I'm tired. Tired and I don't think I have any left in me, to give my company

[Trueturning]

Bob,

There are days I still LOVE it. Mostly, those days are few and far between.

I have always loved being my own boss. Even dealing with the uncertainty of any paycheck, or learning to 'steal from Pete, to pay Paul' has been okay, as long as I can see light at the end.

Since my divorce and economic crunch of '13, I can't even find the damn tunnel any more. lol (much less any light at the end)

I still love turning handles, being creative, problem solving, hearing chips pop against the enclosure.....
What I don't love is going in the hole every month (on a personal side) by paying to come to work, just so my employees can make a good living.
That is always a goal, but employees means ME TO. lol

Sheesh, now I feel like I am spurting mindless dribble.
Doug.

I seem to forget....this is a business.
Without profit, why I am doing this?

It is ok when that happens you have already learned most all that you need to know. You can do a lot of it in your sleep. This is when people develop more of their life and take on hobbies and such.

 

[wgnrr1]

I feel your pain. I was in a similar situation this past year. Wondering if I should give up and get a job or seek a new career path. I spent months trying to find new work and ways to keep myself going. Tired of spinning my wheels, but mostly just tired.

I love what I do, but the current situation this world is in doesn't help anything. That and dealing with a few bad customers, and my good customers slowing down due to Covid just took me down.

Things have picked up and are looking great for the business. I purchased a new lathe and some tooling I've wanted for quite a while. But I'm still tired.

I honestly think part of my problem is that I hate winter. I haven't been outside more than 30 minutes at a time since October 2021. I can't take the cold and everything I like to do to destress are summer/outdoor activities. So I have nothing to actually look forward to. Now add a sick wife, a completely useless stepkid(long story, but a total waste of space), and dealing with morons on a daily basis, it wears on you real fast.

Best advise I saw was take some time off and get your mind off everything. It will help. And do yourself a favor, don't take your cell phone or check emails. We were on vacation, in a warm place, a few weeks ago and my worst customer managed to piss me off. Should have never had my phone on me. I was so pissed when I got back, I had a meeting with them and told them what I thought about them and it didn't help. Apparently they still want to do business with me. Ugh. Yup still tired.

Sent from my rotary dial flip fone

 

[jccaclimber]

<snip>
I had a meeting with them and told them what I thought about them and it didn't help. Apparently they still want to do business with me. Ugh. Yup still tired.

Assuming you don't need or really want their hassle/business, it sounds like you didn't apply the right PITA multiplier on your next quote.
I've only had to double a quote once, but doing so was sure to solve the problem for me either way.

 

[Ox]

"Tired"

I'm not sure that working hard at the shop is really the catalyst here for "tired".

Sure, if you are burning the slash piles at both ends for an extended period of time - yeah - that gits tiring fer sure!
[tired-ing - spellcheck likes it, but it looks like Schidt]

From my experience - it has more to doo with age than anything.
Many folks that I talk to don't sleep like they (we) think that they should anymore - after 50 especially.
The phrase "I sleep like a baby!" can be heard. (up half the night...)

Now - if you are just "sick and tired" of being at the shop - then that is a horse of a different colour, but if it's simple "tired", I'm not convinced that a life of binge watching Gunsmoke and Law and Order is going to change that all that much.


Being burnt out - I understand, and less hours will likely help that.
But that's not exactly the same as "tired".
I would recommend that you (we) all try to distinguish between the two, and decide exactly which it is that we have.

-------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[david n]

I git what Ox is sayin'...................I'm tired every single day............and by tired I mean physically tired, fatigued to be more accurate. I have an auto immune disease that keeps me down, ass draggin' zombie tired. So I basically get tired of being "tired".

But I do git sick 'n tired of the shop too. All the last 2 years and now this year, every single day was/is groundhogs day(the movie)................alarm goes off, make coffee, lace up my boots, off to the shop, fire up machines and computers, check emails, make calls, and run parts, run parts, run parts, eat lunch, run parts, ship parts, eat supper, off to bed...............do it again the next day, and the next, and the next...................7 days a week every month all year.....................no sure what keeps me goin'? Lotsa a days I want to say screw it................I'm tired and crabby, makes the wife 'n kids crabby, makes life kinda miserable sometimes........................but what else can a guy do? I like my tired life............................

 

[Antarctica]

I git what Ox is sayin'...................I'm tired every single day............and by tired I mean physically tired, fatigued to be more accurate. I have an auto immune disease that keeps me down, ass draggin' zombie tired. So I basically get tired of being "tired".

