Ever just get that miserable feeling?

[Eels]

OK, I have a great job. A fantastic job. The sort of job loads of people want to do, but very few get to. It's less glam than its image, but very very rewarding, the pay is ok and my colleagues are cool.

The hours absolutely suck, and at the moment I'm doing loads extra (think only ~28 hours a week when I know the phone won't ring) because of staffing difficulties. I don't usually mind, because I enjoy it and I care about the business and someone has to do the work. But I'm not due a day off for another month now, and I'm feeling so down about it - tired, fraught, and it's all mixed in with feelings of incompetence and self-doubt because a few things have gone wrong recently and I tend to take that sort of stuff to heart.

My boyf is wonderful - he plonks me down on the sofa, opens me a bottle of wine and makes sure I eat a decent meal at nights, but I feel he gets neglected sometimes. But work is so very important to me - doing this job makes me feel happy - deep down happy, satisfied, proud of myself, valuable and valued happy.

Can you have it all? Do I have any right to moan when I am so lucky? Is a dream job only a dream job if you can have enough time to yourself to do the things you want? I'm having a major Monday here!

[jno]

ideally, we work to live, we don't live to work. Work is just a means to an end - to make money to help us enjoy the non-working time. But we all need a break, time to pursue outside interests, to see friends and so on. Your job gives you all you want (you're not a supermodel, are you?) - but it also takes a lot. It sounds as if the minuses may be starting to outweigh the pluses. All very well them saying 'staffing difficulties', but it must surely be someone's responsibility to ensure proper staffing. And aren't there health and safety issues involved? Working those hours is not good for you; 28 hours' rest is really not enough, not in any job.

Without knowing what work you do it's hard to say what can be done about it, but the fact that you've posted this question suggests you're aware that you're being given too heavy a burden. Yes, you do have a right to complain.