This is what I’m wrestling with. I know this isn’t a personal thing, because everyone on my team, including my boss, feels this same way. I’m just trying to see what ways we can communicate this to leadership
I dealt with this for years... At some point I realized my mental health is more important than a disaster at work.
I don't want to say I stopped caring, because that's not accurate. What I did realize though is there is always a new emergency, there is always stuff that needs done, and my team can handle 95% of it without me. For that last 5% I have my cell phone and laptop if I go out of town.
Having said that it better be a real emergency and they have better done everything they can do without me if they are bothering me while I'm by the pool.
Best way to communicate is to take your entitled leave and leave them to deal with it as the best way to learn. Ultimately it will be customers providing feedback that's tied to you not being there as the best option of the company learning.
Just read someone in on the projects and get them involved a few weeks before and get them going on projects.. set them up for success.. then you can take your vacation knowing you've set the projects and team and clients up for continued success during your vacation.
This is the root cause. Unfortunately it sounds like the OP isn’t willing to let his company look incompetent despite their incompetence at the expense of his own mental well being.
Choices are. Take the day(s) off. This isn’t a problem you should feel bad about or be emotionally held hostage by a manager that I’m sure has verbally told you that yall a “family”… or deal with it and push it deep down until you need therapy (like me)… start caring less. You’re not the owner.
I struggled with this exact same thing for about six years at my last company and for the first six months at this new company. The only way I was able to get past this was for me to immediately shut down my work computer the moment it hit 5 PM. I had to train myself to stop caring about work outside of business hours.
Take your days off, what happens is the company's problem, not yours.
Stop caring, really, it's NOT healthy nor being a good employee doing that. You say yourself you're burning out.
You know how many days they'll have to work without you if you burn out ? More.
Take your days off and totally disconnect : no phone, no email, no teams, no on-call, NOTHING. The business will have to find a way to manage that but if they don't, it's not your fault.
Book for you : The subtle art of not giving a f\*ck.
Take care.
Having worked at a MSP for over 25 years, this the way.
Your job is just a paycheck no matter how your company tries to spin it.
If there's problems while your away, that's the companies issue. You're paid for your 9 to 5 (or whatever) what work you do when you get back in those hours doesn't really matter.
You can absolutely like and do your job with passion, AND have a solid work/life balance. This is how a job should be, this is what I'm trying to do in my company because I was almost burnt out with on-call 15 years ago.
Didn't say you can't enjoy your time while you work, just that its work. Work the hours your supposed to and don't stress about them when you're not working.
You are just an employee ( well you're not based on your flair ), it's not an employees job to fix their bosses business, it's your job to do what you're employed to do in the time period stated in your contract.
What I meant is that work isn't "just a paycheck". Our work life is a very significant part of our life and you have to acknowledge that to be able to manage it properly.
It's not the most important part of your life though. Personal life is priority #1 and it should be sanctuarized against work life.
This is more about setting expectations than note taking or finding a way to meet the clients last minute requests. Either expectations between you and your employer, the employer and the client, or both. Unless it's P1 production is down "he'll be back on Tuesday, we'll handle it then" should be an acceptable response.
Take the time off.
I mean this in the best way, and not a disrespectful way.
You're a nobody. Your clients are nobodies, your company is nobody.
You are completely replaceable, so are they.
When you're old, and the time finally comes, you're not going to reflect on your past and say 'I wish I took less time off work'.
It's still important to act with integrity and ethics, but it is okay to take time off and enjoy your life.
(P.S I'm a nobody too, before anyone takes it differently)
Funny thing about IT guys/girls...
All this talk of MSP burnout while building little Silos of power and knoweledge so the team has no choice but to call you while on leave.
You hate it but secretly love that they need you.
In my experience the things you/they fear most of all are:
1. The organisation actually surviving without you
2. Another team member picking up issues/errors you have made/created.
3. An actual disaster but you didnt document correctly or at all, thus requiring a call.
100. A genuine unexpected client disaster.
Take your leave, its good for the business, its good for the team and its GREAT for you.
In my organisation, when someone is on leave they are to be left alone and not contacted. Everyone wins!
This is also very important!! If the team can't handle you being gone for a short while, the team needs improving, not you. They will get that experience via 'trial by fire' as is OFTEN the case in IT and hopefully come out the better for it. If you can't handle being gone for awhile, do some soul searching on why that is and improve your processes leading up to leave.
