Not sure what to do...

[AdviceSought]

Anyway, for quite a while now, I've been feeling down with my life, got a fair bit of debt which I'm starting to sort out, essentially homeless (sleeping on a relatives sofa) and stuck in a job I really don't like, with no prospect of changing that situation any time soon.

This has been starting to adversely effect my diet, so I went to my GP to chat, and basically got a lecture about the damage I can do if I don't sort my diet and told that I just need to sort my work situation.

In terms of my work, I'm well behind with what I should be doing, due to having to do so much other tasks that I shouldn't really have to do. I'm now getting grief about being behind, despite them knowing the main reasons why I'm behind with things.

The GP did offer to sign me off, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get paid, and even if I did, I'd just return to a worse situation than I'm currently in anyway after the week or whatever they'd sign me off for.

The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if I get sacked in the next couple of months due to being behind.

There are very few jobs being advertised locally that I can actually apply for at the moment. 95% of them I'm either not experienced for or qualified for.

I just feel caught in such a vicious circle and really don't know what to do hence posting on here...

[ForestP]

Without knowing your full situation I can't really give you specific advice, have you looked at temping agencies? I was in a similar position to you once, I got some weekend work alongside my crappy weekday job, I did short term contact work on the weekdays and ran with a 7 day week for a while, it worked out well because, like you I was effectively homeless, so as I was at work all the time I only had to come back for sleep, I actually managed to get a few jobs where they put me up in a B&B because the job involved a lot of travelling around the country.

Whilst I was doing this I made enough money to pay off all my debts and put a deposit down for a flat, once I moved in I kept up the 7 day week for a while so I could buy things like a microwave and get a head start on bills, then I ditched the contract work and weekend job and got myself a 9-5 relatively easily thanks to all the experience I gained whilst contracting.

During this time I had no social life, no time to myself, spent all my time sleeping (including some lunch hours) and near to the end I was starting to get very ill (mentally and physically), but I only had to do it for about 8 months, which in the scheme of things isn't that long, but it really turned my life around and made things so much easier for me in the long term.

Short term contracts pay a lot, but they don't have security, that's why I got a more regular weekend job so that If I struggled to get another contract I would still have an income, contracts were actually easier to come by than I initially expected, and I managed to get some projects with one off payments which helped me out immensely. I also got a load of experience which still helps me out years on. I still do some contract work now for customers I gained years ago, even though I have a full time job. The issue I have now is that I have a bit too much work coming my way, and I fell obligated to help. I moan about it but I use the extra money I get in from it to pay for my therapy which helps me sort out a lot of the issues I acquired whilst in my younger years.

Watch your diet, easy to clog your arteries, not so easy to reverse it, I lost 2 stone doing the above, probably not the best way of loosing weight but when you are really busy you forget to eat, I also fell into the trap of only eating when the customer paid which saved me a load more money.

There is always a way out, sometimes you need to take a chance.

Forest