Ask HN: How are you getting through (and back from) burning out?

Have you ever been sick and given up all sense of needing to be productive, and actually felt some relief from it? Try to tap into that attitude for a bit. Learn to listen to what you actually want instead of what you think you should be doing. Stoic philosophy is popular around here, and could probably help you out a lot. Consider seeing a qualified CBT therapist who specializes in OCD. Not saying you have OCD, but the same tendencies of obsession and perfection can lead to burn-out.

Just like the other comments here I'd suggest focusing on mindset and health. For mindset, I'd recommend looking at stoicism such as with "A guide to the good life." In particular, the parts about accepting reality as it is, sort of like the serenity prayer. I like to think that I go into work with the mindset of giving 100% and should therefore not feel dejected by negative occurances. If I'm not fit for a task, that's ok, I'll either grow or I won't, but I can't expect myself to magically go beyond my full effort no more than I could grow beyond my height at that moment.

Also, health. It always seems to be just a little too imperceptive to really drive home how little things make a big impact. Sleep no less than 8 hours, eat no more than your recommended calories, be active for no less than 20 minutes (walking, cardio, strength, etc... ideally to your target heart rate), and foster strong relationships [1]. Additionally, try to understand what drives your behavior: why did X make me feel Y, and take control of that causation. Seek therapy and read into behavioral literature to better understand yourself.

[1] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-8...

1. You may find it beneficial to talk to a third party that isn't a friend, member of family or colleague. Somebody that can be truly objective, has the skills to get to the bottom of your thinking patterns and most probably somebody that is paid to listen and apply their skills and experience.

If you can afford it, try some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) sessions. They can help you to recognise and understand the thinking patterns that got you here in the first place. Once you recognise these patterns and their triggers, you should be able to head them off and drain them of their power before they become fully destructive again.

You may also discover that there are other deeper underlying causes to the behaviours which inform your relationship with work. Sometimes you need to deconstruct yourself and look at the foundations before you can rebuild.

Therapy can help you get a balanced perspective on your life and hopefully to re-frame the role that work plays in that.

2. As others have said: a good amount of physical exercise also helps. Try running, swimming or cycling / mountain biking. I've been there and I cannot stress enough that physical wellness has a significant positive effect upon mental wellness.

3. Practice Mindfullness. If you don't know what that means, then now is the time to investigate.

Wishing you well. You can do it!

It's surprising to me that so many people recommend eating breakfast. There's no specific value add to eating early in the morning. There are tons of value adds to constraining the hours you eat during each day ("intermittent fasting"). Eat breakfast at your own risk:

https://priceonomics.com/how-breakfast-became-a-thing/

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-skipping-breakfast-b...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_breakfast

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3680567/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-sur...

Your other points are solid. I'd add regular exercise as well.

Not sure if Aristotle said that but here are a couple of other quotes

“No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training…what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” - Socrates

“In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these two means, man can attain perfection.” - Plato. (I suspect this is a dodgy translation)