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Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

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Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#491

Post by bartimus »

feanaro wrote: post #200
colanderman wrote: post #9

1. Take time off, like a month or more. [1] Use it to do anything other than coding. Hone a hobby, travel, volunteer, etc. No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. 2. You are worth more than you currently think you are. Internalize this, know this, that is key. "I am a sole developer for Mobile and Web platforms at this startup in a very small team" --> is a desirable skill in and of itself. 3. Stop…

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

I've always put years but have also openly admitted having gaps. I simply told I wanted some free time. Or were messing around with some pet-project (which I do put on my CV). Or learning some new language (which I don't put on my CV). It's never been a problem. Perhaps because I never acted weird about it.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#492

Post by colanderman »

giantg2 wrote: post #354
colanderman wrote: post #9

1. Take time off, like a month or more. [1] Use it to do anything other than coding. Hone a hobby, travel, volunteer, etc. No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. 2. You are worth more than you currently think you are. Internalize this, know this, that is key. "I am a sole developer for Mobile and Web platforms at this startup in a very small team" --> is a desirable skill in and of itself. 3. Stop…

The option not on here is to move to a lead. Tell the company that it's more than a one person job (should be obvious by the comments). Then pitch the idea of you being the lead and selecting the new team. You should be able to reduce your hours and get a raise. If not, then the comment above should work well.

I agree, this is a logical next step. Definitely time off is warranted though -- burnout is no joke.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#494

Post by bigDinosaur »

madeofpalk wrote: post #308
bigDinosaur wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really should be put in the context of someone's life. Did they spend a year or two travelling? Did they spend it working on personally productive projects? Or did they do nothing but play video games or do drugs? These are all very different extended gaps. The first two should be fine - if someone's skills have atrophied than that's another issue (but nothing a good interview or probation period won't pick up on…

I've taken sixth months off and mostly played video games and no one ever cared or asked??!

I'm actually very glad this is the case.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#495

Post by bigDinosaur »

sterlind wrote: post #449
kayodelycaon wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The argument I've seen and heard many times is that someone who was been fired before is likely to get fired again. Also applies to medical conditions. You don't want an employee who might get sick and not be able to work.

it's illegal to ask about or discriminate on medical conditions though, unless there's a strong, concrete reason to ask - e.g. you don't have to hire someone with uncontrolled epilepsy to be a bus driver, but you can't refuse to hire a receptionist because her lupus might make her call in sick occasionally. I'm terrified of all this, since I started using a wheelchair. a friend told me she did 10 interviews with no o…

Are you a developer? There's so much remote work now that you'll absolutely be able to find work. I can't speak to the (illegal) nature of discriminating against you for an in-office developer job though.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#496

Post by rramadass »

llllllllllll9 wrote: post #465
rramadass wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While i do not claim to have all the answers, the following suggestions might help. What you are feeling is normal. Take a look at the book Why we do What we do: Understanding Self-Motivation by Edward Deci for some insights. Relentlessly work on improving yourself to get "better" at various aspects of "Programming" (assuming that is what you want). Don't compare yourself to others, focus on incremental improvement e…

... but this is just another self improvement story ??

No.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#497

Post by pragmatic »

gumby wrote: post #362
feanaro wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

Interesting: over the last 30 years I’ve been lucky enough that my resume is more gap than “work”. I wonder if that would be a problem if I tried to apply for a job at a a big company.

Teach me your ways master!

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#498

Post by aristofun »

This looks like a mix of narcissism (yes, feeling a looser is one of possible manifestations) and adhd, but don’t take it seriously - im not a psychiatrist.

What I believe you _should_ take seriously is to find a decent professional who can thoroughly examine you (including blood tests etc) and proper diagnose you. Not just drug you out based on couple conversations with you.

If you really expect HN comment to give you working solution - then you might be chasing a myth and looking for another excuse to postpone solving the problem.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#499

Post by tl_donson »

fshr wrote: post #30
colanderman wrote: post #9

1. Take time off, like a month or more. [1] Use it to do anything other than coding. Hone a hobby, travel, volunteer, etc. No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. 2. You are worth more than you currently think you are. Internalize this, know this, that is key. "I am a sole developer for Mobile and Web platforms at this startup in a very small team" --> is a desirable skill in and of itself. 3. Stop…

But what if they aren't worth more (as a dev, financially) than they think they are? They could be awful, but naively put in a ton of hours. Why do we assume people are worth more? Are we trying to make them feel better by making assumptions and potentially leading them horribly astray? Most people are supremely mediocre and there are just and many horrible devs as their are great ones.

“Most people are supremely mediocre and there are just and many horrible devs as their are great ones.”

if this is true (not arguing either way), then he is almost surely undervaluing himself since most of those mediocre or horrible devs don’t work 80 hour weeks or are regularly on call.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#500

Post by journey_16162 »

If you can really put 70 - 90h a week, at someone elses job, hats off to that. You have some stamina. If I were you I'd switch jobs ASAP to something like a regular 40h/week, then maybe spend the other 20h/week working on a side project, something that you could be passionate about, maybe try it with a new programming language, or something that you don't do at day job like game development. You could never really try it with a job that is so time consuming. Take the remaining time to rest and chill. Your brain fog is probably a result of being overworked and too little sleep, and spending too much in your head when working. You can also try zen meditation against brain fog, it directly fights is symptoms as it forces you to step away from the stream of random thoughts and focus on your body and surroundings. "3 Pillars of Zen" - is a good introduction, don't need to take the entire book seriously, there are good instructions for practice.
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