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Feeling the effects

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(@joe-the-surveyor)
Posts: 1948
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Of trying to run a company with little help over the past 4 years. I think i am burned out.

Carry on.

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 8:20 am
(@holy-cow)
Posts: 25292
 

Maybe this will help

[flash width=420 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/uaFy0x_Uixo?version=3&hl=en_US [/flash]

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 8:52 am
(@nate-the-surveyor)
Posts: 10522
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I feel for you.

I have Big Help.

He's 12, but he knows more than I do about some things.

N

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 8:54 am
(@paden-cash)
Posts: 11088
 

Joe,
Over the years I've reached 'terminal capacity' a number of times.

In my experience, burn out with "little help" is actually a little easier to endure than burn out with seven or ten employees.

My suggestion (other than Gunny R. Lee's...)is to slow down a bit. Quit answering the phone so much. Dig the fish pole outa the garage. Quit taking everything so serious.

What usually happens, in my case, is some cool October mornin' someone will get a hold of me about some boundary out in the woods...and the leaves are turning..and I get to smell life...and remember why I put up with this crazy business in the first place.

None of us will ever quit being surveyors until they nail the lid shut.

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 9:06 am
 jud
(@jud)
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Even then, I plan on continuing to survey my surroundings, looking for an escape route.
There are people I want to haunt.
jud

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 9:09 am
(@paden-cash)
Posts: 11088
 

Jud...

Let's make sure whichever one of us makes it there first and finds the route back; tie some flagging along the way. I'm sure all us have one or two folks we'd love to haunt.;-)

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 9:14 am
(@holy-cow)
Posts: 25292
 

Seriously, Joe, take this bit of advice from a guy that's been running the business for 25 years. This is going to happen to you from time to time. It's built into our psyche. It goes to the very basic fight or flight syndrome. Taking flight seems so much easier in the moment than buckling down for the fight. If it was easy, they wouldn't pay us to do it. The tougher it is, the more pay and respect we expect. Many of the comments posted below in the Mentor Sayings thread apply to this situation as well. Perhaps you need to volunteer for a day to help pour concrete or inspect major sewer lines. Better yet, volunteer at a daycare center for children of surveyors. That should be quite the eyeopening experience.

I've hit the wall too many times to count. I've found I will bounce back instead of just going SPLAAAAT.

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 9:26 am
(@joe-f)
Posts: 471
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from one Joe to another - take 3 deep breaths and exhale into the universe.
then take a walk and try to clear your mind. we all get overwhelmed at times, and sometimes all you need is a break with some verbal and emotional support to get you over the hump.
you can do it - you're Joe the Surveyor!

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 11:20 am
(@stephen-johnson)
Posts: 2342
 

"None of us will ever quit being surveyors until they nail the lid shut."

SOOOO TRUE! I have been doing this in one form or another since 1967. If I last long enough I MIGHT stop in 2037.
B-)

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 11:22 am
 VH
(@vh)
Posts: 248
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Look on the bright side...football season is just moments away.

-V

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 11:29 am
(@djames)
Posts: 851
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Take a vacation , hire some help .

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 11:47 am
(@davidalee)
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> Look on the bright side...football season is just moments away.

:good:

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 11:50 am
(@jim-in-az)
Posts: 3361
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No, no, no! BASKETBALL season is just a few months away. There's time for fishing before it gets here...

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 11:54 am
(@joe-the-surveyor)
Posts: 1948
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Topic starter
 

Thats part of the problem....I don't have full control of the business (even though my name is on the door), so I just can't hire someone.

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 1:51 pm
 jud
(@jud)
Posts: 1920
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That is always a problem with partnerships or similar agreements, one of the partners always seems to feel that what they thought was intended and agreed to is not fact. If you can't reorganize, then bide your time until you can either go out on your own or gain full control. Always a tough spot and seldom ends gracefully and without loss.
Good luck.
jud

 
Posted : August 15, 2012 2:03 pm
(@joe_surveyor)
Posts: 224
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I make a point of taking a three day weekend once a month. No computers, no cell phone and no work.

And every year it's Sebring in March an in November, its Vegas for a week!

 
Posted : August 16, 2012 3:07 am
(@harold)
Posts: 494
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I have an old, used bulldozer. I just get out and push a little dirt around every now and then. I love it when one of my troublesome "clients" (trees) hits the ground and I run over it....clank, clank, clank....good therapy!

 
Posted : August 17, 2012 6:20 am