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Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

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Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#41

Post by uptownfunk »

There is a deadline because it has to get done and won’t get done on its own (surprise: because no one wants to do it). So they find people like you to do it and they pay you to toil and essentially kill your soul for doing so. So that’s where you are. The remedy is two fold- get away from that company, take time and do nothing (smell the roses, exercise, family, whatever) and then think what you want to do, irrespective of $. If you need a job, you’re right big tech is as bad (probably worse except the pay maybe). There are teams that are slow and don’t ship that much, you could try and find those roles and coast you just need to interview the hiring manager in an intelligent way..

Anyways all the best, I hope you find peace and happiness

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#42

Post by regularjack »

If you can afford it, take a break and don't work for a few months.

Instead of "work" do other things that you enjoy. Can be arts, crafts, video games, travel, whatever YOU want.

Do not create a to-do list for those activities. Do whatever you feel like doing when you wake up in the morning

This has worked for me.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#43

Post by paulus-saulus »

Uehreka wrote: post #35

My honest advice: Get out of the Hacker News hivemind. The folks on this site act like every programming job is either at a FAANG/MAGMA company, a startup, or not in tech. They are wrong. If you are willing to look outside the valley (but still in almost any big city or suburb), there are oceans of tech companies that work in like, financial compliance dashboards or healthcare documentation or if you’re OK with it de…

I agree. Quit all IT news feeds and do only one thing . RELAX

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#44

Post by alfl »

Starting a small company doing a niche product, while easier said than done, provides significant benefits in recapturing your own time.

When the baby won’t let you sleep you can have productive time without it feeling forced, you can take days off when needed, take naps in the middle of the day, etc.

It’s a different kind of stress that can feel healthier.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#45

Post by jebarker »

alfl wrote: post #36

Also, regular hard exercise and/or martial arts training, particularly BJJ, is de riguer for stress management. When you get into YC one of the first things they tell you is to develop a regular physical health practice because startups are incredibly difficult. Safely blow the burnout into the weights and your sparring partners.

OP said they'd just had a kid. It's probably pretty difficult for them to start a regular hard exercise regime.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#46

Post by hotnfresh »

iLoveOncall wrote: post #27
hotpotamus wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Go on holiday. At least two months. If the OP is US based, then this may pose an issue as I'm not aware of any employer that would allow this, and presumably his family's livelihood and health insurance is dependent on his employment. A lot of that is an assumption, but quite a common situation.

The employer doesn't have to allow it if OP uses FMLA.

If the startup’s too small or too distributed, may not be available. 50 employees within 75 miles or it doesn’t apply.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#47

Post by zubairq »

Uehreka wrote: post #35

My honest advice: Get out of the Hacker News hivemind. The folks on this site act like every programming job is either at a FAANG/MAGMA company, a startup, or not in tech. They are wrong. If you are willing to look outside the valley (but still in almost any big city or suburb), there are oceans of tech companies that work in like, financial compliance dashboards or healthcare documentation or if you’re OK with it de…

Great advice! Hacker news is only for us degenerates !

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#48

Post by mblast311 »

I've had much better success without switching.

Burnout doesn't usually come from work itself, but from its effects on your home life. As someone who has worked in startups, has a family, and takes on too many extracurricular activities, these three things helped me the most:

I set limits on my time spent thinking about work. I will put in a solid 40 hours (and more if my company really needs me on occasion), but I let it go after my 8-hour allotment. It will take a few days for both you and your company to get used to this. However, don't hesitate to prioritize your family commitments. For example, you might say, 'Sorry, that's all for today. I need to attend to family responsibilities.' and then firmly adhere to this boundary.

Take small amounts of time off. The effects of having time off are near immediate, but they don't last long. Instead of taking a solid month off, plan several 3-4 day weekends well in advance, and it will pay off massively.

Get your personal/outside-of-work house in order. Let your loved ones (or people/groups with whom you've made commitments) know that you're trying to mitigate your burnout and outline what you need. Whether that's some time to yourself each day or scaling back your commitments, it can help immensely.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#49

Post by asow92 »

Take a long vacation and unplug without working on anything else or checking in for at least a month. Explain to senior leadership that you need this for everyone's benefit. They'll be happy to abide if they value your contributions longterm.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#50

Post by itake »

Uehreka wrote: post #35

My honest advice: Get out of the Hacker News hivemind. The folks on this site act like every programming job is either at a FAANG/MAGMA company, a startup, or not in tech. They are wrong. If you are willing to look outside the valley (but still in almost any big city or suburb), there are oceans of tech companies that work in like, financial compliance dashboards or healthcare documentation or if you’re OK with it de…

I've worked at small non-tech companies (less than 50 people) and the quality of my peers was frustrating.
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