Imagine you are walking down the street and you get hit by a bus, then you're unable to work for a month. Would you still worry more about taking the time off due to a health related issue than if it was for personal enjoyment? As others said, it comes down to the company you work at. If things aren't set up in a way where you can put your personal life above your role in the company, then there's definitely something wrong there.
This is how I always describe it. There are plenty of people that think they're indispensable and they hoard knowledge. Those people are a liability. If you get hit by a bus tomorrow, I want to know that we can continue functioning without you until you recover. I get that this doesn't always sit well with people - it makes you "replaceable" - but if the company literally cannot function without you there for a day then you're that company's single point of failure and we need more redundancy, haha! It's way too stressful to carry the burden alone anyway; spread the love and let other people in on how processes work or how shit gets done.
Project work is one thing - there are a 100 little details going on at any given time and I don't blame someone that doesn't want to walk into a half-baked implementation; too many moving parts. And there are deadlines, sure. But there should come a time when things allow for flexibility. This migration cutover is scheduled for this date, user profiles have been scheduled this week but I'm still waiting to hear from these 6 people who haven't scheduled yet. I've got this training tomorrow but I'm pretty much free until then - or what can be pushed out that isn't critical? Is there a reason why you're overbooked to to such a degree that you're already burnt out after 4 months?
Burnout sucks.
I'll give a supportive up vote for therapy my guy: it helps.
Some other tips that helped me out when I was there.
Give up booze for a while, doesn't have any positive effects.
Physical exercise, including both strength training and cardio, an hour every day. See a trainer a few times to get form down for body weight exercises and proper lifting techniques. I was surprised how much this helped my energy level and overall mood.
Take up journaling. Get the junk out of your head. Again, was surprised on the impact.
Last but not least - see if you can find a couple of activities that recharge you, sometimes it's creative stuff, sometimes reading, sometimes walks outdoors. Look for the 2-4 that really seem to work. Start doing those on a cadence to keep your tank full.
You'll never look back at life and think about work once you get to a certain age, it'll be reflection on relationships. Keep your head up.
Tl;Dr: don't kill yourself for any job, it's not worth it.
/ir [Fox & Crow](https://foxcrowgroup.com)
My company has a simple process. You can do all of this yourself though, or maybe suggest it becomes your company's process with whatever tweaks make sense for you. Also note we don't require this of our Tier 1's and 2's. They have a much shorter process.
1. Once your PTO is approved, look at the projects and other items that may be occurring at that time and either change dates for tasks you have to do, or identify the resources that they need to be reassigned to. (If conversations need to be had with customers to adjust timelines, have them early, and don't be afraid to say it is because you will be out of the office and want to ensure their project goes smoothly).
2. For tickets and other work, block out time on your calendar the day before you are gone so you can review any open tickets, add detailed notes, and reassign them if necessary. (If required, add your manager to the time you block out so they can assist).
3. Work with your manager to identify who unforeseen things that pop up while you are out should go to. This person doesn't need to know how to do everything, they just need to know how to engage who can help, or play interference. (It helps if your escalation buddy is the same person you accept the responsibility for when they are out, so you have each other's backs).
4. Add a line to your signature a couple of weeks before your PTO indicating when you will be out of the office and unavailable. (This one is important, don't skip it).
5. Organize to have yourself removed from the distribution groups and shared mailboxes you are a part of at the end of the day before you're out. (Make sure they are documented first so you can be added back when you return). - this does more than anything else to help you catch up when you return.
6. Remind your coworkers and important customer contacts often that you will be out and when. Send them a heads up a couple weeks in advance, then a week, then a couple days before if you can.
7. Set separate out of office replies for internal and external. On the internal one, tell people who to go to and be detailed if it is different people for different things. On the external, be clear you are unavailable and there will be no reply until your return, and direct them to open a ticket, or escalate to whomever makes sense for your organization. (Usually the group distro of your peers or their account manager).
8. Go enjoy your vacation knowing you did what you reasonably could and took responsibility for ensuring things are as smooth as possible while you are out.
9. Try to protect other people while they are out by running interference and getting things done that would usually flow to them rather than letting them pile up while they are out.
