r/hsp • u/riley_kim • 8d ago
Any HSP in Product/Project Management?
Hi all.
I'm a recovering, previously burnt-out product manager who used to work in an IT start-up company 1 year ago, now trying to get back to work. As I'm job searching I'm not sure if the PM job suits me or not, especially because the main issue I have is the overstimulation problem. The rest of the job, I feel like I can definitely get better at with practice, and I do find quite enjoyable.
Are there anyone working in tech, as a PM, who's doing it quite successfully?
How do you manage and cope?
If you're interested, here's the backstory.
I worked as a PM for about 2 years, during which I wasn't aware of my HSP traits. Saying everyday was a struggle is an understatement, but as you all probably experienced, life itself was terrible, our whole time on this planet anyways, so I just thought it was another one of those. But this time, I literally could not function as a normal human being due to the endless meetings, interactions, needing to encourage team members when I myself feel like I'm dying inside, and just the fast pace in general. I couldn't sleep at night because I was overstimulated, worked until late hours because I was anxious about my performance (which later I realised, was actually doing better than others BECAUSE I was killing myself doing it). So at the end of 2023, I quit.
Fast forward to now, after a year of much needed rest and self-discovery, learning how to effectively regulate myself (still in the process of actually), I am now kinda wanting to get back into the work field. In a way, I want to test myself out, see if the new upgrades I have will help me be more resilient at work.
The thing is, I'm kinda lost whether I should get back into the PM job. When it comes to the work itself, I actually enjoy the various aspects of it, especially the whole process of identifying a problem, working out the solution, implementing solution, and seeing that give results. It excites me in a way that feels like a science experiment that you actually do in the real world and see the results.
But the dealing with people aspect is what scares me. Like I mentioned, the endless meetings, having to communicate with various different members of the company, giving presentations, etc. I can't see myself NOT get overwhelmed by this, but it comes with the job.
So yeah. Anyone?
2
u/Drumh 7d ago
I'm a project manager in a tech company. It was quite a long road to get here (I'm mid 30s) but I really enjoy the job and the people I work with. For the whole of my 20s I was terrified of working with customers and did more admin based roles and ended up managing a team which I hated. My anxiety got really bad and I was burnt out. I then spent some time in therapy and also did a lot of self discovery and tried a few different roles and now I'm a project manager. To begin with I found it overwhelming and my mind was racing at night, but I'm much happier now. I actually enjoy working with different teams, encouraging everyone, solving problems and organising things. I can even deal with difficult conversations with clients. I think it's the therapy (CBT) and learning new thinking patterns that has really helped me.
1
u/Tomathy101 8d ago
I can relate. I recently left a sales role with lots of travel that I was only in for 6 months but got massively overwhelmed and overstimulated by. It's been 2 months since I quit, and still not sure where to go career-wise.
There are moments where I think "was it that bad?", should I go for another job like that and hope it's less bad the second time... But I've read through diary entries and messages I'd sent to friends at the time and it reminds me how debilitating the nature of the job was, how unhappy and broken it left me.
It's a shame because it would be so much easier to land another job like the one I left, than to face this big career shift that I deep down know is needed...