Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread • Hacker News Board

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#171

Post by Eli_P » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

manmal wrote: post #155

Eli_P wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this methodology is a kind of recipe for detaching from yourself completely, leave out the last two clauses which I do like. But, philosophy of suppressing emotions seasoned with substances which inhibit Default Mode Network in your brain? Sure thing if you have failed or feel stuck as a short term remedy, but ain't you gonna lose yourself if do it regularly?

On the contrary, stoicism helps you re-attach, especially if reality as perceived with your old mindset has become unbearable. Think of it as a way of viewing things, and less of suppressing anything. Emotions are generated as a reaction to your perception of reality - you will be fed up by the stranger running a red light, but your anger will swing to concern if you learn that they are heading towards an emergency r…

I understand, if you got your emotions cross-wired by crooked society, then you can put emotions on hold and rethink logically about what's happening. So stoicism is like a negative imprint of mindfulness, something like a maintenance mode. Mindfulness is about to stay present with both emotional and rational, and not trying to rationalize feelings.

DMN is an ancient part of brain which acts like primitive unconscious task scheduler. When it goes nuts, you binge on substances and reset it, then sober up and feel happy. Something like that.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#172

Post by mratzloff » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 8:25 PM UTC

wutbrodo wrote: post #95

mratzloff wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> perform worse at your current job by putting in less hours Citation needed. Edit: So self-evident is this equation to some people that they down vote the mere suggestion that working longer hours does not make you better at your job.

What on Earth are you talking about? For the cases where your job requires longer hours even when they don't track productivity, the part of the sentence that you conveniently left out was "..by putting in less hours or get a job that isn't so rigid as to require a number of hours above what you find to be your healthy level." For the cases where your work doesn't blindly want longer hours but measures your productiv…

> I can't even imagine what would drive someone to spend their weekend time feverishly imagining statements that no one is making so they can feel smug about disagreeing with them.

I'm sorry my comment upset you. It wasn't my intention.

My point was that in many cases people are inclined to work longer as a result of social pressure when it has no positive impact on productivity. In that case, are longer hours "required"? Or is it strictly a choice? My interpretation of what you said was perhaps more binary than you intended.

In those cases, one can simply work less, shrug off the social pressure, and perform at the same level. You allude to this (sort of) in your second paragraph, but this is not as obvious to many people as you state and, I think, benefits from saying explicitly.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#173

Post by blocko » Fri, Apr 05, 2019, 9:36 PM UTC

manmal wrote: post #154

_puk wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Stoic philosophy. Accept that you have control over nothing (only the chance to influence)" You have control over your reaction to things. And I think this is a key component of Stoicism, especially in the modern working world. If you are acting (and reacting) true to yourself, then it is other's reactions to your actions that are failing. This goes a long way to reducing the amount of stress felt. Thanks for the in…

I‘d like to differ here: „You have control over your reaction to things.“. I‘ve had my fair share of yelling at my kids, and regretting it afterwards. Or writing an inflammatory email response. Obviously, I don’t have full control over my reaction, even though I think I‘m a rather careful person. I do have a strong influence, that’s for sure. I‘ve stopped beating myself up for knee-jerking something. The unconscious…

You can train and improve the control you have over your reactions - the knee-jerk doesn't need to materialize into anything more than the initial feeling if you practice mindfulness for long enough. Definitely still not worth beating yourself up for anything that has already happened, but in my own experience, taking note and improving how I mentally and physically act in response to feelings has made my life immeasurably better over time

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#174

Post by blocko » Fri, Apr 05, 2019, 9:52 PM UTC

Eli_P wrote: post #171

manmal wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary, stoicism helps you re-attach, especially if reality as perceived with your old mindset has become unbearable. Think of it as a way of viewing things, and less of suppressing anything. Emotions are generated as a reaction to your perception of reality - you will be fed up by the stranger running a red light, but your anger will swing to concern if you learn that they are heading towards an emergency r…

I understand, if you got your emotions cross-wired by crooked society, then you can put emotions on hold and rethink logically about what's happening. So stoicism is like a negative imprint of mindfulness, something like a maintenance mode. Mindfulness is about to stay present with both emotional and rational, and not trying to rationalize feelings. DMN is an ancient part of brain which acts like primitive unconsciou…

Mindfulness and stoicism aren't opposing approaches, they complement one another. Stoicism ≠ being stoic

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#175

Post by therealdrag0 » Tue, Apr 09, 2019, 5:46 AM UTC

org3432 wrote: post #49

What exhausts me is the people, the politics, the engineering egos, and the endless tolerance of companies to spend months of time working through previously obviously poor decisions and no tolerance for fixing the attitudes that created them. You’re called perfectionist engineer, regardless of how little effort or time it takes to correct the long term trajectory for your project. There’s little connection to clear…

I've been feeling this at my current gig. But I just gave notice today. Hopefully my next gig will be better. My other jobs were better, so there is hope.

Re: Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

#176

Post by manmal » Tue, Apr 09, 2019, 8:47 AM UTC

Eli_P wrote: post #171

manmal wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary, stoicism helps you re-attach, especially if reality as perceived with your old mindset has become unbearable. Think of it as a way of viewing things, and less of suppressing anything. Emotions are generated as a reaction to your perception of reality - you will be fed up by the stranger running a red light, but your anger will swing to concern if you learn that they are heading towards an emergency r…

I understand, if you got your emotions cross-wired by crooked society, then you can put emotions on hold and rethink logically about what's happening. So stoicism is like a negative imprint of mindfulness, something like a maintenance mode. Mindfulness is about to stay present with both emotional and rational, and not trying to rationalize feelings. DMN is an ancient part of brain which acts like primitive unconsciou…

Stoicism is a form of mindfulness. You seem to be misunderstand everything I say, so I'll show myself out.