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Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#11

Post by losteric »

kartan wrote: post #7

> Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread We are making employees lives miserable to reduce the need of planning for companies. Quite often management lacks the emotional maturity needed in their positions that hides normal mistakes that are part of the job, push for unrealistic schedules and sometimes even get into bulling as a way of getting what they want. 8 hours plus commute time, that has increased as ci…

It's called human resources for a reason - maximize short-term profit while minimizing legal exposure... the same respect we give any other resources.

The 40-hour work week was seen as a step towards ever shorter workdays and weeks thanks to technology. I realize many people now work longer hours, but that should be seen as a problem instead of a fact of life.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#12

Post by alkonaut »

esoterica wrote: post #9
alkonaut wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider myself “paid by the hour” even if I’m not formally paid by the hour. I log my time and have a bank of hours that can’t go outside +/-20 hours. If I did 41 hours last week I’ll do 39 next week. I’ll never take a position where I do more than 40h on average. There is no amount of money that will be compensation enough for regular 45h weeks.

That's a pretty silly line to draw in the sand. No amount of compensation to work 45 hours, really? Even if someone offered you enough money to retire 20 years early, you'd rather spend an extra 20 years doing the 9-5 just to avoid spending 1 extra hour a day at work? If you made enough money you could easily save 10+ hours a week by moving closer to work, paying people to run errands for you etc. You could easily ha…

Anything has a price of course, but realistically there is no position that would let me retire earlier (nor do I want to).

My 40h is also already 100% remote, so very hard to improve on in terms of commutes etc. In fact, if I were to switch to non-remote I’d never accept a 40h ass-in-seat position either.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#13

Post by esoterica »

alkonaut wrote: post #12
esoterica wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a pretty silly line to draw in the sand. No amount of compensation to work 45 hours, really? Even if someone offered you enough money to retire 20 years early, you'd rather spend an extra 20 years doing the 9-5 just to avoid spending 1 extra hour a day at work? If you made enough money you could easily save 10+ hours a week by moving closer to work, paying people to run errands for you etc. You could easily ha…

Anything has a price of course, but realistically there is no position that would let me retire earlier (nor do I want to). My 40h is also already 100% remote, so very hard to improve on in terms of commutes etc. In fact, if I were to switch to non-remote I’d never accept a 40h ass-in-seat position either.

Even a 20% pay raise would let you retire several years earlier, assuming you don't spend any of the extra pay.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#14

Post by patient_zero »

esoterica wrote: post #8
patient_zero wrote: post #2

What I find sad about this (and other articles like this) is when the time comes within the article to lay out how to avoid burnout and stress, the list nevver includes ways to spend less time working. It's almost like an unspoken rule. I know that to recommend that is to take a chance with your livelihood but I really hope that we can at least stop blaming ourselves for the ridiculous work/life ratio we currently mu…

> I'd like to get rid of most salaried positions and get people paid by the hour. I think having someone counting the number of hours you have your butt in a seat is a particularly degrading form of micromanagement, and I'm glad I don't have to endure it. Your TC is the only number that matters; there's no financial difference between getting paid 300k and no overtime and getting paid 200k + 100k overtime. It's silly…

well, I can't speak directly to your situation, but my comment is mostly hinging on my belief that all the mandatory meetings and 'just one more thing' emails we currently deal with would suddenly be less frequent if management had to be mindful of their time and cost.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#15

Post by Emma_Goldman »

RandomInteger4 wrote: post #5

I've been experiencing a type of burnout for the past 7 years that is mostly mental in nature. I get plenty of exercise and while my sleep schedule is abnormal, I still get normal amounts of sleep. Where the burnout comes in is when I get back the motivation to learn and program, and everything is going good, but then I start talking to recruiters and applying to jobs, and the farthest I get is the phone interview. I…

Sounds difficult. Have you ever asked for feedback? Good luck.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#16

Post by alkonaut »

esoterica wrote: post #13
alkonaut wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything has a price of course, but realistically there is no position that would let me retire earlier (nor do I want to). My 40h is also already 100% remote, so very hard to improve on in terms of commutes etc. In fact, if I were to switch to non-remote I’d never accept a 40h ass-in-seat position either.

Even a 20% pay raise would let you retire several years earlier, assuming you don't spend any of the extra pay.

A 20% pay rise is 10% after taxes here and wouldn’t make a huge difference. Also, I hope and intend to work well into my 70s. For that I need to not burn out in my 40s. I’m happy with what I do. I don’t need more money or more years retired. I need a job I’m happy with, money for bills and time with my family now. I pick up kids from school every day at 4 and make them dinner at 5. All this must sound pretty foreign to Americans...

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#17

Post by marmaduke »

patient_zero wrote: post #14
esoterica wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd like to get rid of most salaried positions and get people paid by the hour. I think having someone counting the number of hours you have your butt in a seat is a particularly degrading form of micromanagement, and I'm glad I don't have to endure it. Your TC is the only number that matters; there's no financial difference between getting paid 300k and no overtime and getting paid 200k + 100k overtime. It's silly…

well, I can't speak directly to your situation, but my comment is mostly hinging on my belief that all the mandatory meetings and 'just one more thing' emails we currently deal with would suddenly be less frequent if management had to be mindful of their time and cost.

I have worked for the same employer as both hourly consultant and salaried employee. I saw much more restraint on their part when hours were being counted. On the other hand I am now able to push salary aspect in my favor (ie rely on same salary even if I have to take time off for child’s illness, for example)

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#20

Post by taurath »

graeme wrote: post #4

Pretty sure I burned myself out three years ago, while launching a big thing for my business. Basically, I ran a live course, and it happened right after some travel that had already been scheduled, so I had no downtime. It was all rush, rush, rush for 2-3 months straight. This basically set me up for the next several years in business, and I'm glad I did it, but ooof was the penalty high. This makes me think 1. Good…

Find what you dread, and what you avoid. If it’s your job change your job - if it’s your home life, change your home life.
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