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Burnout and Mental Health

stephaniehurlburt.com

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Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#11

Post by dhruvkar »

simonswords82 wrote: post #7

This article strikes home with me...I've not told this story publicly before: I've burnt out twice, it ain't pretty and once you've experienced burnout it opens doors in your brain that are difficult and time consuming to close again. So you're best off making sure those doors remain closed by taking care of yourself :) For the first five or so years of my software company I worked like a dog on meth. It wasn't smart…

Having seen people close to me experience this, I feel for you. However, I haven't heard any success stories that have made it any OTHER way. It's usually in looking back, that people say burn out was wrong and I probably shouldn't have done it that way. What's the alternative?

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#12

Post by jondubois »

This sounds like the past 10 years of my life. I can't even enjoy normal life activities anymore... And I can't afford to take a long enough break to recover (if that's still possible?).

I don't even care about memories anymore - I'm in survival mode; I'm just a bullet moving towards its target.

It's like I've been running through a tunnel as fast possible for a long time and I can finally just see the light at the end of it, but I know there's a train coming in my direction and if I don't make it out of the tunnel in time it's going to get really dark and ugly.

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#13

Post by kafkaesq »

jondubois wrote: post #12

This sounds like the past 10 years of my life. I can't even enjoy normal life activities anymore... And I can't afford to take a long enough break to recover (if that's still possible?). I don't even care about memories anymore - I'm in survival mode; I'm just a bullet moving towards its target. It's like I've been running through a tunnel as fast possible for a long time and I can finally just see the light at the e…

If you care to share - why would that be?

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#14

Post by rimantas »

dhruvkar wrote: post #11
simonswords82 wrote: post #7

This article strikes home with me...I've not told this story publicly before: I've burnt out twice, it ain't pretty and once you've experienced burnout it opens doors in your brain that are difficult and time consuming to close again. So you're best off making sure those doors remain closed by taking care of yourself :) For the first five or so years of my software company I worked like a dog on meth. It wasn't smart…

Having seen people close to me experience this, I feel for you. However, I haven't heard any success stories that have made it any OTHER way. It's usually in looking back, that people say burn out was wrong and I probably shouldn't have done it that way. What's the alternative?

Basecamp? IIRC DHH mentioned he was working like 10 hours a week on it.

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#15

Post by itg »

theparanoid wrote: post #8
tequila_shot wrote: post #4

This is exactly what I am going through right now. It's been 5 months and I don't have any recollection of my first month. I'm in the middle of a high profile project which goes to UAT in two weeks, and I know it is slated to fail. There's just too many issues. I have been working 85+ hours every week constantly for the past ~5 months. Being an Immigrant ( H1B) makes it more difficult. All I do these days is code for…

Walk away. I waited too long and lost a year of my life. It took 4 years to get back on track.

>Walk away

H1B folks can't easily do that. One reason why companies love hiring them.

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#16

Post by billmalarky »

_yosefk wrote: post #9

For someone with no responsibilities except work, 70 hour weeks are sustainable (did it for 3 years, not to be recommended, but no burnout.) People report way larger numbers of hours though and probably have to handle more than just their work; I don't know where things start to break down, they ought to somewhere.

"no responsibilities except work"

I assume this also means the responsibility to keep one's health in check is sacrificed for additional workload?

I can't imagine keeping up an exercise routine working that many hours.

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#17

Post by cta11419 »

dhruvkar wrote: post #11
simonswords82 wrote: post #7

This article strikes home with me...I've not told this story publicly before: I've burnt out twice, it ain't pretty and once you've experienced burnout it opens doors in your brain that are difficult and time consuming to close again. So you're best off making sure those doors remain closed by taking care of yourself :) For the first five or so years of my software company I worked like a dog on meth. It wasn't smart…

Having seen people close to me experience this, I feel for you. However, I haven't heard any success stories that have made it any OTHER way. It's usually in looking back, that people say burn out was wrong and I probably shouldn't have done it that way. What's the alternative?

> success stories that have made it any OTHER way

It often hinges on what you count as success. If you want to grow something to a place where you can appoint a managing director to take over your least comfortable responsibilities, you'll often need to work yourself into burnout or burn through a ton of capital.

But plenty of people set up little lifestyle businesses or contract shops without all that. You just have to be able to see opportunities for growth and go "nah, not for me".

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#18

Post by outworlder »

tequila_shot wrote: post #4

This is exactly what I am going through right now. It's been 5 months and I don't have any recollection of my first month. I'm in the middle of a high profile project which goes to UAT in two weeks, and I know it is slated to fail. There's just too many issues. I have been working 85+ hours every week constantly for the past ~5 months. Being an Immigrant ( H1B) makes it more difficult. All I do these days is code for…

> All I do these days is code for 15+ hours everyday with an impending weight hanging over my head constantly that I'll be made a scapegoat if the project fails.

This is a legitimate question, not a criticism: why do you think that you, specifically, will be the scapegoat?

Is it possible that you can find a way to not work 15 hours straight? Since you know that the project will crash and burn anyway, this effort will be meaningless. Trying to carry the weight of a doomed project by yourself is not a good idea.

Now, if the project is a high-profile one, expect that some management cuts will happen. In some companies, but not all, this also means "pruning" all the reporting tree. Is the company big enough that you could move to another division, or whatever they call it? If so, you should focus on that.

The ship is sinking and all you have is a bucket. Start sending signal flares.

Re: Burnout and Mental Health

#20

Post by outworlder »

itg wrote: post #15
theparanoid wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walk away. I waited too long and lost a year of my life. It took 4 years to get back on track.

>Walk away H1B folks can't easily do that. One reason why companies love hiring them.

They can't do it easily. But they still can. It maybe not be easy and straightforward, but they can.

L1, on the other hand...

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