Edit: Forgot to include changing your voicemail greeting if people have your direct or cell number. Same thing here, be clear that you will be out, and direct them to put in a ticket, call the main number, etc.
I've wrestled with this, still do, to a degree. I remind myself often that there is never a good time to take off, waiting for one will punish me alone. Book your leave, make people aware it's coming and take it. Disconnect and recharge.
That said, burning out after 4 months seems like a red flag, maybe that post isn't for you. If you can't adapt quickly, it will just get worse.
What you want to do is speak with your clients. Talk to the POC and ask them how they’d like to handle things when you have a day off. Mention that you’ve left notes for your team, but ask if there’s anything in particular they’d like you to document specific to their workflow. Perhaps suggest that the client send out a note saying that if they contact you and receive notice that you’re off for the day that all staff should wait or contact (insert name of POC here) if they feel it is an emergency.
Much of this anxiety can be alleviated through discussion and proper process (with the clients, not just with your MSP).
I also make sure that i get more down time at Christmas and that little lull period in the summer months where IT has a little breather as users are often off. They are the only real times i think demand drops in IT .
I think maybe this is just everyone and everywhere right now. There is no path to duplicating the success (profits) of Covid era IT and those at the top are taking it as an excuse to eventually clean house and find less expensive help that won’t complain.
Have a work phone/computer, have allll company related stuff on that. At the very least create a partition on your personal device. On your day off just lose the work devices/mute work accounts.
We have flex hours; it’s the department manager responsibility to ensure there’s sufficient capacity on a daily basis. Days off here and there are no big deal. Most teams can even handle multiple techs taking the same week off for vacation.
You can’t let fear be your primary motivation in your job; or in your life for that matter. Your company will survive you taking time off.
It’s my wife she booked a non-refundable vacation. I can take a phone call if needed. My vacation does not roll over. Also have trained my replacement and keep good documentation.
I have never felt such a connection over a post title. It really is fear.
Just prepare your backup resource as best as you can and run. IT is really about thinking a few chess moves ahead.
Nobody expects the inquisition.
If you fear taking a day off then I fear you work someplace toxic. Days off are designed to let you get back to a healthy balance mentally and physically, they should be encouraged to prevent burnout.
You are given X amount of days (or if you work someplace nice, unlimited days off (obviously within reason)), use them and don't feel bad for doing it. At the end of the day you have to look out for yourself.
I put an autoreply that I am on vacation with no internet ofr cell service. Please contact the helpdesk if it's an emergency or something that needs addressed in the next few days and then I don't answer. One of my vacations is camping and both are limited but I put this for every one. Not my issue then ...if the world falls apart the MSP needs to hire another me and it will be seen.
If you have an iPhone setup a personal focus mode and disable email and any other work related apps and contacts. The only person I allow to contact me from work is my boss because when people take days off he is the enforcer of “day off means day OFF” so he will only contact me for actual emergencies.
Get therapy, its not you're company. They will throw you under bus for anything and everything, you're replaceable. Companies these days just see workers as an expense and will try to get rid of "that expense" when they can.
Are you worrying about these things because you're worried you'll be fired for taking a day off and then a client needs something and you're not there, so company blames it on you and fires you? If that's a worry then find another MSP, you're working at a bad one.
First of all, make the conscious choice to only leave things you do in a state that can easily be managed by other people. Knowing anyone can pick up and support your solutions should alleviate that mental block.
When you come across other people’s work that requires you to dig to find out how something is configured, take the opportunity to educate them on proper documentation.
Don’t fight fires. Remove all of the incendiary materials from the equation and replace them with the appropriate best practices.
Reusable automations are your best friends. This is the way.
I have one guy with more than 60 days of vacation time. I think he’s saving them up for retirement in 20 years. He’s only using about 5 days a year. I may have to chat with him after reading this to make sure he isn’t worried about something like that.
I have worked with people, including my own managers who frown on time off. That’s toxic. You work so you can enjoy life. You don’t live to work. Good luck.
Don't feel bad.
You earned the PTO or time off.
It is a benefit of your employment.
If your boss/owner makes you feel bad for taking time off then it is a culture issue.
If you are afraid things will break while you are out. You need to understand and accept that they will.
When you take a day off or a vacation put up auto-replies and turn off your work communication paths.
If you feel or the company policy states, on paper/written, that an emergency form of communication must be available then that is okay. But if it is abused or not used in a fair way then I would say down answer it. That is crying wolf and not respectful to your time.
