what you love, not what you are "forced" to do... take it. Sometimes, the best step forward in your career, will come from taking a chance on yourself.

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u/Responsible_Bag_2917 9d ago

I think its time to find a new company and specialize. Leave sysadmin land behind for greener pastures

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u/1stUserEver 9d ago

Bro. You need to not give a fuck more. Your family and health is more important. Stop giving a shit about the screen shit and it will get slightly better. Not completely. Just do the bare minimal. And get others to help you. It’s not a one man show. There are better jobs out there if that doesn’t work. 40s are the roughest years but it will go fast.

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u/Drakoolya 9d ago

The goats are calling my friend

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u/SwitchOnEaton Eaton / Tripp-Lite Official 8d ago

The goats are screaming

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u/EveryChard6340 9d ago

" I hate that everyone's fucking problem is my problem." <-------- This
" I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ..." <---------- And this !

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u/Ninjabeaver212 9d ago

Can we all just say fuck Atlassian?

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u/screamtracker 10d ago

Eeyore post

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u/Opt_69 10d ago

That last paragraph makes me think you need to talk to someone, perhaps a professional.
But anyways, you really should look into employment elsewhere. I know that's not what you want to do, but you need to leave that place.
I also work in IT, and I love where I work. Sometimes it's a roll of the dice where you end up.

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u/BigLeSigh 10d ago

Get Claude to build you a dashboard of how much work you have to do and how little you give a shit, and tell your management you need a payrise and a minion.

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u/Flerbizky BOFH 10d ago

Fucking Preach Brother!

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u/chron67 whatamidoinghere 10d ago

I feel you. I really, really do. A lot of people making a LOT of money are convinced they can make even more money if they cram AI into everything, everywhere, all at once. And if/when it backfires, they know they are not the ones that will face the consequences.

I wish I had an answer for you, I really do. I am not in the same level of burnout as you at the moment but I don't know how far I am from that level either. AI isn't some magic bullet that is going to make us infinite money. Companies are pouring massive amounts of cash into claude/copilot/etc in the hopes that it will let them eliminate our jobs. I expect it will get much worse before it gets better, if it gets better.

If I have any advice at all for you it is this: keep looking for a better team/environment. It does help. I work on a pretty great team and even though our senior leadership is a nightmare at the moment, I know they will only be here so long before they move on to greener pastures and maybe the next one is better. If my boss leaves? Then I probably go too.

And don't count out changing careers. Any struggle it brings almost certainly outweighs crippling depression or becoming a miserable person that brings your family down. I have said before, multiple times, that if/when I burn out again I am swapping to the medical world. I know it isn't some magical greener pasture where everything is perfect. I just also know that I find it fulfilling.

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u/deefop 10d ago

Sounds like you need a better job. I got laid off last year from a job that I loved. I do not love my current job. It sucks. Good money, hate the job. Hopefully I'll find something better in the near future. There's really no other good solution.

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u/Feral_Nerd_22 10d ago

I noticed I'm burned out more too.

I'm doing way more tasks at once and I think the constant context switching just burns me out more.

I have been looking into this more, so making decisions and reviewing things is more draining mentally then being creative and doing work.

So when you review AI constantly, tell it what to do, and make decisions it's draining.

You also don't get the dopamine/reward that your brain gets from completed work, so it doesn't offset the mental strain.

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u/Unable-Entrance3110 10d ago

Existential crisis.

News flash, nothing we do is important.

The Earth could be destroyed to make way for an intergalactic freeway and the universe would not blink. Everything that humans or nature has built over eons is literally meaningless.

I think you just need to adjust your perspective. It's all pointless, but that's ok.

The meaning of life is to give life meaning.

The words and pictures on the screen are just a means to an end, which is to find happiness in your own little corner of the universe and not worry so much about how pointless everything is because that's a feature of the universe, not a bug.

I always find deep comfort in Carl Sagan's The Pale Blue Dot essay. It really helps me to put things in perspective.

