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How to Burn Out Programming

blog.braegger.pw

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Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#91
2. Have a negative attitude toward everything.

People who pretend to think that you can simply willfully infuse yourself with positivity annoy me.

Negativity is how individuals react to certain environments. You can change some features in the environment and fix that, but simply demanding everyone to be positive is stupid. It's essentially a demand for suffering in silence.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#92
post #91

2. Have a negative attitude toward everything. People who pretend to think that you can simply willfully infuse yourself with positivity annoy me. Negativity is how individuals react to certain environments. You can change some features in the environment and fix that, but simply demanding everyone to be positive is stupid. It's essentially a demand for suffering in silence.

Have you ever burned out?

We're not talking about using positive thinking to imagine everything is hunky dory. The issue is strong negative emotions. If you are constantly having strong feelings of anger which you are repressing, that can lead to burnout.

Usually there are better ways of dealing with problems than getting silently angry.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#93

Now how about an article on how to recover from burn out, doing nothing all day for a couple months doesn't seem to be working out.

Generally, too much rest isn't useful for recovering from burnout. Sure, rest for a day or two (or longer, if necessary) if you're very fatigued. However in the long-term, you won't end up recovering if you just sit and do nothing.

The key is to do motivating, enjoyable activities. Build up gradually - it will take time. Social interactions, sunshine, healthy food, exercise (within moderation) also help.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#96
post #19

Where's "Don't exercise?" That'd be pretty close to the top of my list. A quick 2-3 mile jog around the neighborhood can help get me out of work-related funks. (I work at a home office, though, so it's easier for me to say "fuck it" and go do something sweaty in the middle of the day...) My theory is that, since the only real item on your jogging to-do list is to put one foot in front of the other, your brain is free…

Exercise, I've found, is probably the single most important aspect of maintaining "happiness."

The problem is I can't consistently muster the willpower to block out an hour long chunk of time to go running or workout at gym. I found a lovely compromise, though:

### The Seven Minute Workout [1][2] ###

It removes literally every excuse my brain can come up with not to work out. Too cold outside? Doesn't matter, you're not going anywhere. Not enough time? The time you'll spend coming up with excuses is probably longer than 7 minutes. That's like two songs on the songza workout playlist. Don't feel like changing? Doesn't matter - you can do it in the clothes you're in. Can't find the equipment you need? All you need is a chair, a wall, and a 7x3 clear space of floor.

I figure it's much better to do this every day [3] than to go on a workout binge where I work out 2 hours at the gym on Monday, take Tuesday off, dread going there for 1.5 hours on Wednesday, take Thursday off, take Friday off because I'm still sore from Wednesday, take the weekend off because it's the weekend, and then forget about working out again.

1. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-mi...

2. http://www.7-min.com/

3. http://dontbreakthechain.com/share/christiangenco/last-four/...

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#97
post #4
post #3

[deleted]

I've never been burnt out(yet). What does it feel like?

All of the things mentioned in other comments. However my burnout also lead to chronic fatigue syndrome, which (at least for some people) seems to be caused by extreme burnout. Severe depression/anxiety, inability to digest much food, severe fatigue (not able to walk very far, if at all), vertigo/POTS, disrupted sleep cycle, feeling very cold, etc. Some people get chronic pain as well.

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#98
post #91

2. Have a negative attitude toward everything. People who pretend to think that you can simply willfully infuse yourself with positivity annoy me. Negativity is how individuals react to certain environments. You can change some features in the environment and fix that, but simply demanding everyone to be positive is stupid. It's essentially a demand for suffering in silence.

Have you ever burned out? We're not talking about using positive thinking to imagine everything is hunky dory. The issue is strong negative emotions. If you are constantly having strong feelings of anger which you are repressing, that can lead to burnout. Usually there are better ways of dealing with problems than getting silently angry.

Like changing environments? :P

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#99
post #34
post #19

Where's "Don't exercise?" That'd be pretty close to the top of my list. A quick 2-3 mile jog around the neighborhood can help get me out of work-related funks. (I work at a home office, though, so it's easier for me to say "fuck it" and go do something sweaty in the middle of the day...) My theory is that, since the only real item on your jogging to-do list is to put one foot in front of the other, your brain is free…

Moderate exercise not only treats, but prevents depression http://media.utoronto.ca/media-releases/moderate-exercise-no... I don't like jogging, so I go for a walk everyday, which includes a lot of hills and stairs. Not only do I meet my 10,000 steps on my step counter, but it's when I come up with my best ideas. Also being grossly overweight does no favors to keeping depression away.

On the bright side, being grossly overweight also makes the walk more of a workout!

Re: How to Burn Out Programming

#100
Point #2, negativity, is one of the more surprising things I've had to deal with. It leaks into your personal life, and nobody likes "that guy/girl" who is critical and pessimistic about every little thing.

Great read, thanks for sharing!

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