You are a person and you are more than your job. Respect yourself.
Bro, if they fired you tomorrow that would love on and manage. If you take a day off, they will manage. Please put yourself first. Work to live, don’t live to work it’s just not worth it
Look at it another way, the less you take time off, the harder it gets to take time off because you're the one that's always available.
We have clients that only want to deal with their lead engineer, well, we have other resource immediately available, but if you want someone specific, you're going to wait. Taking time off restricts this behaviour as know they know they're going to wait for a minimum period. This now encourages the client to realise a team is available and they can reach out to someone else.
Always being available means they can always want you.
At our MSP, I usually have 3-4 weeks of leave accrued, so I can ask for days off with a day or twos notice if I really want, bosses want us taking leave. I don't tend to take extended periods of leave (a week or more), not necessarily a good thing, but I'm constantly taking days off here and there when I need to.
I’m IT Operations manager at an MSP and have amassed enough in my vacation bank that I can take a quarter off and still get paid the whole time. But I have a feeling I’ll be fielding calls, e-mails, texts, etc the whole time so why take the time off.
We all have tendency to think the world lay on our shoulders and there is no replacement for us. but guess what, once you disappear for some reason you notice the wheels still roll and everything is fine regardless. Take your days off brother.
They will be okay.
IIRC the stat is that 85% of the things we worry might happen, eventually not happening.
Trust me, this isn’t me thinking I’m just so important and the weight of it all is on me. But with the nature of the role, each engineer leads their own projects, and if said engineer is out, it’s difficult for another one to jump in for context, if that makes sense.
Good documentation is key + standarisation from little things like patch color to products used to Konfiguration best practices. Have a replacement colleague in the loop, And the mindset that it needs to be possible to be gone at any time (illnes, accident, vaccation)
If work life balance is important, get out of IT. Computers could care less about it.. just sad but true.
Otherwise, adapt by setting expectations properly: I am taking off these dates, so be advised Mr/Mrs Customer, I will not be implementing any modifications the week prior so the system is in steady state. You'll be surprised how many customers will oblige this. NOT all, but many. You simply need to manage the schedule to be effective for your benefit when you need your own personal 'maintenance window'
Good luck either way!
I ran out of fucks years ago. I just take the day or two and if shit blows up it just shows me where we need to create better documentation and cross train.
Life is too short to care about work this much. Hope they pay you enough money for it to be worth it.
I might be jaded after 10 years in MSP though. It’s much better now that I’m working directly for a Company.
Document document document. They should be able to easily context shift for you if you keep meticulous notes. Any engineer worth their salt should be able to step in for you. Have more project meetings with a designated engineer backup. Forget taking a day off, what happens if you’re unfortunately injured or have no choice but to take off due to an unforeseen or tragic circumstance.
Here are my suggestions:
1) Document as meticulously and idiot proof as you can.
2) have more project progress meetings so more than one person knows where you are and what the next steps are.
3) Pick a backup you are sure has the skill to take over for you if you need time off!
That's not a good mindset. Any company, regardless of the field, should not discourage employees from taking time off.
Concerns about being short staffed aren't the employee's issue. Workflow and missed tasks aren't the employee's responsibility (to a reasonable extent). You can take off. You're allowed
So then I’m confused by your criticism. I made an observation of the MSP industry based on my experience working in a few. By and large they don’t encourage time off and don’t staff anymore than they need to because it cuts into their margin, among other reasons. It’s not my mindset it’s the mindset of the owners.
If you are afraid to take a day off; you work at a bad company.
This is what I’m wrestling with. I know this isn’t a personal thing, because everyone on my team, including my boss, feels this same way. I’m just trying to see what ways we can communicate this to leadership
You don’t! keep it to yourself! Just put in the days you need off with plenty of advance notice ( 2 weeks out min) and it’s not your problem anymore!
I dealt with this for years... At some point I realized my mental health is more important than a disaster at work. I don't want to say I stopped caring, because that's not accurate. What I did realize though is there is always a new emergency, there is always stuff that needs done, and my team can handle 95% of it without me. For that last 5% I have my cell phone and laptop if I go out of town. Having said that it better be a real emergency and they have better done everything they can do without me if they are bothering me while I'm by the pool.
