Ask HN: How did you overcome and avoid work related burnout?

Taking a couple of weeks off isn't likely to cure burnout, as you're probably realizing.

There seems to be a few common trends in burning out:

1. A sense of being trapped. You can't, for whatever reason, decide to stop going to work. You have limited options where work and finances are concerned, or you think you do.

2. A job that is too demanding. Stress, bad management, too many work hours, or a seemingly endless stream of dreary monotonous tasks.

3. The job is not rewarding enough. It either demands too much time or doesn't offer enough money for you to maintain a healthy work/life balance, which IMO is the root cause of burnout and why you see so many suggestions for changing diet or taking up a new hobby or getting more exercise (not that those are bad suggestions).

I don't know if it's reasonable to tell someone that's truly burnt-out to start a gym routine or change their diet or spend less time on gaming or whatever. All of those things require some amount of willpower which is in short supply when you've been pushed to the limits of the stress levels you can tolerate.

(Although they're all good habits to develop and should become a routine part of your life when you're not so stressed out that getting out of bed in the morning seems like a chore.)

Realistically the only thing you can do to cure burnout is to change your job situation. It's the cause, you have to address it. Take a look at your finances and see if there really isn't any way to change your working situation somehow. Start looking for a new job. Ask for a change of responsibilities at your current job. Ask for a temporary reduction in hours.

It may be different in your part of the world, but in many places, management will be motivated to try to help an employee be more productive. Odds are pretty good that your co-workers and/or supervisors have already noticed that your performance is suffering. If you think you can approach management and find a way to change your work situation, you should try.

Alternatively, you can take some vacation time and then spend that time with equal parts rest & relaxation, doing whatever makes you feel better, and aggressively looking for new work.

Thanks for your inputs. I'm leaning towards taking a long break myself. I'm just afraid I have burnt some bridges by doing things like faking my work report and it is stressing me out. About health, I'm reasonably healthy and within my ideal weight/BMI. I feel mentally exhausted right now.

"I have found that I've fought against what I felt like I SHOULD be doing." I think you hit on the key issue here. Whenever I reflect on my choices I feel this is what I "should " be doing to advance my career in a traditional sense and trying to live life by default. Few years ago I came across this article and this pretty much described myself[1]. I haven't been able to act on the advice given in that article yet. It is time for that now I think.

[1] http://www.raptitude.com/2012/07/most-lives-are-lived-by-def...

"do some non-coding activities when you get home; whether a hobby or watching TV, getting away from IT and programming for awhile makes me feel refreshed the next day"

Cleaning the house / apartment can be very relaxing. It's a task that requires minimal thought and can be a good workout - saturday I washed our hard wood floors by hand with just a bucket of soap / water and a big sponge. 2 hours later my mind was clear as day (or I was high on the fumes from the Lysol haha)

- I would move to absolutely close to work as possible, even if that means renting a closet from someone on craigslist.

- Consider the day job a sidejob (but of course, be professional). Always look for a better gig.

- Be frank, say you need a vacation right now/nearly immediately because you're unable to keep working at this pace. If they make up flimsy excuses, stay firm and say something like "I feel like I'm not performing at my top level because I'm headed in the direction of burning out. I would like you to help me be recharge my productivity and engagement by finding a way to get some time off very soon because this will save you from having to fire me and hire somebody else and me from having to quit because I really want your help to allow me to get back to firing on all cylinders so we can get X done."

- Build a paper clock

- Visit a massage/sauna/spa place

- Do some random hobby meetups or local community center activities

- Volunteer at church/nonprofit to help the needy

- Donate blood