{"id":88992,"date":"2026-07-06T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=88992"},"modified":"2026-07-05T13:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:58:09","slug":"i-have-a-light-workload-and-i-simply-cant-handle-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/i-have-a-light-workload-and-i-simply-cant-handle-it\/","title":{"rendered":"I have a light workload and I simply can\u2019t handle it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"I<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Struggling With Not Drowning<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Work Friend,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began a new job a little under a year ago, and I really don\u2019t have enough to do. I\u2019ve let my supervisor know that I have bandwidth to take on more projects, and he\u2019s done his best to give me some, but on many days, I find myself at a loss. When I\u2019m working remotely, I use my time to walk the dogs, do laundry, run errands, etc., while still meeting and exceeding expectations for my role, but I don\u2019t feel good about it or fulfilled.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My previous job was the opposite. There was always more work than I could complete, a sense of constantly putting out fires, doing just an adequate job on things. The burnout was real.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My husband tells me I should be grateful and quiet and take advantage of the free time I have, given that my first performance review was strong, and that my colleagues all seem to have a similar light workload. But I\u2019m struggling! Should I begin looking for another position within the organization that might be more challenging and fulfilling? Should I bring up my concerns more strongly with my supervisor? Or should I learn to accept and take advantage of a light workload, a great team and generous benefits?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Anonymous<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your husband is right. If you\u2019re really so bored at work, surely there are some websites you could browse, high school acquaintances you could lightly stalk, arguments you could start on social media, short-form videos you could consume? Wouldn\u2019t that give you a nice sense of fulfillment and accomplishment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m kidding (sort of), but I do think your spouse is onto something. You\u2019re meeting your obligations, fitting in with workplace culture, have asked your supervisor for more responsibility \u2014 and have received direct feedback that you\u2019re doing a good job. Why are you so eager to make your life harder?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, it\u2019s good to be a go-getter, and to pursue meaningful work. But my guess is that the problem is not that you\u2019re \u201cunderutilized\u201d so much as that you\u2019ve lost sight of what \u201cthe right amount utilized\u201d looks like. As you know, overwork is a direct route to burnout, and a strong organization and good manager will allocate tasks and determine workloads to avoid it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your experience being overutilized at your previous job seems to have primed you (and your nervous system) to expect a taxing workload and pervasive tension, to the extent that you maybe associate \u201ccareer fulfillment\u201d with \u201cunceasing labor,\u201d if not \u201cconstant anxiety.\u201d In which case it must be kind of bewildering to not be totally stressed out all the time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But imagine how much more fulfilling \u2014 and much longer \u2014 your career might be if you had the capacity to relax at work, recharge your battery and walk a dog or two. (I\u2019d bet your husband, who was probably acutely aware of how strained and anxious your previous job made you, is basing his advice on the same instinct.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of this is mutually exclusive to pushing your supervisor to assign more work, or seeking out a new position that gives you a bit more of a challenge. As I said, it\u2019s good to be a go-getter. But I\u2019d think of those as secondary business to your main tasks: one, your actual job and, two, getting out of your own way to enjoy a less stressful life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Bully\u2019s Blunder<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a recent retiree who worked for decades in a unionized role for a big company. While I found the work challenging and rewarding, and the work group mostly good folks, I had a bad supervisor who was disorganized, tactless, prone to gossip and a bully.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, my old shop steward and another union member found themselves at a cafe sitting next to my old supervisor, who didn\u2019t seem to recognize them. The supervisor and a colleague were carrying on a full-voice conversation in which they repeatedly used unprintable language to refer to their direct reports; they said we waste time, work until we\u2019re too old and should take our union benefits and retire already. They bragged about \u201cmanaging people out the door\u201d and reviewed the medical situation of a recent retiree.