Am I losing it?
 

After years in the maintenance industry, covering a variety of tasks, I'm now a little unsure of my abilities.

I seem to be making more than the usual number of (minor) mistakes. I inspect as I should but find myself re-inspecting the same tasks several times. I've always had good relations with various employers but I am now hearing "whispers about me.

Are these symptoms of a mid-life crisis?

Any reason why you're re-inspecting? Is it because you generally fear having made a mistake or you feel that you are particularly at risk right now? Any other symptoms (clumsyness, forgetfulness etc)? Bottle half full or half empty in your life? On medication for anything? Changed your diet recently? We will need a bit more info if you can in order to help more

Maybe it has to do with the pprune nick?


:)

Spending a lot of time away from home. No longer too keen on travelling but job prospects for a given salary no good back home. No change in diet but I'm eating in hotels and restaurants.

Doubting if you have checked something and having to recheck several times can become a problem, on the other hand if you are making minor mistakes your clearly are re-inspecting the wrong things.

Try to go back to basics- pretend its your first day at the job again- and do every thing by the book and systematically.

If you say check aloud, or something to that effect, every time you have inspected something it really does help. Heard this from a Psychologist.

If you're bored or have other things on your mind then you might 'wake up' thinking "did I check that properly?" and subconsciously forcing yourself to do it again. I do it too sometimes.. the thing that actually helps me most is a decent nights sleep. Give it a shot. If that doesn't work then ask yourself honestly if there's an issue bugging you.

Andy:)

I wonder if the travelling/ hotels etc is causing some underlying stress? I spent 5 months in a hotel when I moved with my job - the catered food, lack of quality sleep (it's never as good when not in your own bed) and a demanding work schedule didn't do wonders for physical or mental well-being in my case. Maybe a holiday in Costa Del Back Garden would help? A couple of weeks back home doing nothing could relax you a bit and clear your mind. The 'back to basics' bit sounds like good advice too...

As a pilot I did a lot of rough hotel living and found the
"Canadian Airforce 5 BX" exercise booklet a great help in staying fit and alert.
And no I did not put it under her hips!
I do not know if this booklet is still produced in an updated form but if you can get your hands on it I think you will benifit from the 10mins exercise a day.

There have been some good replies on this thread, sleep being one of the most important. Rem sleep is vital. This is often impossible in hotels where, no matter how may times you explain...plead...beg, someone will come into your room and Hoover your pillow at some un-Godly hour, because it is convenient to their schedule and to Hell with the guests.

Try hard to remember, and attempt to make a mental log of what you were thinking at the point of self doubt about the task in hand. For instance, if you could catch yourself thinking about someone's illness, or a bank manager's letter, and it became apparent that this or similar thoughts were invading your mind repeatedly during critical work, then you would be well on the road to being able to self analyze and remedy the problem

George, can't really add anything that has been said so far.

Would it be worth attending your doc. for a medical, to perhaps rule out any physical causes for your symptoms ? This process is not that traumatic.