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

The psychology of stress and burnout

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 216 posts

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#101

Post by manmal »

freelancezombie wrote: post #65
dig1 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who's been there, it all depends how hard it was. You can recover from light burnouts quickly (by traveling, taking sports), however, hard burnouts change you for life - you'll be lucky to not end up as alcoholic or drug addict. For me, it took couple of years and few failed jobs until I got on track. Today, I'm more than happy to be my own boss as freelancer.

Good to hear you found your way. I'm getting burned out on freelance.

What is it that burns you out most? (fellow freelancer here)

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#102

Post by emilburzo »

marknutter wrote: post #84
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. I…

Thank you for the friendly warning.

Yes, it did start as a reckless "last thing I want to do before I die" depression kind of thing while I was a teenager.

Fortunately for me, all the physical effort/socializing/amazing scenery/nature changed my perspective 180° and now I'm a happy camper.

People that knew me before actually commented on how responsible/cautious I've now become with all my hobbies, some even call me grandpa :)

I probably won't be able to do all my hobbies forever, I feel that my reflexes are not what they were, but I'm compensating with experience.

Life is beautiful, I want to experience it as much as possible.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#103

Post by emilburzo »

thorin wrote: post #68
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 this perspective being involved in a few sports some would consider "extreme" it was a fantastic distraction to be totally engaged in a sport and out in the outdoors with a brilliant community of like-minded friends. However after having a serious injury and witnessing a death of a a couple of friends it didn't seem like fun anymore. Nowadays family life provides enough of a contrast to work as does a few holid…

I always respect those that know when to exit.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#104

Post by enraged_camel »

rexpop wrote: post #86
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.

Managers are usually completely powerless because office design decisions are almost always made by (or at the recommendation of) executives.

Here is what it comes down to: you can put a dollar figure on the money saved from going with an open office plan. You can't easily put a dollar figure on lost productivity due to conversations going on around you.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#105

Post by emilburzo »

bbcbasic wrote: post #54
emilburzo wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, for me, there's something different between the stress of carrying a 20kg (44 pounds) paraglider up 750m (2460ft) over a 5-35% grade mountain to the launch site in a hurry to catch the noon thermals versus the daily worries that you may, or may not, have any control over. Probably because one is achievable and you know more or less how much you've got to go and the other is pretty abstract. Maybe also t…

Sounds like a lot of fun!

I'm not that much of a fan of carrying stuff up a mountain against time, but since we don't have a cable car or any alternatives, you gotta do what you gotta do.

At least I get to fly after that :) ... unless the weather changes

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#106

Post by enraged_camel »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #87
skybrian wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You would be surprised. It's an extremely competitive industry, with some very hard-working people. And hard work is no guarantee of success either.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#107

Post by aswanson »

acron0 wrote: post #90
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.

Exactly my solution. My brain is tuned to human audio, I can't block out conversation.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#108

Post by brianwawok »

emilburzo wrote: post #35
gerbilly wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Extreme sports or intense physical exertion have been key, for me, in dealing with daily stress. But intense physical exertion _is_ stress, so this approach can backfire when your stress load is too high.

I don't know, for me, there's something different between the stress of carrying a 20kg (44 pounds) paraglider up 750m (2460ft) over a 5-35% grade mountain to the launch site in a hurry to catch the noon thermals versus the daily worries that you may, or may not, have any control over. Probably because one is achievable and you know more or less how much you've got to go and the other is pretty abstract. Maybe also t…

They feel very different, but they both do add Cortisol to your bloodstream... both are similar to your body.

Which is to say... if I wanted to be the #1 code all the time coder in the world, I would not want to be training for an Ironman or something that required 15 hours of fairly high physical stress a week.

Or if I wanted to train for an Ironman, I would not also work for a startup with my hair on fire all the time.

Clearly some people do both. Investment bankers love triathlon in fact. It seems to have negative physical effects after a while though... something has to give..

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#109

Post by hasbroslasher »

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…

I have the same problem. Try listening to really long (unpwards of 10 minutes) songs or albums that really flow together. You want to avoid distraction and listen to things that are repetitive and don't require you to lose focus and fiddle with your music player.

Another that I can't recommend enough is listening to old video game music. Something you love and played as a kid. For me it's N64: Zelda, Mario Kart, SM64, Banjo Kazooie. It's all on Youtube. There's something Pavlovian about music that accompanies passive focus and puzzle-solving.

Re: The psychology of stress and burnout

#110

Post by rl3 »

clifanatic wrote: post #95
acron0 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> look for another employer. Ten years, Christ. Actually I've had 3 over the past ten years. They're all the same. You've never noticed?

Hopefully the previous two didn't burn down...
Post reply on HN