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The psychology of stress and burnout

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Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#71

Post by agumonkey »

quickben wrote: post #24

I have a friend that is to damn good as a developer and allowed one of the big Canadian companies failed projects to burn him out thoroughly. He is looking into opening a bakery now, and by the look of it, no amount of convincing is going to change his mind. So no matter what you do, your mental robustness and coherency comes first. Don't let anybody every come close at touching that. Btw opening a bakery is an amazi…

That's odd, an ex cs classmate went into bakery. Some HS friend in chemistry speaks about leaving all this to open a restaurant. I, too, am thinking about bakery or coffee place.

There's something about serving food to people that seems to be the emotional counterpoint of mad tech.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#72

Post by cableshaft »

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…

I've gone through burnout before. At the time I didn't go for walks or worked out or talked to friends or sleep properly.

The going for walks, making sure I spend time with friends, etc, is what I do now to insure that burnout is a lot less likely to happen again. It does seem to help considerably.

I had to go through a long period of stress and burnout to really believe that burnout was something that could happen to me, though, and take preventative measures seriously.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#73

Post by skybrian »

agumonkey wrote: post #71
quickben wrote: post #24

I have a friend that is to damn good as a developer and allowed one of the big Canadian companies failed projects to burn him out thoroughly. He is looking into opening a bakery now, and by the look of it, no amount of convincing is going to change his mind. So no matter what you do, your mental robustness and coherency comes first. Don't let anybody every come close at touching that. Btw opening a bakery is an amazi…

That's odd, an ex cs classmate went into bakery. Some HS friend in chemistry speaks about leaving all this to open a restaurant. I, too, am thinking about bakery or coffee place. There's something about serving food to people that seems to be the emotional counterpoint of mad tech.

Most restaurants fail. It doesn't seem like a way to avoid stress?

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#74

Post by agumonkey »

Stauche wrote: post #25
quickben wrote: post #24

I have a friend that is to damn good as a developer and allowed one of the big Canadian companies failed projects to burn him out thoroughly. He is looking into opening a bakery now, and by the look of it, no amount of convincing is going to change his mind. So no matter what you do, your mental robustness and coherency comes first. Don't let anybody every come close at touching that. Btw opening a bakery is an amazi…

Stressed and burned out so he is opening a food business? What?? I operate a restaurant and I know about 50 people who do. Believe me - there is no shortage of stress and your just as likely, if not more so, to get burned out. Tell your friend to seriously think twice...

It's well known that food industry is stressful, but maybe the nature is different. It's more physical and less mental. Also more social (you interact with customers, kids, families, birthday cakes paint a different mindset)

One of the hardest job I took, digging trenches (summer) which made me cry the first week, was one of the less stressful mentally too.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#76

Post by j1vms »

quickben wrote: post #24

I have a friend that is to damn good as a developer and allowed one of the big Canadian companies failed projects to burn him out thoroughly. He is looking into opening a bakery now, and by the look of it, no amount of convincing is going to change his mind. So no matter what you do, your mental robustness and coherency comes first. Don't let anybody every come close at touching that. Btw opening a bakery is an amazi…

> Don't let anybody every come close at touching that.

Another way to look at it is, nobody can tell you what to do unless you're willing to hear it from them -- so always be mindful and reasonably opinionated about who you have at your "ear".

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#77

Post by agumonkey »

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…

I had to spend a week in bed once, I discovered the runner's crave that week.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#78

Post by CocaKoala »

quickben wrote: post #24

I have a friend that is to damn good as a developer and allowed one of the big Canadian companies failed projects to burn him out thoroughly. He is looking into opening a bakery now, and by the look of it, no amount of convincing is going to change his mind. So no matter what you do, your mental robustness and coherency comes first. Don't let anybody every come close at touching that. Btw opening a bakery is an amazi…

God please do everything you can to convince him not to open a bakery. The hours are brutal, the money is poor, the margins are slim, and the people are terrible. Customers, employees, vendors, they're all terrible.

Baking for friends is a fun way to pass the time. Baking for money is a quick road to a second burn out; it was literally years before I was able to stomach the thought of baking cookies or bread for my wife after I left the bakery I worked at.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#79

Post by agumonkey »

madaxe_again wrote: post #23

A large part of why I left my business after eleven years six months ago was because I mismanaged stress to the degree that it had severe consequences upon my health. At the time, like a frog in warming water, I constantly normalised it - working 20 hours a day for a year isn't stressful, it's heroic! I enjoy this! I thrive on stress. The booze? Oh, that's just to help keep me awake. About four years ago I stopped ea…

Quick note about stress, the somatic impact can be real. Méditative activities can smooth part of it.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#80

Post by agumonkey »

skybrian wrote: post #73
agumonkey wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's odd, an ex cs classmate went into bakery. Some HS friend in chemistry speaks about leaving all this to open a restaurant. I, too, am thinking about bakery or coffee place. There's something about serving food to people that seems to be the emotional counterpoint of mad tech.

Most restaurants fail. It doesn't seem like a way to avoid stress?

You know sometime even a failure in something you like can be healthier and more motivating than safe thing you ended up dreading deeply.
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