I have been lucky to have managers who want me to succeed and I operate that way myself, so I take the above message at face value.
If I am your manager, my goal is to make you long run successful. That means if you are burning out, or are busy doing things that you don't need to worry about - it's my job to help you fix it.
What I very often see with people is the metaphorical trash on the floor problem. Being good employees, they pick up a piece of trash in the lobby. This is good. But over time, they may accidentally get sucked in doing janitorial work full time and ignoring their real job.
I see the manager's email as looking into this - what is going on with the employee, are they doing something wrong that's stressing them out and how can I help?
A lot of people in this thread tell you yo take the managers email at face value and I think they are right at least as the first path. Notice that you are probably reading this wrong as evidenced by your own outcomes - you always lose the job or quit which may be evidence that your ability to navigate this situation is poor. Your instinct to ask others (us) for advice is right and you should stick with it even if the advice feels counter intuitive to you.
There's also the question of how you find meaning in your work and I do think it's mainly up to us. If the company needs you to do X and you need the money and can't find another job, then part of your responsibility to yourself is to figure that out. For example, can you do X while learning how to do X more efficiently so you can do it in less time? Can you bond to your colleagues more? Is there truly no lateral movement in the company, etc?
My personal experience however is this - people who are genuinely interested in a wide range of experiences and roles already structured their career to maximize that exposure. If someone is mid-career and hasn't bothered to do it , chances are it's not their primary motivator. So likely it's not "the job" that's boring per se, it's the temptation to not work, to be outside in the sun.
By the way - have you tried the simplest approach? Take the laptop outside so you can work and enjoy the weather at the same time?
I am throwing a lot at the wall here but it's the same advice is give a friend who was "struggling" through this.
If I am your manager, my goal is to make you long run successful. That means if you are burning out, or are busy doing things that you don't need to worry about - it's my job to help you fix it.
What I very often see with people is the metaphorical trash on the floor problem. Being good employees, they pick up a piece of trash in the lobby. This is good. But over time, they may accidentally get sucked in doing janitorial work full time and ignoring their real job.
I see the manager's email as looking into this - what is going on with the employee, are they doing something wrong that's stressing them out and how can I help?
A lot of people in this thread tell you yo take the managers email at face value and I think they are right at least as the first path. Notice that you are probably reading this wrong as evidenced by your own outcomes - you always lose the job or quit which may be evidence that your ability to navigate this situation is poor. Your instinct to ask others (us) for advice is right and you should stick with it even if the advice feels counter intuitive to you.
There's also the question of how you find meaning in your work and I do think it's mainly up to us. If the company needs you to do X and you need the money and can't find another job, then part of your responsibility to yourself is to figure that out. For example, can you do X while learning how to do X more efficiently so you can do it in less time? Can you bond to your colleagues more? Is there truly no lateral movement in the company, etc?
My personal experience however is this - people who are genuinely interested in a wide range of experiences and roles already structured their career to maximize that exposure. If someone is mid-career and hasn't bothered to do it , chances are it's not their primary motivator. So likely it's not "the job" that's boring per se, it's the temptation to not work, to be outside in the sun.
By the way - have you tried the simplest approach? Take the laptop outside so you can work and enjoy the weather at the same time?
I am throwing a lot at the wall here but it's the same advice is give a friend who was "struggling" through this.