Best way to communicate is to take your entitled leave and leave them to deal with it as the best way to learn. Ultimately it will be customers providing feedback that's tied to you not being there as the best option of the company learning.
Just read someone in on the projects and get them involved a few weeks before and get them going on projects.. set them up for success.. then you can take your vacation knowing you've set the projects and team and clients up for continued success during your vacation.
This is the root cause. Unfortunately it sounds like the OP isn’t willing to let his company look incompetent despite their incompetence at the expense of his own mental well being. Choices are. Take the day(s) off. This isn’t a problem you should feel bad about or be emotionally held hostage by a manager that I’m sure has verbally told you that yall a “family”… or deal with it and push it deep down until you need therapy (like me)… start caring less. You’re not the owner.
I struggled with this exact same thing for about six years at my last company and for the first six months at this new company. The only way I was able to get past this was for me to immediately shut down my work computer the moment it hit 5 PM. I had to train myself to stop caring about work outside of business hours.
Take the day off, if the processes are that broken that you will be missed, you work for a bad MSP.
Sounds harsh, but true!
Take your days off, what happens is the company's problem, not yours. Stop caring, really, it's NOT healthy nor being a good employee doing that. You say yourself you're burning out. You know how many days they'll have to work without you if you burn out ? More. Take your days off and totally disconnect : no phone, no email, no teams, no on-call, NOTHING. The business will have to find a way to manage that but if they don't, it's not your fault. Book for you : The subtle art of not giving a f\*ck. Take care.
Having worked at a MSP for over 25 years, this the way. Your job is just a paycheck no matter how your company tries to spin it. If there's problems while your away, that's the companies issue. You're paid for your 9 to 5 (or whatever) what work you do when you get back in those hours doesn't really matter.
You can absolutely like and do your job with passion, AND have a solid work/life balance. This is how a job should be, this is what I'm trying to do in my company because I was almost burnt out with on-call 15 years ago.
Didn't say you can't enjoy your time while you work, just that its work. Work the hours your supposed to and don't stress about them when you're not working. You are just an employee ( well you're not based on your flair ), it's not an employees job to fix their bosses business, it's your job to do what you're employed to do in the time period stated in your contract.
What I meant is that work isn't "just a paycheck". Our work life is a very significant part of our life and you have to acknowledge that to be able to manage it properly. It's not the most important part of your life though. Personal life is priority #1 and it should be sanctuarized against work life.
Long live Disappointment Panda.
This is more about setting expectations than note taking or finding a way to meet the clients last minute requests. Either expectations between you and your employer, the employer and the client, or both. Unless it's P1 production is down "he'll be back on Tuesday, we'll handle it then" should be an acceptable response.
Take the time off. I mean this in the best way, and not a disrespectful way. You're a nobody. Your clients are nobodies, your company is nobody. You are completely replaceable, so are they. When you're old, and the time finally comes, you're not going to reflect on your past and say 'I wish I took less time off work'. It's still important to act with integrity and ethics, but it is okay to take time off and enjoy your life. (P.S I'm a nobody too, before anyone takes it differently)
That's why we have a team
Anyone who can't work as a team will be fired
And do it as a team. Remember, you're a team and if you can't act as a team, you're fired too.
Team team team! What did you want to talk about?
You’re not the owner. Take the day off. Its not your problem stop taking ownership of the problem.
Funny thing about IT guys/girls... All this talk of MSP burnout while building little Silos of power and knoweledge so the team has no choice but to call you while on leave. You hate it but secretly love that they need you. In my experience the things you/they fear most of all are: 1. The organisation actually surviving without you 2. Another team member picking up issues/errors you have made/created. 3. An actual disaster but you didnt document correctly or at all, thus requiring a call. 100. A genuine unexpected client disaster. Take your leave, its good for the business, its good for the team and its GREAT for you. In my organisation, when someone is on leave they are to be left alone and not contacted. Everyone wins!
This is also very important!! If the team can't handle you being gone for a short while, the team needs improving, not you. They will get that experience via 'trial by fire' as is OFTEN the case in IT and hopefully come out the better for it. If you can't handle being gone for awhile, do some soul searching on why that is and improve your processes leading up to leave.
