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The psychology of stress and burnout

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Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#81

Post by CocaKoala »

agumonkey wrote: post #74
Stauche wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There's plenty of mental stress working in a bakery.

You have a 100# mix of french bread, and it isn't rising properly. Will it continue to rise if you leave it in the proofer long enough, because the water it was mixed with was too cold? Maybe the guy doing the mix forgot the salt, or the yeast (because trust me, unless you're doing the mixes yourself, those things are going to happen).

If the mix will rise eventually, how long will it take? How are you going to change the schedule of the bakes so that the oven is at the right temperature and the bread is finished baking before the local restaurant comes to pick up their daily order?

If the mix is missing an ingredient, do you have time to make a new mix? Do you have room in the freezer for the dead dough, so you can save it to stretch out other mixes? Do you have anything delicate in the freezer that might melt when you dump a hundred pounds of warm dough into the same space?

If you're making a new mix, do you need to order more flour now, because you're using more than you expected? How is this going to impact the rest of the mix schedule?

Repeat that chain of thought for every kind of bread or pastry your bakery sells. It's exhausting as hell, mentally.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#82

Post by clifanatic »

I'm in one of those (inescapable) open-office nightmares right now. All day, every day, people are talking right next to me, making it impossible to concentrate. They're not even talking about work, they're talking about cars, or kids, or movies, or inane bullshit. I don't care that they're talking (and apparently management doesn't either, because since we're in a panopticon, if I know it, they know it too), but when they do it five feet away from me, I can't block it out or concentrate. I can concentrate well enough to write this post on Hacker News, but I can't concentrate well enough to put together a workable recommendation on centralized identity and access management. But I'll be asked for a recommendation on identity and access management anyway, because I'm expected to know every answer to every question off the top of my head instantaneously, even though I haven't been able to concentrate on anything effectively for the past ten years. Yeah, team work makes the dream work. BRB, going to set the building on fire.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#83

Post by woodchuck64 »

snarfy wrote: post #28

Burnout is caused by a series of failures. Your brain is quick to pick up patterns and will assume your next attempt will be a failure. To get over burnout, you need a series of successes. Create small, attainable goals and complete them. Engineers in particular need a sense of accomplishment. This way you will look forward to you next endeavor instead of dread it.

> Burnout is caused by a series of failures. Your brain is quick to pick up patterns and will assume your next attempt will be a failure.

I like the simplicity and elegance of that definition. It means work, pressure, "stress", pain, etc., are all completely irrelevant as long as there are enough successes over some interval of time.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#84

Post by marknutter »

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 would be careful. I got into extreme sports (motorcycle road racing) when stress became overwhelming for me and it turned out to be a manifestation of my BPD. It was therapeutic for the reasons you give, but also because I had a death wish.

As a result, I came very close to dying or permanently injuring myself on a couple different occasions – and I am the sole provider for my family with a one and four year old.

If engaging in risky or dangerous activities makes you feel normal or alive, you should probably take that as a warning and maybe get checked out. Can't hurt, anyways.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#85

Post by marknutter »

JangoSteve wrote: post #18
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've found the same outlet in racing cars, soccer, and working out. I've actually told people before that I think the reason racing helps so much is that you are absolutely 100% focused on the task at hand when you're being the wheel, which means no work or personal stress at all for the time you're on the track. Soccer is one of the few things I do that allows me to interact with people in a completely different pro…

I absolutely experienced that feeling when road racing motorcycles this past year. When you're on track, the only thing that occupies your mind is the next turn. I'd call it a poor man's meditation if it wasn't so damn expensive..

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#86

Post by rexpop »

clifanatic wrote: post #82

I'm in one of those (inescapable) open-office nightmares right now. All day, every day, people are talking right next to me, making it impossible to concentrate. They're not even talking about work, they're talking about cars, or kids, or movies, or inane bullshit. I don't care that they're talking (and apparently management doesn't either, because since we're in a panopticon, if I know it, they know it too), but whe…

Sounds like something to tell your manager.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#87

Post by tonyedgecombe »

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?

I don't think you would need to do much due diligence to rise above most restaurateurs.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#88

Post by novia »

clifanatic wrote: post #82

I'm in one of those (inescapable) open-office nightmares right now. All day, every day, people are talking right next to me, making it impossible to concentrate. They're not even talking about work, they're talking about cars, or kids, or movies, or inane bullshit. I don't care that they're talking (and apparently management doesn't either, because since we're in a panopticon, if I know it, they know it too), but whe…

Sounds like your company cares more about their bottom line than your well being.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#89

Post by clifanatic »

novia wrote: post #88
clifanatic wrote: post #82

I'm in one of those (inescapable) open-office nightmares right now. All day, every day, people are talking right next to me, making it impossible to concentrate. They're not even talking about work, they're talking about cars, or kids, or movies, or inane bullshit. I don't care that they're talking (and apparently management doesn't either, because since we're in a panopticon, if I know it, they know it too), but whe…

Sounds like your company cares more about their bottom line than your well being.

Wait there's another kind?

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#90

Post by acron0 »

clifanatic wrote: post #82

I'm in one of those (inescapable) open-office nightmares right now. All day, every day, people are talking right next to me, making it impossible to concentrate. They're not even talking about work, they're talking about cars, or kids, or movies, or inane bullshit. I don't care that they're talking (and apparently management doesn't either, because since we're in a panopticon, if I know it, they know it too), but whe…

Quick answer: Headphones and music/white noise.

Long answer: If you really feel this strongly about your working environment then you should seriously consider telling your manager. It's in their best interests that you're happy/comfortable/working as smoothly as you can. If they can't or won't change your situation, look for another employer. Ten years, Christ.

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