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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

#111

Post by Tempest1981 »

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…

Even worse than requiring email responses: heavy use of text messages outside of "normal" hours.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#112

Post by Tempest1981 »

graeme wrote: post #61
rawrmaan wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is so close to my experience it’s amazing. I’ve found that disconnecting from any technology for 2 hours straight on any given day (harder than it should be) will 100% of the time make me feel much better. I think that it relates to the stress response cycle you’re talking about. If I give my body and mind time away from stressors, I can make quick progress to escaping the “constantly overwhelmed” feeling.

I have two anecdotes on that point: 1. Last April, I took two weeks to go to Cuba and work on some non-internet connected work. Cuba has little internet, so this was easy to do. It was incredibly relaxing, and I made a fair bit of progress in reducing stress. Also generated a lot of helpful insights. Obviously, you have to go back at some point, and when I did, much of the stress returned. But the time away was helpf…

These are great ideas, making me wish there was a convenient product that helped to set all of this up, and tweak the configuration.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#115

Post by Tempest1981 »

isoprophlex wrote: post #52
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…

did you talk to a professional? a psychologist, or an employment counsellor? a personal trainer? I'm sure you can find some kind of professional that's trained to help people in your predicament?

Some schools provide kids with 3 free sessions with a counselor.

I wish tech companies did the same... that it was just a "normal" thing for our mental health. We focus much more on physical health, whereas mental health is taboo.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#117

Post by reasonablemann »

randomacct3847 wrote: post #36

Burnout for me wasn’t about too many hours. It was more that, especially in the SF tech scene, as an employee you’re expected to drink the Koolaid and not only do your job but be 100% emotionally invested in your company too. The expectation of emotional attachment is, at least for me, what makes working in that kind of environment overwhelming, and recently decided for myself that it isn’t sustainable after 4-5 year…

The forced emotional attachment is a way of manipulating you into a lower salary.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#118

Post by jlangenauer »

commandlinefan wrote: post #97
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…

> 8 hours I just refused to join a conference call on Saturday (opting instead to watch my son’s soccer game), and I know I’ll have to answer for it on Monday.

Good for you! Stand up for yourself if they ask, use words like “inappropriate” and “disrespectful” to describe scheduling a conference call on a Saturday.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#119

Post by fastbeef »

I took a different approach to this - I started my own company a offer contracting services. I tell my clients "I work 40 hours a week, including communting. If you want ass-in-seat, that's ~30h/week. Want more? Let me work from home." (I tell them this in my most sale-sy, honey-dripping voice).

None have objected. I now work on average 6 hours per day, 30 minute lunch, 2x40min train+walk commute where I space out with music or podcasts. I make more money, am happier and in better shape then ever. Can highly recommend.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#120

Post by m0zg »

ethagnawl wrote: post #84
Zenst wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For many the commute more than hits your daily stress quota, even before work contributes. So you can end up starting your day stressed, be that public transport sardines and delays or playing car upon roads so gridlocked that the terminology car park seems more apt. This to reach an office at some arbitrary time everybody seems to follow of the 8/9am start. Hence you have this sudden rush into cities around that tim…

> Working longer hours for 4 days, avoiding some of that peak commute stress ... You're spot on here. The option to travel before/after the rush makes a world of difference. I'm a freelancer/consultant and I've found that when I'm working as a "vendor", as opposed to a "temporary employee" working on-site during normal business hours, and only need to be on-site for meetings and such, I don't mind commuting at all an…

As a consultant I'd bill my hourly rate for travel to and from the customer's office. This achieves two things:

1. Reduces stress, because all of a sudden your commute is not a total waste of time

2. Makes your client feel better about you working from home

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