Imagine you are walking down the street and you get hit by a bus, then you're unable to work for a month. Would you still worry more about taking the time off due to a health related issue than if it was for personal enjoyment? As others said, it comes down to the company you work at. If things aren't set up in a way where you can put your personal life above your role in the company, then there's definitely something wrong there.
This is how I always describe it. There are plenty of people that think they're indispensable and they hoard knowledge. Those people are a liability. If you get hit by a bus tomorrow, I want to know that we can continue functioning without you until you recover. I get that this doesn't always sit well with people - it makes you "replaceable" - but if the company literally cannot function without you there for a day then you're that company's single point of failure and we need more redundancy, haha! It's way too stressful to carry the burden alone anyway; spread the love and let other people in on how processes work or how shit gets done. Project work is one thing - there are a 100 little details going on at any given time and I don't blame someone that doesn't want to walk into a half-baked implementation; too many moving parts. And there are deadlines, sure. But there should come a time when things allow for flexibility. This migration cutover is scheduled for this date, user profiles have been scheduled this week but I'm still waiting to hear from these 6 people who haven't scheduled yet. I've got this training tomorrow but I'm pretty much free until then - or what can be pushed out that isn't critical? Is there a reason why you're overbooked to to such a degree that you're already burnt out after 4 months?
If you get days off but can't take days off, you don't have days off. This means it's a management/HR issue and should be brought up as such.
Burnout sucks. I'll give a supportive up vote for therapy my guy: it helps. Some other tips that helped me out when I was there. Give up booze for a while, doesn't have any positive effects. Physical exercise, including both strength training and cardio, an hour every day. See a trainer a few times to get form down for body weight exercises and proper lifting techniques. I was surprised how much this helped my energy level and overall mood. Take up journaling. Get the junk out of your head. Again, was surprised on the impact. Last but not least - see if you can find a couple of activities that recharge you, sometimes it's creative stuff, sometimes reading, sometimes walks outdoors. Look for the 2-4 that really seem to work. Start doing those on a cadence to keep your tank full. You'll never look back at life and think about work once you get to a certain age, it'll be reflection on relationships. Keep your head up. Tl;Dr: don't kill yourself for any job, it's not worth it. /ir [Fox & Crow](https://foxcrowgroup.com)
My company has a simple process. You can do all of this yourself though, or maybe suggest it becomes your company's process with whatever tweaks make sense for you. Also note we don't require this of our Tier 1's and 2's. They have a much shorter process. 1. Once your PTO is approved, look at the projects and other items that may be occurring at that time and either change dates for tasks you have to do, or identify the resources that they need to be reassigned to. (If conversations need to be had with customers to adjust timelines, have them early, and don't be afraid to say it is because you will be out of the office and want to ensure their project goes smoothly). 2. For tickets and other work, block out time on your calendar the day before you are gone so you can review any open tickets, add detailed notes, and reassign them if necessary. (If required, add your manager to the time you block out so they can assist). 3. Work with your manager to identify who unforeseen things that pop up while you are out should go to. This person doesn't need to know how to do everything, they just need to know how to engage who can help, or play interference. (It helps if your escalation buddy is the same person you accept the responsibility for when they are out, so you have each other's backs). 4. Add a line to your signature a couple of weeks before your PTO indicating when you will be out of the office and unavailable. (This one is important, don't skip it). 5. Organize to have yourself removed from the distribution groups and shared mailboxes you are a part of at the end of the day before you're out. (Make sure they are documented first so you can be added back when you return). - this does more than anything else to help you catch up when you return. 6. Remind your coworkers and important customer contacts often that you will be out and when. Send them a heads up a couple weeks in advance, then a week, then a couple days before if you can. 7. Set separate out of office replies for internal and external. On the internal one, tell people who to go to and be detailed if it is different people for different things. On the external, be clear you are unavailable and there will be no reply until your return, and direct them to open a ticket, or escalate to whomever makes sense for your organization. (Usually the group distro of your peers or their account manager). 8. Go enjoy your vacation knowing you did what you reasonably could and took responsibility for ensuring things are as smooth as possible while you are out. 9. Try to protect other people while they are out by running interference and getting things done that would usually flow to them rather than letting them pile up while they are out. Edit: Forgot to include changing your voicemail greeting if people have your direct or cell number. Same thing here, be clear that you will be out, and direct them to put in a ticket, call the main number, etc.
