I can't cope any more -updated

Firstly, I think you need to speak to your boss, esp as your colleague is going away for 2 weeks, as it sounds like you are close to making yourself ill and that isn't going to help anybody

Has the workload increased since you started?

Could you have a quiet word with your colleague about how you feel, and see if it makes her pull her finger out

Maybe you could get a temp while she is away to help answer the phones, or could you sign up to one of the answer call services where the call diverts and you get emailed a message, this would help you concentrate on one thing at a time

I've felt like this many times, so I know exactly how you're feeling ?

Workload has increased and I thought the summer would be quiet but its not.

I will try and speak to collegue today though I don' t think it is going to make any difference.

temps are no good in the industry I am in as you have to know your clients to what to do.

Will see the diary today when I get to work - if it is going to be really busy when collegue is on holiday then I will say something to my manager

Just feel that everyone else manages why can't I ????

Hi Hope. I was hoping someone with better advice would reply first. But until they do, I wonder why you are thinking everyone else copes, when i am sure they either don't, or have complained, or are as miserable as you. I've done jobs like that but only short term so i always had a fixed end in sight. Hell, I've even had planners at home to cross off the days!

Speak to your boss - it's obvious that you aren't slacking as you are working extra time. It's surely not your place to speak to your colleague teither - if she isn't doing her bit you shouldn'tr be covering for her (easier said than done!). I'd open the conversation with your boss with "what cover have we got when X goes on holiday?"

xxxx

Badkitti are you suggesting my advice is rubbish ?

Hope - I agree with Badkitti about the way to approach your manager. I also think that you need to point out that your workload has increased since you first took the job, and that you are now working an extra 2-3 hours a day to keep up.

I suggested having a quiet word with your colleague in the hope that she would feel bad and start pulling her weight, but if you don't think this would work, then you also have to speak to your boss about this.

Don't suffer in silence, you are doing the best you can, and if this is now encroaching on your personal time with no extra reward then you need to tell your manager.

I think you're being very hard on yourself - you can only do so much in a day

You need to talk to your boss, particularly about cover for your colleague's holiday

Try listing all the jobs you're trying to do, work out what you realistically can do in a day, and then ask your boss how the other jobs are going to be covered

If it's one of those jobs where you have to be reactive, explain how you're only going to be able to deal with the real emergencies which you're happy to prioritise, but how is s/he going to deal with the other cases

If all else fails, say that you'll divert the phones to him/her when you have more work than you can cope with - that should keep them busy!

You sound like you really need some support - which should be coming from your boss

Hope you can work something out

WEES really - your boss needs to sort this out by a) motivating your colleague, b) organising proper cover for holidays and c) managing the workload and staffing levels properly in the first place. It is not, repeat not, your problem, but you do need to highlight this.

I've done this type of job before, and you really do need to get this sorted now as once winter kicks in it is only going to get a lot busier with broken heating and burst pipes etc. as I'm sure you know.

I hope you manage to get this resolved before it makes you unwell.

Thankyou everyone - just got home and feel sick for not eating all day - we were both tearing our hair out today x2 major block issues as well as everything else - collegue is desperately trying to sort out her workload to clear it before she goes away and I didn't really say anything to her as she did take one important thing and deal with it AND she is going away for two weeks not the one that I first though. The diary is really busy over this time and am definately not going to be able to do everything.

I will speak to my manager tommorow I think - am just vibrating now at not having stopped all day !!!

glad you all think that I should say something - I hope my manager doesn't see this as a sign of my weakness as I really do get stressed easily

Asking for help when there's too much going on, is not a sign of weakness.

I sent my manager an e-mail to explain how I felt and she was off until today. I came off the phone to a ranting client and saw that my eyes were welling up and called me into her office and she sent me home she is going to help me while my collegue is away (who was very put out that I went home) so have the weekend to try and get myself out of feeling crap and crying every 5 mins - going to have some lunch the get a book and a large glass of wine.

Good for you. I'm glad your boss has realised the severity of the situation and acted on it.

Have a nice relaxing weekend.

Just to repeat what everyone else said about being honest with your boss about what you can and can't achieve. It's not shameful to say actually, I'm being stretched too thin.

Clearly, your boss has twigged that all is not well, use this opportunity to get things sorted.

?

Oh and carry a pen and paper with you, including to bed, and write down things that pop into your head and then forget them until a more appropriate moment. I find this helps a lot when I'm overstretched and my head is buzzing...

I second Zebra's tip of writing stuff down to get it out of your head. It pops up to go "Hey! don't forget about me" but then if you write it down, it's taken care of and somehow doesn't pop up any more.

Don't be embarrassed to say This is too much, or I'm covering someone else's work. Your boss is there to HELP you manage your workload, not watch you struggle and go under.

Have a lovely weekend.

Thanks will try that paper thing - sounds like a good idea

Um, I'm not sure if I'm missing something here but it sounds as if the way you work needs to be changed longterm to prevent stress - your manager hasn't noticed the pressure you're on so far until you were at breaking point, has only offered to help out whilst the colleague is away.. it seems as if this is a wider problem that can't be genuinely solved by YOU taking a weekend to sort yourself out IYSWIM.

Sorry to be blunt, I'm hoping I've missed something here and you're having a happier time of it soon, Hope

I had thought of that actually. I have got a meeting with her on monday - there are things that have to change - I am aware of what and we will be discussing this with her. Its one of those things that the who workload needs to be cleared down to the bare shelves and started from scratch

She knew that I had been working late and had told me to go home on a few occasions and the new manager had too

Thank you