No one said that your job in marketing was going to be easy. But perhaps no one bothered to mention it was going to be so damn hard!

As almost any Marketing Professional will testify, it is the most thankless job in an organization. They get blamed for everything from sluggish sales to missed deadlines. They work like dogs, behind the scenes, putting in long hours that never really end. The dozens of individual tasks that must come together perfectly to produce a successful marketing campaign constantly swirl around in the brain of every good Marketing Professional, day and night, Monday through Sunday, with no time off for holidays.

If you are a Marketing Professional then you are well versed in the concept of Restless Mind Syndrome. To read about yourself, spend some time here.

According to the experts, only 3% of the population has RMS. I believe that figure is entirely composed of Marketing Professionals. They lie in bed and stare at the ceiling, racking their overtaxed brains to remember if the printer was sent the last-minute client changes and whether someone (anyone!) signed off on the new proofs before the presses starting rolling on the run of 300,000 inserts being tipped into the weekend newspaper. Or wondering if the avalanche of hate mail that the new social media campaign unexpectedly generated yesterday will get them called into the CEO’s office in the morning.

Then there is the issue of job security. An annual survey conducted by executive-search firm SpencerStuart has shown that the tenure for CMOs at the top-100 consumer-branded companies has averaged a scant 23 months. (By contrast, CEOs hang on to their jobs for 54 months.) Some sector averages are particularly grim: If you’re in telecommunications, you’re looking at 15 months; in the food industry, you’ve got about a year.

Something else to think about when the lights go out.

Speaking of the lights going out, all of this got me to thinking: Do Marketing Directors die young? I’m not a doctor, but I have to think there is some truth to this. Going through life trying to see the future while constantly being judged by what you did yesterday MUST have an adverse effect on one’s life expectancy. I’d like to believe that the interaction with your partners at your ad agency is a pleasant respite from a crushing workload, but that is probably overly optimistic. It’s highly likely that we contribute significantly to the angst.

It’s a good thing the pay is good. You’ll need about $15,000 for a decent funeral.

But at least you won’t be awake to worry about it!

In the meantime, you can at least be sure there’s one person on earth who appreciates what you’re going through. Keep up the good work.