What am I supposed to do for work when my stress tolerance is so low?

October 4, 2016 10:30 PM

The stress at my new-ish job is getting to me and I dread going into work. I can't sleep some nights because of it. It should not be a difficult job, but it is made difficult by how poorly run the place is, and a couple of really dramatic coworkers. I'm looking for a new job, but I'm in school, currently still grieving the loss of my brother and cycling through moods rapid fire. Any ideas of low stress jobs I could search for?

My brother died in December of an overdose and I'm still processing that. It's been quite a year. After moving up at my prior job, the company I worked for was bought out. I moved up again, but the changes made everyone's lives at work infinitely more stressful. I had a bit of a mental break, followed by the epiphany that I couldn't do this type of work the rest of my life and I missed being in school. So I quit my job, signed up for a couple of great mental health and substance abuse programs and enrolled in classes. All wonderful changes.

I was able to take a couple of months off of work to focus on myself and grieving before I really needed to start earning again. The new job started off great, but it's become abundantly clear that the management is ineffective, at best. And now more recently, a boss is starting to micromanage me.

This stress, coupled with depression, is beginning to seep into my performance at school, which is unacceptable.

What kinds of low stress jobs should I look into? I like cleaning, I don't mind earning minimum wage right now, I would prefer to work in small teams or alone. I don't mind the mundane. I have classes Tuesday and Thursday and otherwise open, but I'm not looking for more than 3 days a week (4 if they are shorter).

If anyone has been in a similar situation and found a good fitting job while they focus on school without burning out, let me know. Thanks!

posted by blackzinfandel to Work & Money (9 answers total)

Do you live in a big city? What is "low stress" to you - does customer service count? Do you have any retail experience, or restaurant experience, or bartending? Are you interested in getting a job at Starbucks? How about cashier at a grocery store? Are you interested in working late night shifts?
posted by the agents of KAOS at 12:16 AM on October 5, 2016

I'm sorry for your loss and I hope you're getting professional help and all the support you need. I'm pretty sure I read here once that being an overnight security person is about as low-key and free of stress as a job can get. Little to no human interaction, you do your rounds and then can read or play in the computer.

Other ideas: TaskRabbit, dog walking, pet sitting, babysitting (if you don't find kids stressful), cleaning service, working with a catering company (who always seem to be hiring people). Maybe your school has some ideas?

I went through a hard time in college and got a waitressing job at a swanky Boston restaurant -- I only needed to work 2 nights weekly to rake in $300 in tips, and this was 30 years ago.

This serves to tell you that options for $$ are there but also, these heavy clouds really do lift. You will be able to again enjoy life even though right now it is pretty terrible.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 2:25 AM on October 5, 2016

Bookstore and ice cream shop were the 2 most chill jobs I've had.
posted by WeekendJen at 7:21 AM on October 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm sorry for your loss. It sounds like you've had a hard time and deserve some breaks.
Bookstore is a great retail job, but the retail mind set can be stressful.
Gardening or landscaping
working at the school library
dog walker
Those are the sorts of things I'd look for, solitary but not isolating.
posted by Morpeth at 8:34 AM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you decide to work for a bookstore, try to find one that has morning or night shifts where you shelve books or do projects. That can be really chill; you get in, do your job and leave on time. In general it seems as if retail is changing as the job market is improving, but retail jobs are still very dicey with regard to scheduling and your schedule itself is apt to become a source of stress. There is the difficulty that if you do a good job, they will depend on you more and more and start asking you to come in at all hours. If you are not good at being firm about stuff like that, signing on with a cleaning service that does offices or something may give you more control over your schedule.
posted by BibiRose at 9:04 AM on October 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

I cleaned hotel rooms for a while; trained with a more experienced partner then did it on my own. It was nice to do physical stuff on autopilot, not have to deal much with people, and to know exactly what I had to do not only each day, but in each room.
posted by kapers at 11:29 AM on October 5, 2016 [3 favorites]

The chillest jobs I've ever had all involved evening and night work. Running the sign in sheet at a dorm after 8pm, theatre tech stuff with post-performance painting, cleaning, and set resets, accounting paperwork at a retail store, conference prep work and copyediting for a labor union office, new retail store setup and stocking, and self-employment where I created digital products for sale. Except for the self-employment, I considered all of this work to be task oriented, low stakes work that I could do while turning my brain off.
posted by xyzzy at 11:30 AM on October 5, 2016 [6 favorites]

I agree that 2nd and 3rd shift work can be great, and t is usually quiet. But if you aren't naturally a night owl it can be hard to adjust to that lifestyle, especially if you have to switch to take classes during the day. You know yourself and what you can handle, but I personally had a REALLY hard time adjusting to barely seeing the sun (it is coming into winter). I slept regularly but never felt rested. I was surprised how much it screwed with me. Just a heads up.
posted by Bistyfrass at 1:23 PM on October 5, 2016 [2 favorites]

I think low stress probably only comes with low amounts of contact with or service to other people. xyzzy's suggestions all sound great to me, or anywhere where you're on night shift.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:35 PM on October 5, 2016 [2 favorites]