Thread: Feelings Really Stressed and Tired

I am so stressed and tired right now; and feeling very unappreciated.

I've put in long hours and I'm going back and trying to figure out what the last gal did before I started.

I'm to the point where I'm wondering if this is even worth it.

Anybody else feeling this way ?

no, but we've been at our facility for almost 3 years now...so we've got it pretty much the way we want it. The first 6 months at any new storage job, PARTICULARLY if you are taking over a facility that was poorly run and/or had high manager turnover, is very stressful.

On our 2nd storage job, at the end of the first day, we went home to the hotel we were staying at while waiting for the previous managers to vacate the apartment, and spent most of the evening debating whether to go back for the 2nd day or not. It was only the fact that everything we owned was sitting in a U-Haul and we had no place to go, no income, and no health insurance that forced us back to that facility the next morning....we ended up staying there for 3 years, but the first 6 months were grueling.

When we had been here on our 3rd storage job for exactly one year, we had everything perfect...the facility was spotless, all the infrared cameras worked, the computers were running well, facility was over 95% full, customers happy, revenue growing, all the broken stuff repaired and all maintenance done, lights working everywhere..everything was perfect in every way...and I went home that night thinking "ahhhhhh...it just doesn't get better then this".

That very night we had a bad lightening storm, we came in to work the next day to find 12 cameras fried, the dvd recorder, one of our big monitors in the office, my computer, everything inside the gate controller box, much of our outdoor and building lighting, and just about everything else in the facility that had a battery or electrical power. The only saving graces was my husband's computer and the phones still worked. Other then those 2 items, we had to start all over again.

Has it been worth it over the last 7 years to get where we are now? It feels like it was worth it now, but I wouldn't want to go through some of those times again.

The first months are brutal. When we got here the previous manager had not raised rates in two years, had not sent a late notice, had not auctioned any units, had not cleaned the property and had not done any bank work (other than making the deposits) for more than two years. It took us months to get it turned around. But having done this at other sites, we knew there would be good times down the road, so we kept at it. I would say give it some time before you decide. And it does not matter what the other gal did or did not do, you need to do it your way, so that it fits you not her.Hang in there, and if there is anything I can do let us know. I will gladly give you our number.

Thanks for your replies.

Somedays I feel like I am spinning my wheels. I get tenants yelling at me when I call them for being overdue, because the last manager let them go for almost 90 days before acting. Slowly, I am getting things more organized.

I don't have that problem storage-gal....as soon as my delinquent tenants see my phone # on the caller id, they ignore the call and let it go to voice mail....and their voice mail box is usually full and not accepting any more messages.

You'll get through it and those will be a distant memory once you've tidied things up as it sound you are doing!

Keep on trucking!

Do like I do, adopt the philosophy of working for yourself not your employer. Make every task something you want to do and try to ignore the pressures of working with the public. When it seems like no one else appreciates what you do, take out a picture of your family and smile, for you know they do. Above all else respect, congradulate, and reward yourself. Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS, give yourself something you want, eat too much, drink too much, laugh and love til you drop.

Its easy to get down and frustrated. I came to my facility and the previous manager was moving money around on accounts and vacating delinquent units, missing money from penske all sorts of stuff. It took me awhile to really get the facility back to where it should have been, but in all that time I just focused on a simple goal for each week or month. I continued to get the facility cleaned up and situated. To me find one positive thing each week and concentrate on that one.