But I do git sick 'n tired of the shop too. All the last 2 years and now this year, every single day was/is groundhogs day(the movie)................alarm goes off, make coffee, lace up my boots, off to the shop, fire up machines and computers, check emails, make calls, and run parts, run parts, run parts, eat lunch, run parts, ship parts, eat supper, off to bed...............do it again the next day, and the next, and the next...................7 days a week every month all year.....................no sure what keeps me goin'? Lotsa a days I want to say screw it................I'm tired and crabby, makes the wife 'n kids crabby, makes life kinda miserable sometimes........................but what else can a guy do? I like my tired life............................

I'm sure I can't see it from where I'm sitting, and I totally believe you. But honestly, for me, that routine sounds like an f'ing dream come true after 25 years of corporate america...

Maybe 5.5 days a week though...

 

[Big B]

I git what Ox is sayin'...................I'm tired every single day............and by tired I mean physically tired, fatigued to be more accurate. I have an auto immune disease that keeps me down, ass draggin' zombie tired. So I basically get tired of being "tired".

But I do git sick 'n tired of the shop too. All the last 2 years and now this year, every single day was/is groundhogs day(the movie)................alarm goes off, make coffee, lace up my boots, off to the shop, fire up machines and computers, check emails, make calls, and run parts, run parts, run parts, eat lunch, run parts, ship parts, eat supper, off to bed...............do it again the next day, and the next, and the next...................7 days a week every month all year.....................no sure what keeps me goin'? Lotsa a days I want to say screw it................I'm tired and crabby, makes the wife 'n kids crabby, makes life kinda miserable sometimes........................but what else can a guy do? I like my tired life............................

How much is enough? That's the question that I asked myself before I retired years ago. Some people can be happy with a net worth of $100K and some won't ever be happy even if they become billionaires.

You don't own a business. A business owns you.

It isn't easy to walk away from a money making venture but if it takes your health and quality of life away then what's it all about anyway. When I retired I walked away from the best paying job that I ever had but I wouldn't go back if they paid me double what I was making.

"Money can't buy happiness".

 

[doug925]

Tired (in the context of my post) = Mentally, emotionally, and monetarily spent.

Am I physically tired = Yes! Most days I am yawning by 4pm.
I have a bad back, and OA knees / hips. I can't sleep on my back without an insane amount of pillows (or a pillow wedge system) and I cannot sleep on my side as my knees / hips keep me up.

No, I do not sleep well.
My typical routine at night is this:

After a long day and fighting 610 traffic to get home, I immediately jump on my bicycle and go for a (tiring) ride.
I ride far enough to get the endorphins going, so I don't take my anxiety/anger out on my wife or dogs.
I am home and showered by 7pm.
Eat a little dinner, hang out with my SO, and take a CBD/Melatonin gummy @ 8:30.
Swallow a Trazodone (sleeping pill) and a few vitamins by 9pm.
Hit the pillow by 10pm, toss / turn, and hope I can sleep until 4:30 before I get up to pee.
Try to get back to sleep until 4:42 (first alarm) and snooze until 4:47 (2nd alarm)
Hit the shower and a new day begins.

I know my sleep isn't 'good' as I seem to wake up with "sleep injuries" lol


Maybe a couple of weeks of rest, and a trip to the mattress retailer for a new bed will do me some good. (my current overpriced model is only 3 years old)

Maybe landing a sizeable contract I have been working on with Union Pacific will revitalize me. (Okay, I know it would )

Maybe, maybe, maybe....

 

[jccaclimber]

Tired (in the context of my post) = Mentally, emotionally, and monetarily spent.

Am I physically tired = Yes! Most days I am yawning by 4pm.
I have a bad back, and OA knees / hips. I can't sleep on my back without an insane amount of pillows (or a pillow wedge system) and I cannot sleep on my side as my knees / hips keep me up.

No, I do not sleep well.
My typical routine at night is this:

After a long day and fighting 610 traffic to get home, I immediately jump on my bicycle and go for a (tiring) ride.
I ride far enough to get the endorphins going, so I don't take my anxiety/anger out on my wife or dogs.
I am home and showered by 7pm.
Eat a little dinner, hang out with my SO, and take a CBD/Melatonin gummy @ 8:30.
Swallow a Trazodone (sleeping pill) and a few vitamins by 9pm.
Hit the pillow by 10pm, toss / turn, and hope I can sleep until 4:30 before I get up to pee.
Try to get back to sleep until 4:42 (first alarm) and snooze until 4:47 (2nd alarm)
Hit the shower and a new day begins.

