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Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

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Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

#21

Post by shaftway »

23B1 wrote: post #9

When I was burned out I dedicated myself to learning something completely outside of my current context. I plan on doing this regularly now, maybe every 2-3 years. On my docket is: - Woodworking - Cooking - especially baking, since it can be extremely challenging to create the 'perfect' baguette or croissant - Gardening - Writing a novel etc. Best solution for burnout IMO is to completely refresh your mind with somet…

Not sure woodworking is "low-stress", though I guess it depends on what exactly you plan on making.

I have had a number of failures at all phases of projects. One was 20 hours of work and a grand in materials that I were totally junk (I had to pay more to drop it off at the dump). One was fairly low material cost, but ~40 hours in it was ruined.

Now I make duplicates in case of failures. My last project I got material for 10, was able to actually get 7 blanks due to cracks and knots, 5 didn't get tear out so bad they were worthless, and 4 at the end after a final gluing mistake. One for me, and two that were gifts for friends. One spare, out of materials for 10.

I get anxiety about starting new projects because I worry about how much material to get to account for my mistakes.

Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

#22

Post by hinkley »

nickdothutton wrote: post #16

Take a vacation. Get outside into nature, whatever takes your fancy. Mountain, coast, woods, wildness. Do something with animals. Start a new hobby. Buy a telescope. Build an aquarium.

Part of the reason contractor hourlies are so high is that you’re not meant to bill 2100 hours a year. Aim for north of 1500 and south of 1900.

Burnout on contracting gigs was always a problem for me because W2 contracting does tend to expect 2000 hours a year. But I hate job hunting so I steered clear of 6 month engagements.

Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

#23

Post by svnt »

Depending on location right now is the perfect time to get a seasonal farming job.

Your brain needs something other than screens for a while.

The brain capacity thing is real: context switching destroys your productivity and you can’t use your whole brain for your project if you’re doing that.

Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

#25

Post by clay_the_ripper »

I am in a very similar situation. Been freelancing for 6 years, done my own saas thing which is profitable but needs more time to grow. Seriously burned out, like to the max.

I just took on a full time w2 salary position at a mid stage startup. Salary isn’t incredible, but it’s predicable and is allowing me to establish a work life balance. I plan to do this for a couple of years at least to rest my nervous system and rebuild my savings.

There’s no wrong answer - do whatever will bring back your sanity (but don’t go broke doing it, that’s just more stressful!)

Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

#26

Post by mitchellpkt »

Just find one or two temp agencies in your area - they’ll probably get you placed into the type of gig you want quickly, and there will be no expectation for long term commitment. Can’t hurt to try.

At one point I had a 3 month break between research gigs, and just got a temp job moving boxes around a factory. Long hours and bad pay but it was a nice change of pace for a bit.

Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

#27

Post by JohnFen »

shaftway wrote: post #21
23B1 wrote: post #9

When I was burned out I dedicated myself to learning something completely outside of my current context. I plan on doing this regularly now, maybe every 2-3 years. On my docket is: - Woodworking - Cooking - especially baking, since it can be extremely challenging to create the 'perfect' baguette or croissant - Gardening - Writing a novel etc. Best solution for burnout IMO is to completely refresh your mind with somet…

Not sure woodworking is "low-stress", though I guess it depends on what exactly you plan on making. I have had a number of failures at all phases of projects. One was 20 hours of work and a grand in materials that I were totally junk (I had to pay more to drop it off at the dump). One was fairly low material cost, but ~40 hours in it was ruined. Now I make duplicates in case of failures. My last project I got materia…

> I have had a number of failures at all phases of projects.

I have a life philosophy about this: failure is the path to success (I've never learned anything by being right).

It can be hard to maintain the mindset, but it's actually true -- we learn from our mistakes, so nothing is a failure as long as a lesson was derived from it.

If you can maintain that mindset, it takes a lot of the stress out of things!

Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

#28

Post by barbariangrunge »

Everyone saying, take a vacation, but most people can’t easily afford that. Can you risk it when you might go back, hole in your bank account, the burnout possibly not cured?

But a part time job, for a year or two, doing non software work? Especially something social and physical? That might be viable, if you can get your expenses down enough. But most jobs outside software pay so badly, you won’t be able to afford rent or proper food…

Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

#29

Post by cameldrv »

23B1 wrote: post #9

When I was burned out I dedicated myself to learning something completely outside of my current context. I plan on doing this regularly now, maybe every 2-3 years. On my docket is: - Woodworking - Cooking - especially baking, since it can be extremely challenging to create the 'perfect' baguette or croissant - Gardening - Writing a novel etc. Best solution for burnout IMO is to completely refresh your mind with somet…

Yep. For me it was flying gliders. Most important things I think are that the activity is challenging, involves learning, and does not involve the use of a computer.

Re: Ask HN: Any freelancers here? I need burnout advice

#30

Post by rossdavidh »

Nearly all work (contract or not) is something that somebody would rather pay you to do, than do themselves. Well run software companies with tidy, well architected software need far fewer devs than the ones with nasty bloat and a lot of legacy problems, so that's why most of the jobs are with the latter. The reality is that work is only occasionally fun, and usually something you would not do if you didn't want the money. This is true in software, or anything else.

Having said that, it also shouldn't be something you hate. If you hate it, then it is time to do something else, at least for a while. Also, who knows, taking a manual labor job for a while might give you ideas for how software could improve the situation (just a possibility).

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