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Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#71

Post by techexecadvice »

buahahaha wrote: post #37

Been burnt out myself. Coached a few friends and coworkers through their burnouts. My advice: See what's the longest vacation you can take. If you're at the point of quitting - just be honest. Tell your Boss that you're burning out and thinking of quitting. You would like to just take a month off or six weeks to recover. You can phrase it as something else entirely to a different part of the team, but be honest with…

Thanks. Don't you worry about asking for such a favor from your boss and then coming back only to quit?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#72

Post by techexecadvice »

turc1656 wrote: post #38

I was recently burned out due not so much from work but work + side projects + long commute + kids + etc. It may sound obvious but the best way to recover from burnout is to go an a genuinely relaxing vacation. The key is "genuinely relaxing". Most of the time our vacations are jam packed with itineraries and things to do. Don't do any of that. Take as much time as you are able to, hop on a short flight somewhere nic…

Thanks. How long was your vacation, and how burned out were you before it?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#73

Post by techexecadvice »

zapperdapper wrote: post #64
aragorn2 wrote: post #42

Man, you are describing exactly how I’ve been feeling past couple of years. I don’t have the balls to quit (wife, kids..). The only difference is that I actually hate the industry (gambling) I’m in (started because money was great). I’ve been here for 10 years and have domain knowledge. I don’t know what else would I like to do. I have some money saved for some couple of years off, if I really scaled down, but then w…

I was in your position aged 40 and didn't do anything about it. I ended up divorced, broke and ill. So, my point is - can you afford not to do something about it? I would scale down, perhaps downsize if you can, and save more, before that is forced on you anyway. It gives you more options. Talk to your wife so she is fully appraised of how you feel (there are mixed views on this though - that's mine). So, you then ha…

Interesting how many comments and articles I've seen like this. I haven't seen a comment or article saying they took the leap and regretted it. Does that mean no one ever regrets it, or those comments/articles just don't get upvoted? :P

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#74

Post by techexecadvice »

hesdeadjim wrote: post #39

I hit a really bad burnout four years ago and after reading about peoples’ experience with sabbaticals I took three months off unpaid. I spent the first month of that trying to “figure things out” until my girlfriend got sick of me and suggested I just try and have some fun. That’s what I did for the last two months and, surprise, the burnout went away and my passion returned. Depending on how bad your burnout is you…

Thanks. Were you worried you'd come back and quit after making such a big ask of 3 months off?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#75

Post by techexecadvice »

RobbyMcCullough wrote: post #21

I feel you. It's a struggle. Sherry Walling is a very well-educated and practiced psychologist and she does a great episode about burnout on the ZenFounder podcast. She discusses it both from the hands-on side and the clinical side. It helped me a lot. https://zenfounder.com/episodes/episode-142-burnout/ The TL;DL from my takeaways are to find time to focus on the challenging and exciting tasks from one's to-do list.…

Thanks, I enjoyed the episode.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#76

Post by techexecadvice »

alltakendamned wrote: post #62

I once came across a list of burnout drivers, it might help you figure out which aspect is currently "wrong". - Lack of control. You don’t have a lot of say about what’s going on in your work, or your sense of control is undermined or restricted. - Values conflict. There’s a disconnect between your own core values and the core values of the organisation. - Insufficient reward. You feel undercompensated, underapprecia…

Great list! Several of those resonate with me. Thank you. I've been able to isolate the things I love about my job, and the things that contribute to my burnout. I can make changes to influence them (not completely change them), but I'm not sure I have the drive to anymore :-/

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#77

Post by techexecadvice »

zapperdapper wrote: post #63

> I've decided I need to quit. OK fair enough. But ... have you tried various options first within your current job? Have you asked for an extended holiday? Could you change your commute so you cycle in at least part way? A four day week? Have you looked at your schedule and tried to add more exercise? Are you sleeping 8 hours? Have you asked for a sabbatical? (ARM for example will give you a paid three month sabbati…

I haven't asked for an extended holiday. I'm worried about making such a big ask of my boss (our culture is not very progressive) and then coming back only to quit. What do you think?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#78

Post by techexecadvice »

mrleiter wrote: post #51

>At the moment I want nothing to do with it, but I think that's fueled by my burnout. To put it into technological terms: if you want to solve a problem, you must first find out why it is there. In your case: a burnout is not a problem and you cannot "solve" it. Burnout is a symptom, a warning sign by your subconsciousness. You need not to solve it, but rather find out why it occurs and solve this issue. This can be…

Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#79

Post by techexecadvice »

joefarish wrote: post #2

Is it an option to take an extended vacation (3 weeks +) before you make your next move? If having nothing lined up is adding to your stress levels then kick off the job search and be upfront with them that you want to take some time off before you start or you could just tell them you have a long notice period. Before you go ahead and hand in your notice it's probably worth talking to you immediate boss (or their bo…

Thanks. I'm worried about asking for a favor like that from my boss and coming back only to quit. And I'm worried that they'll misunderstand the term "burnout" and it will limit my options for returning one day in the future. What do you think?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to recover from burnout?

#80

Post by techexecadvice »

jFriedensreich wrote: post #47

After my startup i felt empty and unable to bring up even the slightest amount of energy to deal with anything related to business, legal stuff, marketing or startup things. However i was still in love with software in general and knew I needed to recharge but wanted to stay in the industry in long term. This are the things i tried and how they worked out for me: The bad: - do "nothing" this could be healing for cert…

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! Really helpful. The NGO sounds interesting. I read about a company like that that used pouchdb...wonder if it's the same one.
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