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Vacation isn’t the answer to employee burnout

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Re: Vacation isn’t the answer to employee burnout

#171

Post by physicles »

emeraldd wrote: post #157
karaterobot wrote: post #53

When I've been burned out or hated my job, I didn't take vacations, because the crushing realization that I'd have to return to work was almost worse than losing myself in the uninterrupted, repetitive, dead-eyed grind. While on vacation, I'd start thinking about the countdown to the end of the vacation. > Well, root out the real causes of burnout. I'll offer the definition that's made most sense to me. I didn't come…

> Burnout is caused by working hard at something for a long time and not having it pay off. You know, this might have something to do with why I gravitate towards doing "user" (really other devs since I tend to work on internal tools more than outside facing products) support type stuff. Devs trying to figure out why something isn't working are usually grateful when someone can help them get things working so they ca…

Yeah, I’ve routinely found work on internal tools to be the most satisfying. It’s rare to find product work where you’re directly in touch with users who care, and whose expectations you can routinely meet.

Re: Vacation isn’t the answer to employee burnout

#172

Post by agumonkey »

actually_a_dog wrote: post #127
agumonkey wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People at the office joke about the fact that when bad weather ruins their vacations, they come back happier to work.

I hate to be "that guy," but I don't understand this joke. :/

Ruined holidays is the only au they can appreciate coming to work

Re: Vacation isn’t the answer to employee burnout

#174

Post by runawaybottle »

seg_lol wrote: post #149
runawaybottle wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ll add a small insidious realization of what stress is. It’s one thing to work hard and feel tired after working hard, the causality is natural. It’s when you feel fatigue before you even start the work. Why am I tired before I even begin? That to me it’s a dead giveaway something is wrong. How do you solve that? We mythologized grit , the strength to overcome this preemptive fatigue. But even that, is fatiguing. L…

Grit is a scam to extract more value out of people you have convinced to play your game. Scratch to win!

Sounds like 1776, I hear a rebellion.

Re: Vacation isn’t the answer to employee burnout

#175

Post by watwut »

t0mbstone wrote: post #143
karaterobot wrote: post #53

When I've been burned out or hated my job, I didn't take vacations, because the crushing realization that I'd have to return to work was almost worse than losing myself in the uninterrupted, repetitive, dead-eyed grind. While on vacation, I'd start thinking about the countdown to the end of the vacation. > Well, root out the real causes of burnout. I'll offer the definition that's made most sense to me. I didn't come…

What about people who build tons of successful things and get win after win after win, but are still feeling burned out? For me, a "win" would be accomplishing something and then getting to bask in the success and take a fucking break and do nothing for a year. Shoot, even being able to take a break for a month after busting my butt on a project for a year would be nice. But nope. You never really "finish" anything i…

Is that really surprising you could not just chill for rest of week?

Re: Vacation isn’t the answer to employee burnout

#176

Post by Closi »

t0mbstone wrote: post #143
karaterobot wrote: post #53

When I've been burned out or hated my job, I didn't take vacations, because the crushing realization that I'd have to return to work was almost worse than losing myself in the uninterrupted, repetitive, dead-eyed grind. While on vacation, I'd start thinking about the countdown to the end of the vacation. > Well, root out the real causes of burnout. I'll offer the definition that's made most sense to me. I didn't come…

What about people who build tons of successful things and get win after win after win, but are still feeling burned out? For me, a "win" would be accomplishing something and then getting to bask in the success and take a fucking break and do nothing for a year. Shoot, even being able to take a break for a month after busting my butt on a project for a year would be nice. But nope. You never really "finish" anything i…

Completely agree with this - I was totally burned out with work because I kept getting and finishing projects and all that would happen is I would get more projects.

I was burned out but then my boss dragged me in a room and told me I was doing a great job, that they appreciated me and that they know I prefer to work in evenings but get there at 9am every day because that’s my contract, so they said I didn’t need to do that in the future and can arrive whenever I want because they know I work hard enough and will work the hours.

That conversation was enough to completely reset the burnout. No doubt it will come back, but a little appreciation goes a long way.

Re: Vacation isn’t the answer to employee burnout

#177

Post by [deleted] »

tinyhouse wrote: post #80
rahimnathwani wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Burnout is caused by working hard at something for a long time and not having it pay off." Exactly. Yet most people mistakenly attribute the feeling to other causes. OP quote what people think are the causes of their own burnout, and took those at face value. When you're burnt out, you're probably not in a good state to determine the cause.

Speak for yourself. Sorry for being blunt, but you clearly know very little about burnout (good for you). If people say that they are burned out because of a bad manager, believe them instead of saying they don't know what they are talking about. There are many reasons for burnout. Working on things that don't pay off is just one of them.

[deleted]

Re: Vacation isn’t the answer to employee burnout

#179

Post by sul_tasto »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #165
beebmam wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's one job in the US that is currently experiencing extremely high rates of burnout. ICU Nurses. What can we learn about burnout from them in this current situation? I don't think "Burnout is caused by working hard at something for a long time and not having it pay off." applies for them in at all. They are constantly saving lives and constantly seeing the positive results of their actions. My first guess is tha…

"I don't think "Burnout is caused by working hard at something for a long time and not having it pay off." applies for them in at all. They are constantly saving lives and constantly seeing the positive results of their actions. " That's not really a payoff after a while. I work at a medical device company. When I started I got a kick out of all the great patient stories. Even my girlfriend's life changed from suicid…

Your comment leads me to think that the “wins” need to vary in type over time -that it’s not possible to recycle the same win indefinitely.

Re: Vacation isn’t the answer to employee burnout

#180

Post by yoz-y »

m0zg wrote: post #168
shoo wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jennifer Senior's excellent article on burnout, "Can’t Get No Satisfaction" [1], contains this gem of a quote, from psychotherapist & burned-out burnout researcher Prof Barry Farber: > [...] their level of caring couldn’t be sustained in the absence of results > Farber often calls burnout “the gap between expectation and reward,” Also: > “My clients are perfectionists,” says Alden Cass, a therapist to both corporate…

It's not even this for me, as much as it is feeling "trapped" in a situation. I like to keep my options open. When I feel trapped, I move on. "Rewards" can't keep me sane, and without sanity everything else loses meaning. Part of the reason why I got out of big tech: their MO is to keep you trapped, a compliant, good little cog wearing pretty, gold plated handcuffs. As an ex-Microsoft VP once told me: "it's a warm Gu…

Wow. Comparing a cushy desk job with massive pay to a prison labour camp. By a millionaire no less…
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