TL;DR: I'm burned out in a remote IT consulting role while living abroad with nothing else lined up. Do I reduce my hours, try to transition into different responsibilities, or give notice and take a break before finding something else?

I work remotely as an IT consultant/contractor. I was originally an employee, but when my work visa expired and the company couldn't sponsor me, they offered to keep me on as a contractor with the flexibility to work from almost anywhere. I'm genuinely grateful for that, which makes this harder.

The role has changed quite a bit over the last several months and I'm struggling with where it's heading (introduction of new KPIs, additional administration, increasing work tasks whenever I try to provide feedback, etc.).

I manage multiple client projects and I'm expected to keep them within budget while delivering the agreed scope. Some of the targets don't account well for the complexity of the work. A relatively minor deliverable can effectively have the same time expectation as something much more involved.

At the same time, the admin and tracking have increased significantly. I have to account for basically my entire day task by task, alongside forecasting, reporting and client work. Expectations and categories haven't always been clear or consistent, and I've sometimes been asked weeks later to go back and explain how time was spent.

The extra admin hasn't come with reduced delivery targets, and I'm at the point where it's affecting my wellbeing and motivation.

Normally I'd just do the minimum for a while and look for another job. That's difficult here because I have daily deliverables, a lot of client work is recorded, and almost everything I do is time tracked. If I mentally check out, it'll become obvious pretty quickly.

I also recently got frustrated and handled a conversation with my manager badly. I sent too much at once and was more confrontational than I should have been. I regret how I handled that and want to repair the relationship.

There aren't performance concerns and my manager has said they want me to stay. I'd also like to leave on good terms and hopefully use them as a reference in the future.

The other complication is that I'm living in a foreign country on the other side of the world with no job lined up. I'm drained enough that continuing full time while seriously job hunting doesn't feel very realistic.

So I see three options:

A) Ask to reduce my hours, keep some income and give myself enough headspace to recover and figure out what's next.

B) Ask to transition some of my responsibilities and focus more on work that better fits my skills, to see if the role can become sustainable again.

C) Accept that I'm done, give notice, hand my projects over professionally, take a proper break and then start looking for something else.

What would you do?

TL;DR: I'm burned out in a remote IT consulting role while living abroad with nothing else lined up. Do I reduce my hours, try to transition into different responsibilities, or give notice and take a break before finding something else?

I work remotely as an IT consultant/contractor. I was originally an employee, but when my work visa expired and the company couldn't sponsor me, they offered to keep me on as a contractor with the flexibility to work from almost anywhere. I'm genuinely grateful for that, which makes this harder.

The role has changed quite a bit over the last several months and I'm struggling with where it's heading.

I manage multiple client projects and I'm expected to keep them within budget while delivering the agreed scope. Some of the targets don't account well for the complexity of the work. A relatively minor deliverable can effectively have the same time expectation as something much more involved.

At the same time, the admin and tracking have increased significantly. I have to account for basically my entire day task by task, alongside forecasting, reporting and client work. Expectations and categories haven't always been clear or consistent, and I've sometimes been asked weeks later to go back and explain how time was spent.

The extra admin hasn't come with reduced delivery targets, and I'm at the point where it's affecting my wellbeing and motivation.

Normally I'd just do the minimum for a while and look for another job. That's difficult here because I have daily deliverables, a lot of client work is recorded, and almost everything I do is time tracked. If I mentally check out, it'll become obvious pretty quickly.

I also recently got frustrated and handled a conversation with my manager badly. I sent too much at once and was more confrontational than I should have been. I regret how I handled that and want to repair the relationship.

There aren't performance concerns and my manager has said they want me to stay. I'd also like to leave on good terms and hopefully use them as a reference in the future.

The other complication is that I'm living in a foreign country on the other side of the world with no job lined up. I'm drained enough that continuing full time while seriously job hunting doesn't feel very realistic.

So I see three options:

A) Ask to reduce my hours, keep some income and give myself enough headspace to recover and figure out what's next.

B) Ask to transition some of my responsibilities and focus more on work that better fits my skills, to see if the role can become sustainable again.

C) Accept that I'm done, give notice, hand my projects over professionally, take a proper break and then start looking for something else.

What would you do?

I used to enjoy my job, but feeling like the role has evolved into something I'm not suited for anymore. I'm looking for advice on how to proceed.

I'm looking for some honest advice because I can't tell if this role is worth trying to save or if it's simply time to move on.

I've been with my company for about 1.5 years. I started as a full-time employee, but when my work visa expired they couldn't sponsor me. Instead of parting ways, they offered to keep me on as a contractor and let me work remotely from anywhere in the world. I'm genuinely grateful for that, which is why I'm finding this so hard.