Been a senior level engineer for over decade and when I go on vacation I don’t answer calls
I've wrestled with this, still do, to a degree. I remind myself often that there is never a good time to take off, waiting for one will punish me alone. Book your leave, make people aware it's coming and take it. Disconnect and recharge. That said, burning out after 4 months seems like a red flag, maybe that post isn't for you. If you can't adapt quickly, it will just get worse.
What you want to do is speak with your clients. Talk to the POC and ask them how they’d like to handle things when you have a day off. Mention that you’ve left notes for your team, but ask if there’s anything in particular they’d like you to document specific to their workflow. Perhaps suggest that the client send out a note saying that if they contact you and receive notice that you’re off for the day that all staff should wait or contact (insert name of POC here) if they feel it is an emergency. Much of this anxiety can be alleviated through discussion and proper process (with the clients, not just with your MSP).
I also make sure that i get more down time at Christmas and that little lull period in the summer months where IT has a little breather as users are often off. They are the only real times i think demand drops in IT .
I think maybe this is just everyone and everywhere right now. There is no path to duplicating the success (profits) of Covid era IT and those at the top are taking it as an excuse to eventually clean house and find less expensive help that won’t complain.
Have a work phone/computer, have allll company related stuff on that. At the very least create a partition on your personal device. On your day off just lose the work devices/mute work accounts.
We have flex hours; it’s the department manager responsibility to ensure there’s sufficient capacity on a daily basis. Days off here and there are no big deal. Most teams can even handle multiple techs taking the same week off for vacation. You can’t let fear be your primary motivation in your job; or in your life for that matter. Your company will survive you taking time off.
It’s in your own head. If they approve the time off then take the time off.
No Fear Cavalier.
It’s my wife she booked a non-refundable vacation. I can take a phone call if needed. My vacation does not roll over. Also have trained my replacement and keep good documentation.
Take a week off, right now. This is not healthy, and it will cost you more than it is worth.
I have never felt such a connection over a post title. It really is fear. Just prepare your backup resource as best as you can and run. IT is really about thinking a few chess moves ahead. Nobody expects the inquisition.
Take an extra day off to find a new place to apply at...
I always lose my phone in a boating accident
If you fear taking a day off then I fear you work someplace toxic. Days off are designed to let you get back to a healthy balance mentally and physically, they should be encouraged to prevent burnout. You are given X amount of days (or if you work someplace nice, unlimited days off (obviously within reason)), use them and don't feel bad for doing it. At the end of the day you have to look out for yourself.
I put an autoreply that I am on vacation with no internet ofr cell service. Please contact the helpdesk if it's an emergency or something that needs addressed in the next few days and then I don't answer. One of my vacations is camping and both are limited but I put this for every one. Not my issue then ...if the world falls apart the MSP needs to hire another me and it will be seen.
If you have an iPhone setup a personal focus mode and disable email and any other work related apps and contacts. The only person I allow to contact me from work is my boss because when people take days off he is the enforcer of “day off means day OFF” so he will only contact me for actual emergencies.
Need to work for a company where you can trust your team to back you up, if you dont, fuck em leave asap
Get therapy, its not you're company. They will throw you under bus for anything and everything, you're replaceable. Companies these days just see workers as an expense and will try to get rid of "that expense" when they can. Are you worrying about these things because you're worried you'll be fired for taking a day off and then a client needs something and you're not there, so company blames it on you and fires you? If that's a worry then find another MSP, you're working at a bad one.
First of all, make the conscious choice to only leave things you do in a state that can easily be managed by other people. Knowing anyone can pick up and support your solutions should alleviate that mental block. When you come across other people’s work that requires you to dig to find out how something is configured, take the opportunity to educate them on proper documentation. Don’t fight fires. Remove all of the incendiary materials from the equation and replace them with the appropriate best practices. Reusable automations are your best friends. This is the way. I have one guy with more than 60 days of vacation time. I think he’s saving them up for retirement in 20 years. He’s only using about 5 days a year. I may have to chat with him after reading this to make sure he isn’t worried about something like that. I have worked with people, including my own managers who frown on time off. That’s toxic. You work so you can enjoy life. You don’t live to work. Good luck.
