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Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

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Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#71

I asked for a raise this summer and they wouldn't accommodate that so I quit. I was burnt out and the company was asking for ridiculous things like 24-hour incident response without being on-call and paid for it. Right now I am mostly playing gigs and running sound. A lot of pushing boxes and a little "figure out why the mic isn't sounding right". It's cold in Colorado, but boondocking in my truck at these remote gig…

Definitely some wisdom here... the "headline" salary number for a developer looks great on paper, but once you factor in hours that are likely 9-5 as an absolute minimum + various out of hours stuff for release + support + being on hook/on-call for anything that explodes at any times, and all generally pretty inflexible / driven by _other people's_ events, messups, etc, it's not that great, or it's like all downsides of being a proprietor, but with upside capped to your salary.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#72

Time off and complete disconnect from all things work related. It doesn’t even matter if you travel or do whatever, just disconnecting is enough. Three months is considered the ideal minimum amount of time. I burned out hard many years ago and this was the only thing that worked for recovery. I’m at that point again now with my current startup but I have no choice but to force through the burnout. I’m gonna be in a r…

We always have choice

I should rephrase, I decided to not have a choice. I made a decision when I started to see my business through and take it as far as I could. When things are difficult it’s way, way harder to deal when you fantasize about escaping. I’m really quite content with the situation but I see the price I’ve paid.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#73
My advice:

- Take some time off

- Talk to your family and ask them to help you.

- Take care of your health. Sleep, have quality time for your self.

- To exercise.

- Don't take all these advices very personal or serious. It depends from person to person, usually someone who cares about you is the one who can give you the best advice.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#74
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…

IMO this can lead to a different problem: boredom. I worked at a previous job where the primary product was in KTLO mode, and the company was really just waiting to be acquired. Not much to do, and nobody cared.

I suppose it's really a spectrum in the end.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#75
Been there.

let's look at some of the reasons of the burnout:

1. You are not a 20 year old anymore.

2. Been there, done that so many times.

3. You got a kid AND (obviously) a partner. This is a major change in your life. Your priorities are changing.

Essentially, what you were doing in the past, is not working and you know deep inside you will not work.

The only thing you can change in this whole equation is YOU.

and so here's what I suggest...

take a break - go away from everything (and I mean everything including your kid) for a week. Suggest going to a small town where there's nothing to do, it's incredibly boring and all you can do is go for long walks. Here's what you should think about:

1. Look at your next 30 years (so long you've coasted along but now you have to plan). Decide what is it that you want to be known for at the end of the 30 years. What is it that you will have wanted to achieve.

2. Make a list of the top 3-4 areas you want to be in. More importantly, make a list of the consequences (both +ve and -ve) if you choose a specific area.

3. Pull together a plan (remember, it will change as you execute it) of how you will get from here to there for each area. That includes the steps you'll take, how will you track it, what issues/risks will come up, your answers to that.

4. Take the top 2 and start doing. At some point, you'll need to dump one area. You can do just one thing in this lifetime...

aaand... if all the above is wrong and it is not a major burnout, then just go for a week's vacation and walk yourself into the ground. Come back completely (physically) exhausted. for me, I need to rinse, repeat every 1/2 year.

Oh yeah finally, Don't take a high end, 5 star resort or something like that. Be frugal. You want the physical discomfort to override the mental pain. You need other things to bother you. For example a friend of mine did a one month travel on less than a $ per DAY across India (and that included staying, food, traveling etc.,)...

Hope this helps.

Best.

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#76
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…

IMO this can lead to a different problem: boredom. I worked at a previous job where the primary product was in KTLO mode, and the company was really just waiting to be acquired. Not much to do, and nobody cared. I suppose it's really a spectrum in the end.

I think this defines it. It's an spectrum.

I made my jumps in the last 4 years...

I got really burned out while working in a MAANGA company and move to a smaller company but the poor management of the projects made me quit.

I then joined an startup and there was practically no automation and no consistency across the codebase so it was really messy and hard to follow, every new task required to re learn the module/code where you were working and the management was not interested on changing anything. Even I got called out for "not contributing enough to the product and focusing more on automating stuff"

I'm going to start soon again at a big corp MAANGA style, the interviews showed the engineers are more happy and challenged there and there's not a big rush/demand as in the previous MAANGA I worked on... So yeah, it's a matter of searching what works for you

(Yes, I haven't found what works for me, but I still have hope)

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#77
post #7

For the last five years I've worked exclusively with non-profits and companies who are aligned with some sort of social good. Coming from the agency/startup world, things are completely different for me now. Can't get something done at 6pm on a Friday? That's okay no problem we'll look into it Monday. Or Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Or next quarter. It's a completely different way of working, antithetical to the adrenaline…

Could you disclose where you work, or some of the orgs you see yourself working at?

Re: Ask HN: What to Do After Burnout?

#78
I'm sorry to hear about your burnout. Consider these steps:

1. Reflect: Assess your current priorities and work values. 2. Set Boundaries: Clearly define work hours to prioritize personal time. 3. Seek Support: Connect with a mentor, therapist, or support network. 4. Explore Alternatives: Consider part-time roles or consulting. 5. Skill Reevaluation: Reevaluate and hone your skills, exploring new areas. 6. Incident Management Platforms: Use tools like Squadcast for streamlined incident response, reducing stress. 7. Self-Care Routine: Implement a self-care routine to manage stress effectively.

Remember, finding a balance is key, and seeking a fulfilling career path is a journey.

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