I work as a consultant managing several projects. Over the last few months, the role has evolved. We've introduced strict budget KPIs without really changing project scope or processes, along with detailed forecasting, much more reporting, and reporting timesheets (by each task, per project, 15-minute entries, etc.). I cannot meet the KPIs and am increasingly unhappy. My boss just says "have more confidence" & "you can do it" (after I said I can't).

Another challenge is that whenever I raise a process issue, it somehow becomes my responsibility to investigate it, gather data, build a case, meet with stakeholders, and implement a solution. I actually enjoy improving processes, but I can't keep taking on more while still delivering multiple projects.

My manager started off as a decent guy, and the company has listed to feedback in the past. A lot of my ideas have actually been implemented. But lately it feels like every conversation creates another task for me to own. What used to feel collaborative now feels like an uphill battle, and the increased reporting is starting to feel like micromanagement (i.e., my boss is starting to follow up & explain why I spent time on activity X, etc.).

The hard part is that I'm overseas, my contract requires 30 days' notice, and as a contractor I don't have paid leave. Honestly, I'm so mentally drained that I'm struggling to find the energy to apply for other jobs, which makes leaving feel risky too.

So... how would you approach this?

Would you try one more honest conversation about workload and expectations, or does this sound like a role that's simply evolved into something that isn't right for me?

I'm looking for some honest advice because I can't tell if this role is worth trying to save or if it's simply time to move on.

I've been with my company for about 1.5 years. I started as a full-time employee, but when my work visa expired they couldn't sponsor me. Instead of parting ways, they offered to keep me on as a contractor and let me work remotely from anywhere in the world. I'm genuinely grateful for that, which is why I'm finding this so hard.

I work as a consultant managing several projects. Over the last few months, the role has evolved. We've introduced strict budget KPIs without really changing project scope or processes, along with detailed forecasting, much more reporting, and reporting timesheets (by each task, per project, 15-minute entries, etc.). None of those things are bad on their own, but together they've added a lot of overhead.

Another challenge is that whenever I raise a process issue, it somehow becomes my responsibility to investigate it, gather data, build a case, meet with stakeholders, and implement a solution. I actually enjoy improving processes, but I can't keep taking on more while still delivering multiple projects.

My manager started off as a decent guy, and the company has listed to feedback in the past. A lot of my ideas have actually been implemented. But lately it feels like every conversation creates another task for me to own. What used to feel collaborative now feels like an uphill battle, and the increased reporting is starting to feel like micromanagement (i.e., my boss is starting to follow up & explain why I spent time on activity X, etc.).

The hard part is that I'm overseas, my contract requires 30 days' notice, and as a contractor I don't have paid leave. Honestly, I'm so mentally drained that I'm struggling to find the energy to apply for other jobs, which makes leaving feel risky too.

So... how would you approach this?

Would you try one more honest conversation about workload and expectations, or does this sound like a role that's simply evolved into something that isn't right for me?

Note: The new KPIs are not possible for me to achieve. So I don't how to approach this or when to call it quits but still leave on good terms with a reference. Quiet quitting isn't an option as I have to track and report on all my work activities.

I'm looking for some honest advice because I can't tell if this role is worth trying to save or if it's simply time to move on.

I've been with my company for about 1.5 years. I started as a full-time employee, but when my work visa expired they couldn't sponsor me. Instead of parting ways, they offered to keep me on as a contractor and let me work remotely from anywhere in the world. I'm genuinely grateful for that, which is why I'm finding this so hard.

I work as a consultant managing several projects. Over the last few months, the role has evolved. We've introduced strict budget KPIs without really changing project scope or processes, along with detailed forecasting, much more reporting, and reporting timesheets (by each task, per project, 15-minute entries, etc.). None of those things are bad on their own, but together they've added a lot of overhead.

Another challenge is that whenever I raise a process issue, it somehow becomes my responsibility to investigate it, gather data, build a case, meet with stakeholders, and implement a solution. I actually enjoy improving processes, but I can't keep taking on more while still delivering multiple projects.

My manager started off as a decent guy, and the company has listed to feedback in the past. A lot of my ideas have actually been implemented. But lately it feels like every conversation creates another task for me to own. What used to feel collaborative now feels like an uphill battle, and the increased reporting is starting to feel like micromanagement (i.e., my boss is starting to follow up & explain why I spent time on activity X, etc.).

The hard part is that I'm overseas, my contract requires 30 days' notice, and as a contractor I don't have paid leave. Honestly, I'm so mentally drained that I'm struggling to find the energy to apply for other jobs, which makes leaving feel risky too.

So... how would you approach this?

Would you try one more honest conversation about workload and expectations, or does this sound like a role that's simply evolved into something that isn't right for me?