Ive taken a job as a service writer in a large dealership because of the high earning potential. Its was a great job at first very exciting fast paced but as the weeks wore on the 12hr days of trying to stay focused is quite frankly killing me. My job requires me to stay on top of things ALL the time every minuite im there. Even worse we dont even get to take a lunch break...we have to get someone else to bring us lunch and eat it at our desk. We get lots of warranty work and it requires the paperwork to be done correctly and needs lots of attention to detail. To top it off with all the stress one day I got sick and went to the doctor and now ive been diagnosed with high blood pressure. The doc said I need to reduce my stress levels.....how the hell am I going to do that at this job?
Not sure what im going to do.....quitting would just add the the long list of failures in my life.......

Firstly..its a new job, it will be more stressful until you impose your own order on things. If there is no way that you see the situation improving as you become skilled at the job then the you will be significantly shortening your life if you continue.

12 hour days, no lunch break......that kills people, your choice....high earning short life or lower earning long(er) life.

I'm 45 and my ADD has resulted in me living a very stressed life. Yesterday I had an angiogram, not something I think you want to undergo. Luckily I am health concious enough to have noticed the symptoms early so that no intervention is required.

My advice.....get a 5 year plan.....and know that you are in this job only to stack up cash and that you will be moving on to something better for you before a certain date, if of course the stress doesn't make you flip and insult the boss before then. By the sound of it every year you work there will take a year off your life

Oh yes.....one final question....what do you do with the money thats so important to you....? (Better pension/healthcare are not permissable answers by the way!)

kilt

I agree with the Scotsman. Get a 5 year plan written down.
That will put current things into perspective and set your priorities correctly for the new job and everything else.

As far as working 12 hours with no breaks. Last I heard that was against federal law if you are an hourly employee. I'm not saying to battle with your boss about it--but try to look at it from the perspective of ALL of the service writers. Even those without ADHD don't like working 12 hours w/o a break and I guarantee their performance suffers from it.

Maybe you could start asking around how they deal with it and stay on top of things. You could also put the bug in the ear of someone who has been there the longest that they could improve performance by alowing their employees to take a lunch break. It's good for you, good for them and good for the dealership. Win/Win/Win.

Considering that you are customer facing--I can't imagine you are all bright and chipper and friendly after about 8 hours with no break. That totally affects their repeat business rate.

Firstly..its a new job, it will be more stressful until you impose your own order on things. If there is no way that you see the situation improving as you become skilled at the job then the you will be significantly shortening your life if you continue.

12 hour days, no lunch break......that kills people, your choice....high earning short life or lower earning long(er) life.

I'm 45 and my ADD has resulted in me living a very stressed life. Yesterday I had an angiogram, not something I think you want to undergo. Luckily I am health concious enough to have noticed the symptoms early so that no intervention is required.

My advice.....get a 5 year plan.....and know that you are in this job only to stack up cash and that you will be moving on to something better for you before a certain date, if of course the stress doesn't make you flip and insult the boss before then. By the sound of it every year you work there will take a year off your life

Oh yes.....one final question....what do you do with the money thats so important to you....? (Better pension/healthcare are not permissable answers by the way!)

kilt

just tired of living paycheck to paycheck....lots of things I actually enjoy dont pay much. So here I am and I feel like ive bitten off more than I can chew...I guess in the long run the money is worthless if your dead.

And yeah ive already nearly insulted the boss....luckily I didnt

I agree with the Scotsman. Get a 5 year plan written down.
That will put current things into perspective and set your priorities correctly for the new job and everything else.

As far as working 12 hours with no breaks. Last I heard that was against federal law if you are an hourly employee. I'm not saying to battle with your boss about it--but try to look at it from the perspective of ALL of the service writers. Even those without ADHD don't like working 12 hours w/o a break and I guarantee their performance suffers from it.

Maybe you could start asking around how they deal with it and stay on top of things. You could also put the bug in the ear of someone who has been there the longest that they could improve performance by alowing their employees to take a lunch break. It's good for you, good for them and good for the dealership. Win/Win/Win.

Considering that you are customer facing--I can't imagine you are all bright and chipper and friendly after about 8 hours with no break. That totally affects their repeat business rate.
Im not an hourly employee, I make 500 base salary and commission/bonus of 6% of what i writeup. If you know of any laws regarding this it would be great if you could show me.

As far as how others have dealt with this I was told that we have to just grab our ankles and take it. As you can imagine there is a fair amount of turnover in this position. Typically new service writers here only last 6 months. Our top service writer has been working a couple of years BUT hes taking home a 6 figure income so its worth it for him. Im a new guy and only making 25% of what he makes.

At our dealership the focus is on customer service and they put a HUGE emphasis on CSI (customer satisfaction surveys). So keeping every customer happy is very important....very difficult when you have15+ customers per day to stay on top of. As you can imagine most people are already ****ed off when they have to take time off thier day to bring in their $40k car for service cause something is broken

I am going to a job fair tomorrow. I know I will do well. I also have an interview. That will go fine too.

Problem is, I AM ME! and I have ADD Combo!

I am not trying to create my own demise before I start, but it sucks not only for me, but everyone around me knowing what I know about myself and how the carousel works.

So I get hired at company X, do great in training, do great at the job, then, at some point, ADD takes over, everyone notices it, and I am a freak or retard and back at square one. But I am 40 as opposed to 20, so it is not funny anymore or productive for my growth professionally.

I am willing to put my disorder and personal issues on a shelf so that I can earn money. Hopefully that will bring the spark back. Blinders on. Deep Breaths....

FEELINGS INSIDE RIGHT NOW: ANGER! CRYING! FRUSTRATED! LOST! OUT OF MY MIND!

ADD is like an enabling drinking buddy. You love him to death, but you want to end the relationship and accomplish new and different things. But then, when you least expect it, he shows up, he has tickets to the game and a car load of booze.

My name is INSANITY. This will be a short ride, but you should probably wear your seatbelt, just in case.