So. Tired.

I've never had a job that allowed my to take on overtime before, and it's sort of addicting.

Due to some serious staff shortages, my company is basically on approve-all-OT requests at this point, especially for last minute cancellations. Between my financial need and my insatiable need to be everyone's friend, I've been picking up dropped shifts and filling in for gaps that coverage is needed. It's exhausting and frustrating, and I wonder if it won't be long until I'm burnt out.

Yesterday, I worked 8 AM until 12AM- a 16 hour shift. It was intense and a little crazy, and by the end I was ready to get the hell out of there. 10 hour shifts are becoming more and more common as I stay a little later here, come in a little earlier there. I just need the hours badly, especially as my other job seems to be falling flat. There is such a big need, but the job itself is exhausting.

In a lot of ways, it's the opposite of Starbucks. I never see any of the callers or clients in person, and so there is a very strange sense of confinement and almost 'other worldliness' to the call center. It helps to establish a great sense and environment of comradery as we all struggle and handle irate callers, angry people at every turn, and broken accounts that leave us in the lurch. The people I work with make the job doable; with a different crew, I imagine I probably would have quit in anger at some point already.

On the other hand, the company suffers from some very serious structural and organizational issues. Communication between customer service and IT is terrible, creating massive inefficiencies in solving client or account-related problems. I work in IT for a few hours on every shift and see no end to that frustration anytime in the near future. Unskilled or lazy workers cause issues for every agent in the company and slow progress down to a grinding halt.

It's definitely not a job that I can see myself staying at for the next ten years. I'm exhausted after even a four hour shift of taking calls, and although the IT work is certainly more interesting, it is no less frustrating. There is a lot of great talent at the company, without a doubt, so at least I can get through day-by-day.

Breath deep, and always keep the goal in sight. Always.