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The psychology of stress and burnout

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Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#41

Post by 0xmohit »

amelius wrote: post #14
emilburzo wrote: post #7

It's all in your head, for better or worse. Extreme sports or intense physical exertion have been key, for me, in dealing with daily stress. And no, I'm not some superstar adrenaline pumped athlete, just an amateur that loves skydiving/paragliding/fast motorcycles/hiking/etc over the weekend. I didn't realize how much these activities help me, until I had to take a break from them for whatever reason (e.g.: winter wh…

Sleeping (like 9+ hours a night) can also help a lot.

Not suggestion that one should sleep lesser, but it's more important to have a deep sleep. If one is able to sleep like a log even for 6 to 7 hours, it's extremely helpful.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#42

Post by vibrato »

alexgotoi wrote: post #40
emilburzo wrote: post #7

It's all in your head, for better or worse. Extreme sports or intense physical exertion have been key, for me, in dealing with daily stress. And no, I'm not some superstar adrenaline pumped athlete, just an amateur that loves skydiving/paragliding/fast motorcycles/hiking/etc over the weekend. I didn't realize how much these activities help me, until I had to take a break from them for whatever reason (e.g.: winter wh…

What if you are afraid of extreme sports? What alternatives would you recommend?

Anything that gets you into flow at a high heart rate. Basketball, lifting, and intense yoga fit this for me. I've read that Tai Chi can fill this as well but I've never tried. Though basketball has given me more serious injuries than skateboarding and snowboarding ever did.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#43

Post by emilburzo »

alexgotoi wrote: post #40
emilburzo wrote: post #7

It's all in your head, for better or worse. Extreme sports or intense physical exertion have been key, for me, in dealing with daily stress. And no, I'm not some superstar adrenaline pumped athlete, just an amateur that loves skydiving/paragliding/fast motorcycles/hiking/etc over the weekend. I didn't realize how much these activities help me, until I had to take a break from them for whatever reason (e.g.: winter wh…

What if you are afraid of extreme sports? What alternatives would you recommend?

> What if you are afraid of extreme sports?

There's a quote in a jump plane that I really like: "you just have to get comfortable with fear"[1].

> What alternatives would you recommend?

Anything that requires you to be 100% focused on the task at hand, or physical exertion (or even both).

The catch is that you need to feel satisfaction from it, and humans suck at predicting what activity is going to give them satisfaction, that's why it's best to just go ahead and try different stuff, see what works.

You can usually tell within the first few minutes if it's for you or not.

[1] - http://i.imgur.com/zzszs.jpg

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#44

Post by digitalsushi »

dilemma wrote: post #37

The best professional skill is compartmentalizing. Leave work at work.

That advice is about as useful to me as "you're depressed, so snap out of it!" I don't mean that as an attack, it's just that what is obvious to some people is very, very difficult for others to do so simply.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#45

Post by dilemma »

digitalsushi wrote: post #44
dilemma wrote: post #37

The best professional skill is compartmentalizing. Leave work at work.

That advice is about as useful to me as "you're depressed, so snap out of it!" I don't mean that as an attack, it's just that what is obvious to some people is very, very difficult for others to do so simply.

No, it's extremely useful, and no different than other people in the thread who express how exercise or hobbies have helped them cope with work stress. They're implying compartmentalization too, because having a hobby shows that there's more to life than work life.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#46

Post by collyw »

alexgotoi wrote: post #40
emilburzo wrote: post #7

It's all in your head, for better or worse. Extreme sports or intense physical exertion have been key, for me, in dealing with daily stress. And no, I'm not some superstar adrenaline pumped athlete, just an amateur that loves skydiving/paragliding/fast motorcycles/hiking/etc over the weekend. I didn't realize how much these activities help me, until I had to take a break from them for whatever reason (e.g.: winter wh…

What if you are afraid of extreme sports? What alternatives would you recommend?

Most "extreme" sports have differing levels of ability. You can start mountain biking on relatively flat smooth trails, and work your way up to more difficult one when you feel more comfortable.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#47

Post by digitalsushi »

dilemma wrote: post #45
digitalsushi wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That advice is about as useful to me as "you're depressed, so snap out of it!" I don't mean that as an attack, it's just that what is obvious to some people is very, very difficult for others to do so simply.

No, it's extremely useful, and no different than other people in the thread who express how exercise or hobbies have helped them cope with work stress. They're implying compartmentalization too, because having a hobby shows that there's more to life than work life.

You're right! I just didn't have the ability to see that. Thanks for your insights.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#48

Post by qntty »

emilburzo wrote: post #38
Kenji wrote: post #19

I love how people are like "go for a walk" or "work out" or "sleep more" or "it's all in your head" (maybe you should tell someone who has pancreatic cancer "Oh it's all in your belly"). It seems to me like most people don't understand the incredible destructiveness and pain of an actual burnout. How trapped you are and how you do not see any way out anymore. I nearly got there and I have seen people who have been cr…

> (maybe you should tell someone who has pancreatic cancer "Oh it's all in your belly") Well... isn't it? I actually phrased it as "it's all in your head" to highlight that you _can_ do something about it, unlike cancer, it's something you can control by power of mind/will (not saying it's easy). - formerly burned out.

The fact that something is "all in your head" doesn't imply much about how much control you might have over it. Schizophrenia is "all in your head." Some people do have a reasonable amount of control over the situation, but many people have little control.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#49

Post by ubertaco »

emilburzo wrote: post #13
oarsinsync wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, exactly this. By increasing the regularity with which I exercise and engage in other non-IT pursuits, my ability to deal with bullshit at work has grown tremendously. I think it boils down to this: The more you value your out-of-the-office life and the more enjoyment you gain from it, the less negative impact your job can have on your life. Of course that's dependent on having a job that permits you to have a li…

> By increasing the regularity with which I exercise and engage in other non-IT pursuits, my ability to deal with bullshit at work has grown tremendously. Perfect summary. > Of course that's dependent on having a job that permits you to have a life outside of work It probably explains the increased demand for flexible hours. Although a lot of employers view that as a signal that the employee is a slacker, when I'm ac…

> > Of course that's dependent on having a job that permits you to have a life outside of work

> It probably explains the increased demand for flexible hours.

> Although a lot of employers view that as a signal that the employee is a slacker, when I'm actually incredibly more productive if I can just take a break randomly in the middle of the day, do Outside Stuff and continue later

That's awesome when you can find that. More often I find that "flexible hours" means "if you're an early bird, you're on your own until we decide to meander in, and expect to hear from us about work at 8pm or 9pm at any point during the week."

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#50

Post by binalpatel »

I'm in the midst of a light burnout right now - and I realize it's partly my expectations, and partly the expectations of my company.

As part of a start-up you're expected to be insanely productive at all times - so much so - that "normal" productivity feels like you're spinning your wheels and not getting anything done.

The other side is the company encouraging being a "hero". Being the one who can do anything, who gets X, Y, Z done on time, even if it takes all night. The praise and recognition fades quickly - as you realize you've set the expectation such that you can function at 200% at all times. (And you start feeling stressed as you fall to 150%, to 120%, to 100%.)

Some of the comments in this thread are spot on. For the level where I'm at (not full-bore burnout), I'm trying to prioritize my life outside of work again (aka have a life outside work). Sleep well, exercise, pick up hobbies again, go for hikes again, and so on.

Burning out to me - is letting work take up a disproportionate amount of your time and mental energy - so much so that the microcosm of work starts feeling like the most important thing.

Getting out of it (for me) is all about regaining that perspective.

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