I know my sleep isn't 'good' as I seem to wake up with "sleep injuries" lol


Maybe a couple of weeks of rest, and a trip to the mattress retailer for a new bed will do me some good. (my current overpriced model is only 3 years old)

Maybe landing a sizeable contract I have been working on with Union Pacific will revitalize me. (Okay, I know it would )

Maybe, maybe, maybe....

Not a problem that I live with, but I have a relative with about half his neck fused and not a great spine everywhere else. He has what's basically a $3000 highly adjustable custom chair that some medical guy set up for him. Downside is that he has to sleep in a glorified lounge chair. Upside is that he *can* sleep, and most days wake up feeling less awful than when he went down. Maybe an extreme case, but the point is, find a way to be able to recover each night.

 

[gbent]

Trazodone is non-adictive, but your body gets used to it and it looses most of its effectiveness. Try going off it for a while, say a week. Yes, I know it will be tough. When you start back up, it will work like it first did.

 

[Trueturning]

How much is enough? That's the question that I asked myself before I retired years ago. Some people can be happy with a net worth of $100K and some won't ever be happy even if they become billionaires.

You don't own a business. A business owns you.

It isn't easy to walk away from a money making venture but if it takes your health and quality of life away then what's it all about anyway. When I retired I walked away from the best paying job that I ever had but I wouldn't go back if they paid me double what I was making.

"Money can't buy happiness".

Everyone one day will die. There comes a point where you have had a bull by the horns for so long just to let go and stop fighting.

I think stepping back becomes important because doing that brings some quiet and peace and then hopefully the answers will come. It is completely up to the individual. All of the things mentioned largely are valuable. Focusing on the definitions of words we use to describe how we feel are not all that useful. Being tired and then elaborating what that means in context of their personal situation is clear to me at least that getting a break is the obvious action.

Don’t wait until you are not able to do that as you must be in the trenches every day without end . It can be like a sinking ship. Good idea taking time off. Hope you can find some good insights.

 

[Jashley73]

Tired (in the context of my post) = Mentally, emotionally, and monetarily spent.

Am I physically tired = Yes! Most days I am yawning by 4pm.
I have a bad back, and OA knees / hips. I can't sleep on my back without an insane amount of pillows (or a pillow wedge system) and I cannot sleep on my side as my knees / hips keep me up.

Not an expert at this stuff by any means - My wife is more knowledgeable - but perhaps a recommendation or two...

1- Collagen and/or Glucosamine/Chondroitin- It's supposed to lubricate your joints. Might help with the back & hips? Probably useful with the cycling as well...
2- Melatonin at night. The wife uses the 5mg? gummies and it has drastically helped her sleep. Her smatchwatch confirms, and she falls asleep faster as well.
3- Zinc & Magnesium - Zinc is greats for general anti-viral health - it slows down viral replication, the main ingredient in "Zycam." But, supposedly Zinc & Magnesium in conjunction help to boost serotonin levels - the "Feel good" chemical in your brain.

3b - Or just start bidding on zinc & magnesium casting jobs, and let it seep in that way...

 

[Ox]

I think that the sleep aids vary in effectiveness from person to person.

I tried that Meletonin stuff. I was up to 4x the rec dose and had zero effect from it, so I nixed it.

Was on trip with chum a cpl months ago, and I took along ZQuil.
I started off with dbl the rec straight away, and ... nothing.

My chum's wife uses the dope based sleeping aid, and I have >1/2'a mind to give that a go next time.

Being up half the night when you are in a motel (?) room with another is not a pleasant night.
I hope to never need it at home - where there are plenty of options for moving around and watching mattress and pillow info's all night.
Or seeing what the Ausy's are posting on the forums...


------------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[Kalispel]

Tired (in the context of my post)

No, I do not sleep well.

Have you been evaluated for sleep apnea? Getting a CPAP made my life 2X better.

 

[Big B]

Have you been evaluated for sleep apnea? Getting a CPAP made my life 2X better.

I've talked to many who use a Cpap and they either love them or hate them. A few of the people that loved them lost weight after they started using them.

One coworker got one probably 30 years ago. I noticed that he had lost a lot of weight and mentioned that he was looking great. He told me that he got a Cpap machine which I had never heard of. He said that he hadn't slept well for years and always got up in the morning feeling dragged out. After he got the Cpap he got up feeling invigorated and felt like moving. He said he didn't do any dieting or anything else to lose the weight, just sleeping better made him more active.

A different take on it is a good friend of mine that got one. He said it felt like it was suffocating him. Just having a mask on was too much for him. I don't think he has used his in years.

