How can I make fast-paced consulting work feel sustainable again?
I'm an engineering consultant with nearly 20 years of experience, and I'm struggling with the pace of the industry.
What’s triggering this is: recently, a contractor caught a mistake I made before anything was built. It was fixable, but I couldn’t help but spiral down the path of imposter syndrome which leaves me feeling defeated and questioning if I can even do the job or if I’m even competent. I feel constantly rushed, and as a result I'm making mistakes that I shouldn't be making at this point in my career. I know it happens, but it leaves me feeling defeated.
The last 5 years have felt increasingly chaotic. Every day feels like a fire drill, last minute project changes are constant, - which of course is leading to errors… and I also spend a significant amount of time reviewing work for a mid-level engineer’s work that cannot be trusted. My boss is well aware of this, but nothing is changing.
Over the past 5 years, I’ve also taken extended time off, changed jobs, created self-improvement plans, built checklists, and even tried leaving the industry. I’m too burned out to even do the checklists - burnout is weird like that. But, what I learned is that I actually like this field and don't want to leave it.
What I'm trying to figure out is how to make this career sustainable again. Has anyone successfully slowed down, and reduced mistakes? What did you do, exactly? (Checklists, fewer hours? How did you talk to your boss?) I'm not interested in working more than 40 hours a week for improvement because I’m already burned out, but I also don't know how to stop feeling rushed all the time.