Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 124 posts

Re: Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

#31

Post by jonathanleane »

JackGreyhat wrote: post #25
jonathanleane wrote: post #9

Was tempted to make a throwaway account for this, but what the hell, burnout is really nothing to be ashamed of. I'm in a somewhat similar situation to you, but replace the 3 years with 10 years. I had many periods of 'minor' burnout along the way that I ignored or ploughed through, which in hindsight was a pretty big mistake. Around August last year I just couldn't continue. I wasn't sleeping, I was frequently run d…

Felt like I was reading a description of what I feel. Kind of punched me in the face when I read at the end that he's 70...I've been in my animal for 35 years...perhaps it's time to reconsider my life. The problem is, I will probably never do until another major crash happens...I assume this is a problem many of us have.

She* :)

And yeah - very powerful piece of writing. She's a published fantasy author and I'm going to try one of her novels (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77197.Assassin_s_Apprent...)

Re: Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

#33

Post by sombremesa »

> Worse than that, I can't actually think of anything worth building

Seems like you’re putting the cart before the horse. I’d only start worrying if I actually had something I wanted to build but couldn’t muster the gung-ho to do it because of burnout.

As it stands, it just seems like you have better uses for your time.

I see a lot of comments here have already echoed this same sentiment.

Re: Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

#34

Post by madaxe_again »

prox wrote: post #30
madaxe_again wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure that you can talk yourself out of physical brain damage. PTSD alters the character and volume of grey matter present in the brain. I guess veterans etc. who suffer throughout their lives with it just aren’t sufficiently resilient?

But not all burn outs are the same. PTSD level burn outs do, but you also have other types that aren’t at that level. As always the answer is “it depends” and get professional help.

Perhaps we should have different words for “I am maybe feeling a bit tired of doing the same thing every day” and “my brain is physically damaged from years of relentless 24/7 stress to the extent that basic functions like sleep elude me”.

Re: Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

#35

Post by joelbluminator »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #17

> One thing I've never really recovered is the passion I had for side projects. Worse than that, I can't actually think of anything worth building, or even tinkering with, which is sad, as spending some of my free time on side projects was something I really enjoyed. If you don't enjoy side projects any more, don't force it. Better side projects would be something offline like improving your personal fitness, learnin…

Totally agree. Side projects are actually not important to getting a job. Its all about codility and whiteboarding now.

Re: Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

#36

Post by rriepe »

I "burned out" while working at a FAANG and it just turned out to be a health problem, accelerated by the food there.

All of my side projects from the time are extremely uninspired.

Re: Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

#37

Post by andi999 »

Do you sit in front of the screen the whole day at your faang job? Forget software side projects then. Turn off all screens when coming home, pick up hiking as a hobby, or start side project with wood working, painting or so.

Re: Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

#38

Post by efrecon »

I started to value my side projects higher. So I work less and have given myself time to do whatever I like the rest of the time. Sometimes I train, sometimes I recover, sometimes I work with side projects.

Having time off, ideas came back.

Re: Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

#39

Post by arkitaip »

madaxe_again wrote: post #29
jonathanleane wrote: post #9

Was tempted to make a throwaway account for this, but what the hell, burnout is really nothing to be ashamed of. I'm in a somewhat similar situation to you, but replace the 3 years with 10 years. I had many periods of 'minor' burnout along the way that I ignored or ploughed through, which in hindsight was a pretty big mistake. Around August last year I just couldn't continue. I wasn't sleeping, I was frequently run d…

This all rings very familiar - I left my business in 2016 as I was absolutely disintegrating, and my business “partner” wasn’t prepared for me to take six months off to recover, as it would mean him stepping up to the mark and dealing with the nightmare fuel I spent my days on. Anyway. Five years on, haven’t worked since other than very lightweight consultancy. Live in the woods. Still wake up at 0430 every morning i…

Have you had therapy?

Re: Ask HN: Post Burnout Ideas

#40

Post by HiIAmIlNano »

I went through the same exactly one year ago. I could not sleep, I felt sick at the thought of having to interact with my colleagues and I just couldn't care less about my job. The only thing I care about was to wish for my day job to be over soon, so I could hide away from the rest of the world. One day I woke up and called in sick and that was the best choice I could make. I never went back to that job and I started seeking for professional help.

It is hard to know what you want if you don't know what you are and what you want to be. During my six months long seek vacation I had a very small side project because for me the issue was not the technical aspect but the stress that you always had to perform. I was working for a mobile gaming company and on top of your job you had to play, find bugs, join stand-ups, communicate on slack... This was all fake for me and stressed me out to the point of no return. In the end it was just faking enthusiasm.

I am not like that. I love what I do, but when I am off I am off and please leave me alone. Some companies push you to always have an opinion and what is the problem with not having one from time to time? What is the problem with just doing something else in your free time? If I want to have a side project I will. If I don't, I will be doing something else.

To cut my rant short what really helped me was to recognise my problem and through professional help I could accept myself for what I am. Don't overdo, take your time to know where you are and where you want to go and get back when you are ready. If it helps reduce the amount of working hours and try to enjoy you free time.

Post reply on HN