Can't cope with stress

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I've somehow ended up working in computer coding. I am so stressed. I can sort of do it, but I'm really not very good at it and I have to work to deadlines. I find that because I am quite rubbish at this I have to come home an work in the evening to catch up so that I can hit my deadlines. One night I was up till 3 in the morning.

I just don't cope with stress. Other people would appreciate the opportunity and learn how to get better at the job, but I've hit the point where my body is switching off and I can't concentrate. Stress makes me freeze up like a machine that has never been oiled.

I am trying to find another job, but I can't get anything. I think that I've gone down a too specific route and now I'm trying to get back into an admin job prospective employers are just throwing my cv in the bin because they think if they give me a job I won't stay. People tend to be more career focussed than me. I just want a job that doesn't make me want to kill myself and so that I can pay for the roof over my head. I just want a low stress job, but employers don't understand stepping back down the ladder, so I'm getting no interviews at all.

I don't know what to do. I am so unhappy.

What would you most like to do: learn new and more effective ways of coping with the stress, or finding a simpler, less stressful job?

I want to find a less stressful job. I am happiest when I'm left to just get on with a job. I'm not so good at creating things. I prefer more mundane tasks. That sort of thing used to bore me and I used to think "I'm better than this", so I pushed myself to find something "better". But it didn't make me happier, it just brought me more stress.

Are there any lighter jobs in your current company that you could ask about? When people read your resume and stuff they are only looking at qualifications, so something like this is better to discuss directly with people (handing in a resume in person, talking to a representative). If you express your need clearly, people will respond accordingly. Recently I was able to change my work hours at work by suggesting it to my boss and explaining how it would work. A lot of work deals actually happen this way, informal conversation/negotiation. The only thing is that sometimes we have trouble being convincing in a conversation, this is something that you just have to be persistent about, if you are persistent eventually people listen to you.

That's very true. I apparently inteview well, so once I'm in the door I have a fighting chance.

My company is very small and everyone has very specific roles. There's no admin work available.

See if you can hang on long enough to get another job. Just having a base knowledge of coding is helpful in a lot of jobs. When I was working in technical writing I knew more than the common person about coding, but I certainly couldn't write it myself. But what I did know gave me an edge.

Look around in technical writing, quality assurance, customer service, office admin, help desk, and other IT jobs. There are a lot of things in that general field that are much less stressful than what you're doing.

I have heard from many people that it's always better to look for a job as an employed person, if possible.

Also, that it's good to have a well-developed idea of what you are looking for while you are looking.

Is there another job that uses the skills you have in a less demanding context?

I would agree with Adamantium.

Employers tend to prefer hiring presently employed persons.

I would stay at my job until you find a less-stressful one.