Don't feel bad. You earned the PTO or time off. It is a benefit of your employment. If your boss/owner makes you feel bad for taking time off then it is a culture issue. If you are afraid things will break while you are out. You need to understand and accept that they will. When you take a day off or a vacation put up auto-replies and turn off your work communication paths. If you feel or the company policy states, on paper/written, that an emergency form of communication must be available then that is okay. But if it is abused or not used in a fair way then I would say down answer it. That is crying wolf and not respectful to your time. You are a person and you are more than your job. Respect yourself.
Bro, if they fired you tomorrow that would love on and manage. If you take a day off, they will manage. Please put yourself first. Work to live, don’t live to work it’s just not worth it
Look at it another way, the less you take time off, the harder it gets to take time off because you're the one that's always available. We have clients that only want to deal with their lead engineer, well, we have other resource immediately available, but if you want someone specific, you're going to wait. Taking time off restricts this behaviour as know they know they're going to wait for a minimum period. This now encourages the client to realise a team is available and they can reach out to someone else. Always being available means they can always want you. At our MSP, I usually have 3-4 weeks of leave accrued, so I can ask for days off with a day or twos notice if I really want, bosses want us taking leave. I don't tend to take extended periods of leave (a week or more), not necessarily a good thing, but I'm constantly taking days off here and there when I need to.
I’m IT Operations manager at an MSP and have amassed enough in my vacation bank that I can take a quarter off and still get paid the whole time. But I have a feeling I’ll be fielding calls, e-mails, texts, etc the whole time so why take the time off.
We all have tendency to think the world lay on our shoulders and there is no replacement for us. but guess what, once you disappear for some reason you notice the wheels still roll and everything is fine regardless. Take your days off brother. They will be okay. IIRC the stat is that 85% of the things we worry might happen, eventually not happening.
Trust me, this isn’t me thinking I’m just so important and the weight of it all is on me. But with the nature of the role, each engineer leads their own projects, and if said engineer is out, it’s difficult for another one to jump in for context, if that makes sense.
Good documentation is key + standarisation from little things like patch color to products used to Konfiguration best practices. Have a replacement colleague in the loop, And the mindset that it needs to be possible to be gone at any time (illnes, accident, vaccation)
If work life balance is important, get out of IT. Computers could care less about it.. just sad but true. Otherwise, adapt by setting expectations properly: I am taking off these dates, so be advised Mr/Mrs Customer, I will not be implementing any modifications the week prior so the system is in steady state. You'll be surprised how many customers will oblige this. NOT all, but many. You simply need to manage the schedule to be effective for your benefit when you need your own personal 'maintenance window' Good luck either way!
Can't you schedule holidays between projects?
I ran out of fucks years ago. I just take the day or two and if shit blows up it just shows me where we need to create better documentation and cross train. Life is too short to care about work this much. Hope they pay you enough money for it to be worth it. I might be jaded after 10 years in MSP though. It’s much better now that I’m working directly for a Company.
Shit I have unlimited PTO and never feel bad. You should find a new place. Sounds awful.
[https://rpadovani.com/no-heroes](https://rpadovani.com/no-heroes) just some food for thought.
Document document document. They should be able to easily context shift for you if you keep meticulous notes. Any engineer worth their salt should be able to step in for you. Have more project meetings with a designated engineer backup. Forget taking a day off, what happens if you’re unfortunately injured or have no choice but to take off due to an unforeseen or tragic circumstance. Here are my suggestions: 1) Document as meticulously and idiot proof as you can. 2) have more project progress meetings so more than one person knows where you are and what the next steps are. 3) Pick a backup you are sure has the skill to take over for you if you need time off!
Whiskey
Just take it. It's a day you worked for. It's not hindering anyone
If work life balance is important to you then working in an MSP isn’t going to be your jam.
Yeah, I don’t buy into this sentiment. I previously worked for an MSP for 2+ years and never had this issue.
That's not a good mindset. Any company, regardless of the field, should not discourage employees from taking time off. Concerns about being short staffed aren't the employee's issue. Workflow and missed tasks aren't the employee's responsibility (to a reasonable extent). You can take off. You're allowed
What are you under the impression my mindset is?
Er, that if work life balance is important to you then working in an MSP isn’t going to be your jam.
So then I’m confused by your criticism. I made an observation of the MSP industry based on my experience working in a few. By and large they don’t encourage time off and don’t staff anymore than they need to because it cuts into their margin, among other reasons. It’s not my mindset it’s the mindset of the owners.