Overworked executive assistant finally resigns after 15 years of work to search for a new path: 'No regret. Just relief'

Author image for Giuliana Tiscioni
Giuliana Tiscioni • Writer
Sep 29, 2026 2:00 PM EDT

Sometimes we need to know when to move on from something that is not good for us.

Apply that to relationships, friendships, spaces, family, and yes, also jobs. Just because we're really good at what we do doesn't mean we like it, especially if that job is having us work overtime and taking care of a bunch of things that are not our responsibilities. A job should be a means to an end, in this case, a means to earn a decent salary, put food on the table, and have a roof over our heads. The moment when our work becomes the center of our lives is the moment when we stop living. We get stressed out, our heads start running at a hundred miles per hour trying to solve random issues, and we have no time to rest or enjoy time with our loved ones doing things that we love. Sadly, some jobs are like that, and there are people out there who don't work to live, but they live to work. 

If we don't want to end up like that, and our goal is to live a more balanced lifestyle, boundaries have to be there from the beginning, not only for our bosses but for ourselves. We need to prevent ourselves from getting too caught up in what we do. We leave work at the office and during work hours. We don't take it home with us, and we especially don't take it along in our free time. 

Some people have taken years to figure out that they were not happy with the way they were living, and it took them leaving the demanding job they were in to finally feel free, relieved, and with the chance to live their own lives again. It is not always easy, especially if you're not sure about what else you can do or don't have a detailed backup plan, but sometimes, we just have to take a leap of faith to find a chance at the life we really want to have. 

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  • I’m done!

    I finally resigned from my corporate EA role after going back and forth about it for months. Nothing lined up. No grand career plan. I just reached the point where I realised I am completely, utterly done.
    via bantercherry
  • Cheezburger Image 10667342080
    via Zulfugar Karimov for Unsplash+

    Executive assistant working in her office. 

    Not actual story subjects.

  • I've been doing this kind of work for 15+ years and I'm good at my job. If anything, I think being capable has partly been the problem. The more you demonstrate you can handle, the more that somehow becomes yours to handle.
    via bantercherry
  • Another executive. Another project. Another event. Another trip. Another person who needs something urgently. Another operational problem that doesn't technically belong to you but apparently does now because you're the person who knows how to get sh done.
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  • And EVERYTHING is urgent. The meeting needs to happen RIGHT NOW. The travel needs to be booked RIGHT NOW. We desperately need this room.
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  • Someone's diary needs to be completely rearranged. Drop everything and fix it. Then two hours later... meeting cancelled after I busted my a rescheduling it lol.
    via bantercherry
  • 917 LE
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Assistant scheduling meetings. 

    Recreated scenario included to enhance reader understanding. 

  • I've realised I'm just tired of spending my working life reacting to other people's priorities. I'm tired of someone else's diary dictating the urgency and structure
    via bantercherry
  • of my entire day. I'm tired of being the person everyone comes to when they don't know who else to ask. I'm tired of vague requests where I'm somehow expected to
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  • magically know what someone wants. I'm tired of the constant context switching and having 15 things half-done because another "urgent" thing has appeared.
    via bantercherry
  • I'm especially tired of being good at something meaning I just get given more of it. I've raised workload and capacity. I've tried boundaries. I've pushed through busy periods thinking
    via bantercherry
  • things would calm down. I've told myself "just get through this month" more times than I can count. Eventually I realised the busy period wasn't a period anymore. It was just my job.
    via bantercherry
  • Cheezburger Image 10667343104
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Overworked assistant.

    Scene shown is a visual representation.

  • And I don't want to do it anymore. The funny thing is that I'm currently working out my notice period and I've never felt lighter.
    via bantercherry
  • My inbox is still getting smashed. The same ridiculous requests are still coming in. The difference is I can look at them now and think: This has an end date.
    via bantercherry
  • Normally I'd already be thinking about Monday, what was waiting for me, what I'd forgotten, what new problem was about to land and how I was going to get through everything.
    via bantercherry
  • Now I can see the emails piling up and think: I'll deal with it when I'm working. Because for the first time in years, none of it feels endless.
    via bantercherry
  • I don't have another job lined up and strangely that scares me less than the thought of staying did. I don't know exactly what I'll do next, and for once I'm okay with that. I want some distance from
    via bantercherry
  • this role before I decide what I actually want my working life to look like, rather than immediately jumping into something else because I feel like I'm supposed to. Maybe I'll be an EA again one day.
    via bantercherry
  • But I know I don't want to spend my life permanently reacting to someone else's priorities while my own life happens around it. I think I underestimated just how done I was until I resigned. No regret. Just relief.
    via bantercherry
  • For the EAs who've been doing this for a long time: how do you tell the difference between being burnt out by a particular executive/company and being genuinely finished with the profession itself?
    via bantercherry
  • And for anyone who has reached that point and walked away - what did you realise about yourself or the job once you had some distance from it?
    via bantercherry

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assistant employeers work from home executive assistant work employees Office home office overworked-employees workplace
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