And now I'm covered in cat from my ankles to my chest and the coffee cup is empty and there's half a pot left on the counter. This is how days get wasted.

-t, I just deleted because I'm being a big lazy whiner.

What's your employee status with these guys - freelance contract? Hourly?

I'm a freelance contractor.

I think it is always okay to say something like "I know this is a temporary situation and i am trying to keep up with the extra work load but it is just too much, we need to make some kind of adjustment.

I don't know if that's okay. I feel like, as a freelancer, it's my responsibility to figure out how to get it all done, and if that means working until 11 every night and weekends, then that's what I have to do.

And other people do this (I don't mean at the AMA; I mean other people who have other jobs work crazy 20-hour days for weeks at a time) so it doesn't feel okay to be overwhelmed and stressed by this, or to even SAY that I'm overwhelmed and stressed by this, especially when other people who work crazy long hours don't complain. I feel like the problem is with ME and that I'm the lazy whiner who probably should get a job at McDonald's if I can't handle working until 11 every night.

I feel like, as a freelancer, it's my responsibility to figure out how to get it all done, and if that means working until 11 every night and weekends, then that's what I have to do.

That's not true. As a freelancer, you have the ability to only accept as much work as you want or need to do, if you're in the enviable position of too much work.

Aaaaah, fuck it. I'm sorry. I'm ridiculous. It'll work itself out, or it won't. Other people do this and figure out how to handle the work, so I need to stop being a lazy whiner and shut the fuck up about it.

You are not being a lazy whiner! You can set boundaries!

That's not true. As a freelancer, you have the ability to only accept as much work as you want or need to do, if you're in the enviable position of too much work.

I'm afraid that if I turn down work they'll think I'm lazy, and I really don't want to risk losing this job. I feel like I need to just suck it up and deal with it, even if it means working until 11 at night and weekend and not having time to exercise or have a damn conversation with my husband.

Tep, after a while working those hours produce diminishing returns, you know? There does come a point where there's too much work for the available hours in the day, and it's okay to say that. It's better, actually, than taking on too much and then fucking up by not getting it done well or on time (see: me).

I feel like I need to just suck it up and deal with it, even if it means working until 11 at night and weekend and not having time to exercise or have a damn conversation with my husband.

I wouldn't say that was true even if you were an employee, and I think it's even less true as a contractor. (Speaking from a place where many of my colleagues have worked til 11 several nights over the past few weeks.)

Borrow some of my bad attitude, Steph. I've got a shitton going on at work and yet I'm sitting here unwashed, covered in cats at noon because I'll be DAMNED, they don't get my damned vacation hours. Even if I don't use them well.

We don't owe our jobs our mental health (says the rage bomb since July. Working on it...)

I feel like if I don't do it, they'll fire me and find someone who will. I don't really have any sense of proportion here.