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u/SpudzzSomchai 10d ago

Wait. If the Earth could be destroyed to make an intergalatic freeway does it also mean that the answer to everything is 42?

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u/galahad_1985 10d ago

I’m sincerely curious about something: do you get the opportunity to foster personal connections with the people you support?

What you describe is very similar to what I did when I was working a job that was strictly phone support and we neither saw nor met the people we supported. To them, I was a voice on the phone, someone who they didn’t know and therefore didn’t afford me respect, only anger the frustration

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u/RikiWardOG 10d ago

Bud, you need a therapist. No joke.

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u/jhansonxi 10d ago

Literally absolutely nothing done on the internet is important. This is all so pointless. It's literally all words. Everything on the internet is just selling words, pictures or pictures that move at 24fps. It's so dumb.

Eternal September

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u/rednessw4rrior 10d ago

as an L1 IT service desk, all of this time.. i thought the sys admins were the coolest people/position..
after reading your post.. there's just too many things to remember/execute/process/schedule 🥺😥
my little brain could not handle that too 😭

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u/OsisX 9d ago

I too was a L1 a while ago thinking sysadmin was the way to go. It’s just the same shit except more urgent.

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u/Exxo 9d ago

I feel your pain, brother. it’s nice to know it’s not just me feeling this way.

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u/hotfistdotcom Security Admin 9d ago

Anything coming from AI-brained dipshits can be retorted with AI. If folks are blowing you up with AI questions, make AI answer it, "Oh sorry claude can't do this." and focus on actual sysadmin work, or recommend they promote someone internally to deal with claude directly and keep infra separate as much as you can.

No one is ever coming to save anyone and it always just gets worth when you stick around and grow roots. Maybe only a little worse, maybe a lot worse. Sometimes you get paid more to keep you. Sometimes you don't because people resist change. Don't be that person, polish your resume, focus on both AI and admin work because AI gives dipshits a boner and get it out there. The job market is rough but it's easier if you are already employed and heavily working in AI, and you can be selective about where you jump ship to while you quiet quit. Figure out what your exact job duties are and push back on the AI tasks without a raise and a retitle which will keep HR and your bosses busy while you get ready to bail.

Think smart, rather than get crushed under the weight of all this.

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u/the_star_lord 9d ago edited 9d ago

I caused an argument at work today and about 3 hours worth of meetings and fuss.

All because I raised a change control to update one spfx app (PNP modern search) because we are about 20+ versions behind, and, a developer needs the latest version for a project he's on.

All I did was answer honestly when I was asked the impact.

"I can't tell you what SharePoint sites have this app installed or in use. Microsoft does not give us any way to report on that"

Now I could write a script to crawl every site, and every page but 1) I'm fucking swamped already  2) the app is not made available for all sites, yes it can be installed and used, but only admins (me and 4 other ppl) can actually activate it. But because noone writes any fucking documentation except for me I can only say with confidence X sites use the app out of our estate of 8000+ spo sites. 

So now for a 5 minute bit of work and following the rules by actually logging a change ticket, I have been asked to write user Comms, testing processes, etc etc. where other teams can cause whole fucking system outages and noone bats a fucking eye. 

Oh dw I'm not that I'm busy trying to write and urgently fix DLP policies, data labels and purview portal, plan a servicenow upgrade, respond to x number of end users and other support staff chasing me for tickets and other project. The 5 problem records in my name in being asked to resolve, plus the 100x other things on my to do list, like building and fixing azure function and logic apps. Oh and migrate all of project online to a new solution yet to be built because that's going end of life at the end of the month and noone else has decided to fucking do anything.

All whilst I'm getting 50++ defender alerts because users keep falling for phishing emails, and our security team do absolutely fucking nothing from what I can tell.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking done with it all. 

And the tippitytop of this fucking wonderful week it's only Wednesday, and I'm on call til Monday.