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shop steward\u2019s description of this event has gone out to a union email list with several hundred members. But none of the supervisor\u2019s reports is willing to take the lead in addressing this behavior. H.R. has the supervisors\u2019 backs, and they are largely unaccountable.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of any appropriate recourse?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Anonymous<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the important question here is: What do you want to accomplish? Sanction? Removal? Public apology? Public embarrassment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From your description, the supervisor really committed only one potentially actionable transgression: discussing a colleague\u2019s medical situation. If this conversation rose to the level of inexcusable privacy violation, presumably your union has an established grievance process through which a complaint could be made and some kind of formal resolution achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But otherwise, \u201cbitching about co-workers in public\u201d is not really a crime (I mean, I assume; perhaps your contract contains a \u201cno trash talk\u201d clause), and I\u2019d think union members in particular should be wary about setting a precedent that proscribes complaining about colleagues. (In, say, a letter to an advice columnist.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not saying, \u201cGet over it,\u201d precisely. I don\u2019t think there\u2019d be anything wrong with letting him know, person to person, that he was overheard and that his direct reports all know in detail what he thinks of them. Embarrassment might be the best punishment for what is ultimately more a violation of etiquette than anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But given how uninterested your comrades seem to be in pursuing a complaint even about the potential privacy violation, I\u2019d guess that this was less a new frontier for this supervisor and more a confirmation of what you guys already know: He sucks! In which case I think the best recourse for your former colleagues would be to document the conversation now and save it as ammo for a situation where the kind of general outrage you\u2019re describing might make for good leverage \u2014 like, say, the union\u2019s next contract negotiation. As for you, no matter how much you may still hope for comeuppance, the best recourse would be to enjoy your retirement and not waste it seething at a bad old boss\u2019s rude behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Etiquette at the OB-GYN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m an experienced nurse practitioner in gynecology. In general, I have no problem when colleagues see me as their provider, and I don\u2019t feel uncomfortable providing them with sensitive exams and care.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently started a new job, and I\u2019m now acquaintance-level friendly with all the providers in the office. (I\u2019m closer with the supervisor, who encouraged me to apply for the role.) I\u2019m due for a Pap test. I could seek out care at another office \u2014 but I work five days a week, so that would entail taking P.T.O. as well as paying more, for insurance reasons.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it weird to show up on one of my new colleagues\u2019 schedule as a patient? Do I ask them if it\u2019s OK? I barely know them! Is it more or less inappropriate to see my supervisor? She has provided me care in the past, but that was before she was my boss. I truly don\u2019t care who does my Pap; I just don\u2019t want to make anyone else uncomfortable. In my experience, everybody who works in this field feels the same as me \u2014 happy to get or give care to whomever \u2014 but I don\u2019t want to assume. Is this topic too niche?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Anonymous<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No topic is too niche for Work Friend, but some topics are a bit outside this particular Work Friend\u2019s experience. For assistance here, I called Dr. Robin Metcalfe-Klaw, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Baltimore. \u201cIt\u2019s a totally normal conundrum to think about,\u201d she told me, but in this case there\u2019s a pretty normal answer: See your acquaintance whom you\u2019ve already seen in the past. If you\u2019re feeling wary about seeing a supervisor, there\u2019s nothing wrong with seeking out a different caregiver. But since she has seen you before, she seems like the most straightforward option, and is unlikely to be put off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the field of women\u2019s health, we\u2019re used to dealing with sensitive and personal matters, both physically and emotionally,\u201d Dr. Metcalfe-Klaw said, and the professional norm is to see colleagues, especially in cases of routine care like Pap smears. Rather than worrying it\u2019s an awkward burden, consider that \u201cit\u2019s kind of a compliment to your colleagues\u201d to seek out their care: \u201cYou\u2019re letting them know that you trust them.\u201d (And what would it say about your practice\u2019s quality of care if you took P.T.O. to go somewhere else?) As to how to make the appointment, Dr. Metcalfe-Klaw suggested giving a casual heads-up in person \u2014 \u201cbefore they walk into a room and see you half-dressed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n