Ask HN: Burned Out. What Now?

Can't stress this enough. I've spent the last decade trying to lose weight and failing, always yo-yoing up a little bit higher and losing confidence each time. Consistent diet changes are really freaking hard especially when you're battling other health issue. Aerobic exercise burns a hilariously tiny amount of calories for the effort and eventually it can eat away at motivation.

Setting up a home gym to lift weights and trying to eat healthier rather less has done wonders for my health. ExRx has a lot of information [1] but the gist of it is that a pound of fat burns under 5 calories a day while a pound of lean muscle burns 30 calories a day without exercise and as much as 50 calories a day for up to several days after anaerobic exercise (weight lifting). The maximum grow rate is from half a pound to a pound (for those that won the genetic lottery) of lean muscle a week so in 10 weeks its possible to add 150-300 calories to your basal metabolic rate that requires minimal maintenance compared to on-going dieting. Weight lifting doesn't require that much effort [2] or maintenance, just proper form and equipment, so it's a lot easier to permanently incorporate in a schedule a few times a week than a life long dieting change.

[1] https://exrx.net/FatLoss

[2] https://exrx.net/WeightTraining/Research

After confirming your benefits and speaking with healthcare professional, talk to HR before your manager. Your manager may not know all the benefits available or try to hide them from you.

Take as long as you need to recover. You may not have hobbies but sometimes vegging out in front TV for a few days is all you need to recover.

Also forget about all the healthy stuff like exercise, meditation, etc. Just sleep as long as you can. Burning out means your body is under maximum stress. You don't want to add to your plate. Remove things from it.

Relaxing experiences maybe okay like massages, bathes, a slow walk.

Finally, ancedata, I know someone who was getting burned out. They didn't show up for work for a week. When they got back, their boss was furious but they said they were burned out. HR got involved. Boss got in trouble for creating unhealthy work environment. Person was told to take more time off and see a therapist. This was at a major US company.

I've burned out twice. Both times I quit. Took a year off between the two. I travelled both times, and then just had my own routine at home. I had no problem finding another job when it was time to come back.

- You can tell your boss. Expect sympathy, but, any plan that works for you is probably one you'll have come up with.

- If you leave, I'd recommend not dictating when it'll end up front. Say three months if people ask, but what you really mean is in three months you'll reassess if you need more time off. No actual deadlines.

- I don't know about you, but for me as a senior eng at a startup, work eats into all hours of day / weekend. Do an 8-4. Not one minute more. No weekend. No slack on your phone. No on call. No evenings.

Be kind to yourself friend. <3 Come up with a routine. I found my days filled up without work as they did with, but taking showers, cooking meals for myself, etc. was important.