“Ask a question, post a rant, tell us your story.” Interesting.
Part of my education about what ask.com is about and has coloured my views on what people have been saying. My apologies to anyone that I’ve criticised for posting stuff that just seemed random to me when I thought this site was just about people seeking help. My mistake. I see it’s about broader things now.
In that vein, here’s something I don’t need any particular help with, but I would appreciate anyone’s views, good, bad or indifferent - it won’t actually make any difference (or maybe it will, I dunno).
I’ve been insomniac for over 20 years now (since I started working). It’s something I’ve got used to so it’s just something I accept. There’s no real reason for it, but I know stress makes it worse. I’ve tried every self-imposed cure that I can think of or heard of in research about the subject, with the exception of hypnosis, which I’m considering in the future to satisfy my employer.
Personally, it’s no problem to me, but the odd occasions when I don’t get to sleep before 5-7 AM sometimes means that I am between (literally) seconds and an hour late for work, simply due to the fact that the psychological reasons I cannot sleep cannot counteract the fact my body needs sleep.
There’s no physical reason I cannot sleep. I know it’s purely psychological. What I do not know is the reason why it’s psychological, beyond the fact that it’s related to work. I sleep fine at weekends. It is a desire to not be at work that is causing it, so I’m associating going to sleep with waking up and having to go to a job (that is necessary, not taxing and not unpleasant).
I don’t hate my co-workers (some are very good friends), my pay and conditions are probably better than most in my situation, my bosses are like something out of Dilbert (but isn’t everyone’s?), I know my job inside-out and am happy doing it…I could go on. Needless to say, there’s nothing I can fault to any great degree about what I do, that I know is causing my insomnia, but it continues.
The one thing that I’ve found that keeps me awake is going over converstations or situations I have at work (nowhere else), or even fictional conversations that I have to think out to some kind of conclusion (not that I ever do).
Realising this, I can deal with it; I just stop thinking about it. But now I’ve found (in the last 5-10 years or so) that my problem is that I’m stressing about oversleeping and being late for work, and that’s keeping me awake. Catch 22.
But, because I’m getting hassle from my employer about being late for work, I can’t do anything about this problem. If they laid off, or made allowances, I wouldn’t get stressed about it and the problem wouldn’t be there. But they won’t. It’s self-perpetuating.
I’ve tried candidly explaining this for over 4 years now and they just don’t get the message. What do I do now?
I’m way beyond sick of fighting the same battle and getting nowhere. The current economic climate (which seriously affects things in the job I do) has made this a case of I’m in dire danger of being sacked through inefficiency (by mostly being late 1-3 minutes late to work, maybe once or twice a week at worst…maybe a day out of every couple of months when I’m up to an hour late).
I’m currently tring to get my insomnia recognised as a disability (as a last resort, and fervently against my wishes) so my employer will finally recognise that they should maybe make some small allowances and allow me to do the job I’m paid to do to their satisfaction. They are being intransigent except for some meaningless words that they are “providing support”. Hah! Their support so far consists of denying that I have been talking to appropriate poeple for the last 4 years about this problem and “mentioning” the consequences of me not arriving at work on time (and consequently wasting more time, money, productivity, etc. in dealing with it). Anyone question why my managers are idiots? If they listened, the problem would be over, but they’re more concerned about being “strong” managers, following protocols and how being flexible to my needs would reflect on them. F***wits.
Maybe my views on the their idiocy sheds some light on the stress that causes my insomnia. My job depends on their competency. Wouldn’t you be stressed too when you have first-hand proof that your whole livelihood is in the hands of people who can’t even make a simple decision?
On a personal work note (in case anyone thought there were other issues - there aren’t), I have had an above-average appraisal all through my career, my colleagues know I’m the “go-to guy” and my work is way above the required standards of quality and quantity. There’s no reason for my efficiency to be questioned except for the fact that for my insomnia (caused by work stress) makes it sometimes impossible for me to get to work on time.
What do you think?
This open post was written 10 months, 3 weeks ago | V/U/S: 148, 13, 3 | Edit Post | Leave a reply | Report Post
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