Okie:

It's been a pleasure reading your posts and getting to know you. I hate to hear you say you're leaving after what seems such a short period of time, but I understand it.

Please take care of yourself, mentally as well as physically. I know it may be hard to believe, but we do genuinely care about you. -gives your hand a gentle squeeze-

Doc~

P.S. Therapy can work wonders.

Okie, here's the best I can sincerely offer words of my wisdom, for what it's worth...

I've retired early after a company planned severance (one of seven or eight during my tenure). Due to the contract basis of my employer, I knew it was likely inevitable. I planned for the possibility. But I confirmed an important thing that I heard about over and over. You can't just retire FROM something (to nothing). You must retire TO something. You need to find something that really interests YOU. I know I have more than a lifetime of DIY things that I enjoy doing since I was a child as well as travel. You need to find yours.

Never stop learning. I'm convinced that when you stop learning, you stop having interest in life.

You need friendship. A spouse, a family member, an old classmate, etc.

You got this. It's an opportunity to enjoy.

Thanks to both Okie and SA for the superlative compliments.

For my taste, it has never been the length of a post, rather the content, syntax, spelling and overall grammar. Both posters express themselves well and provide information I consider valuable.

I have enjoyed your posts, Okie. They have all been well reasoned. I was retired by a Fortune 100 company in 2015. Note that I said that they retired me, as well as thousands of others. I did not choose to retire, and I knew that I would hate doing nothing. I have done some consulting (high paying, high stress, often lots of international travel, sporadic and virtually non-existent since COVID) since then, but MSing has been a way to fill in time. For me, doing nothing is not viable. MSing is a vital part of my mental well-being. The nice thing about MSing is that you can do as much or as little as you want. I suggest that you select shops that give you pleasure in some way and bid adieu to shops that you find stressful or not worth doing.

@Okie all of us need to find our own relationship with MSing. I went through a burnout a years back and made a smilier post about it. Probably longer. I think there is some catharsis in typing it all out that helps you let go.

I have gone from part to shopper, to full-time shopper, to working for a MSC, and back to very part time shopper, and finally found the relationship that works for me. I am fortunate that my career outside of MSing has blossomed over the past decade and allowed me to shop purely for entertainment. I probably spend more time on this forum than actually MSing these days.

But I wouldn't trade the experiences. Even when I was overwhelmed, I had some great times, and friends I have made from this very forum will last a lifetime. Some of them were at my wedding!

Find the time to take care of yourself and learn to pepper in the MSing where it fits.

Okie, I agree with Myst4au, as it brought a thought to my mind from 2007. That was the yr. I configured my shopping to be profitable. I divided jobs into three categories: Money, lifestyle and defrayment of travel expenses. If specific work or a company caused me any aggravation, it was eliminated.

I have no issue with long posts as long as they are divided into proper paragraphs, punctuation, and spelling. Mystery shopping was my sole source of income from 2008 until 2018 when Social Security kicked in and essentially doubled my monthly income. I took a break for the pandemic and then resumed mystery shopping, but I became more picky and cut my monthly shops from 80-100 down to 50-60. I continue to work instead of retiring, because I like this job.

The best remedy for burn-out is a vacation.

I almost burnt out before I even got properly started. I made the mistake of shopping with an MSC that paid very little and I tried to make profitable routes, and made myself sick regularly. And I'm just now, nearly 8 or 9 years later, starting to be able to take jobs that require a lot of narrative, after doing a fast casual Mexican restaurant shop that was more narrative than information.

I still hide from narrative when I can, but if it's something I want to do, the narrative no longer scares me or makes my stomach flip.

I will not shy away from narrative-intensive shops if they pay reasonably. However, it does not make sense for me to take a $30 apartment shop that requires a 90-minute narrative and 30 minutes or more of pre-visit phone tag, when I could spend that same 2 hours and get $60 for 3 gas station audits with on-site submission and no additional work at home after the shop.

Last summer (I'm a teacher), I mystery shopped non-stop, pretty much. I had had a family tragedy, and I knew I needed to keep busy or I would go insane, and I needed to make some extra money for unexpected costs related to it. I did $3200 worth of shops (not including reimbursements) from Jjuly 1-August 21, which was the day before school started again here. It kept me sane, it kept me from crying all day, it gave me a purpose,
a reason to get out of bed, and it gave me something to focus on.

Having said that, there is no way I could keep up that pace year-round, even if I didn't have a full-time teaching job. One, the jobs just aren't here for that (rotation limits meant there were some better paying shops shops I couldn't do for another year or ever again, and then some it just wasn't realistic to do again (ie mattress shops where there is the same employee there most of the time)), but, also, I know myself, and it just isn't sustainable.

Now I do jobs here and there that I think I will enjoy, are convenient, but also allow me time off. School ended on the 14th, and I've only done seven jobs since then, and I only have seven more scheduled at the moment. They're all for companies with whom I have a good working relationship (at least from my perspective; who knows what they think), and I'd like to keep myself in the loop while also taking time for myself this summer (quite frankly, last summer was about avoiding what truly might have overwhelmed me, while this summer is much more about healing from that).

One of the things I enjoy most about mystery shopping is it allows me the flexibility to fit it into my life according to where I am in my life. It was there when I needed it, but now I can step back from it and be okay. I hope you find the balance you want and need, too.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2024 09:30PM by mysterioso412.