 

[Big B]

Have you been evaluated for sleep apnea? Getting a CPAP made my life 2X better.

What happened to your big green avatar? I think it was one of the best ones on this forum.

 

[BoxcarPete]

I've talked to many who use a Cpap and they either love them or hate them. A few of the people that loved them lost weight after they started using them.

One coworker got one probably 30 years ago. I noticed that he had lost a lot of weight and mentioned that he was looking great. He told me that he got a Cpap machine which I had never heard of. He said that he hadn't slept well for years and always got up in the morning feeling dragged out. After he got the Cpap he got up feeling invigorated and felt like moving. He said he didn't do any dieting or anything else to lose the weight, just sleeping better made him more active.

A different take on it is a good friend of mine that got one. He said it felt like it was suffocating him. Just having a mask on was too much for him. I don't think he has used his in years.

Sleep deprivation actually messes with your hormone balance, you will have less of the hormone that makes you feel full/satisfied, and more of what makes you feel hungry. You can combat it, but it takes iron-hard discipline to maintain an actual calorie balance when your body signals are telling you to eat. Likely the weight came off all on its own when your buddy got back to a healthier hormone balance.

I am torn on CPAP. I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea in 2020 and told that there was no immediate medical requirement for CPAP but I might find that it helps. I tried several nights and a few different mask options, farted around in clinician's mode with all the settings, the best combination I found so far is a wash on sleep quality. I definitely feel like my mind is sharper when I wake up, but I wake up during the night with that suffocating feeling, and it's not a mask, just a nosepiece. Currently I suspect that I take deep breaths and re-exchange too much of my breath back through the tubes and into the machine, which my body interprets as suffocating due to the CO2 recirculation. Might get back to fiddling to see if I can resolve that, maybe increase the headpiece vent somehow.

 

[david n]

I sleep much better when I work out.................I'm normally a runner and usually pound out 30-35 miles a week. Resting heartrate around 50 bpm............But I fell off the running bandwagon 18 months ago.............a knee was really acting up and being so busy in the shop it was hard to carve out time for a 6-10 mile run.(warm up, stretch, run, and cool down takes 1-2 hrs) And it's hard to work out when your hind end is already draggin'.................I went all soft and my pants were gittin' tight...............and sleep was much worse.

Doc prescribed some sleep aids...............phhhht............I "slept", but always woke up with brain fog, tired and groggy. I hate pills and they all went in the trash.

But for the past 6 months or so I have been playing "lumber jack"..............when I was younger and worked with my old man, there was a ton of physical labor..............puttin' in footings, layin block, humpin OSB up ladders, logging, splittin wood, etc................now I'm back to some daily physical labor to keep me active and I feel much better. All fall and winter dropping trees, limbing, and bucking with a good old felling axe. Trudgin' around in waist deep snow swingin' an axe..................that'll turn you into a piece iron. I also take an hour or two a few days a week to cut, split stack, firewood by hand...............and not at just a leisurely pace, I go at it pretty hard. It's -10° out and I'm in the backyard in a long-sleeved T and sweating my arse off...…Simple food too...........meat and taters, rice, beans, veggies, fruit, butter, milk, heavy cream............stay away from processed junk and fast food..........My pants size shrunk and I gained weight. T shirts started to get tight(the lil woman likes that)..........and guess what? My sleep is better. And all those dummies payin' for crossfit.................I git mine for free.

 

[mhajicek]

I definitely feel like my mind is sharper when I wake up, but I wake up during the night with that suffocating feeling, and it's not a mask, just a nosepiece. Currently I suspect that I take deep breaths and re-exchange too much of my breath back through the tubes and into the machine, which my body interprets as suffocating due to the CO2 recirculation. Might get back to fiddling to see if I can resolve that, maybe increase the headpiece vent somehow.

How long have you tried it? It can take weeks of using it every night to fully acclimate. When I was getting used to mine I would imagine I was scuba diving.

 

[Jashley73]

But for the past 6 months or so I have been playing "lumber jack"..............

.......and guess what? My sleep is better. And all those dummies payin' for crossfit.................I git mine for free.

THIS...

It cracks me up observing the "gym junkies." I work with a guy - good guy, a couple years younger than me, but pretty 'swole from the gym.

Ask him to break some big M16-M20 bolts loose, and get ready for a laugh. Actually much better now than a few years ago, but it's funny watching guys nearly twice my size struggle with "real work."



And it's far more mentally engaging for me as well. (Firewood cutting, splitting, mulching, building, whatever...) Easy to see a tangible end from the means - not just pick up this thing, repeat a bunch of times, only then to set it down in the exact same place...