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Ask HN: What to do if you are ridiculously burnt out?

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Re: Ask HN: What to do if you are ridiculously burnt out?

#22

Post by moron4hire »

There is the easy way--which should not be thought of at all as the shameful or inferior way--and that is to just quit everything and hit the reset button. You really need to rest. I've been there myself too many times.

And there is the hard way--which I am not really sure I've ever seen implemented successfully--and that is to wrestle control of your situation and pull it back to normal, healthy habits without quitting. Maintain your obligations, but stick up for yourself and take care of your health at the same time.

On the one hand, it's a lot easier to take care of yourself if you don't have a lot on your plate.

On the other hand, it's really easy to get a lot on your plate again, if you don't force yourself to learn how to take control.

Try wrestling control first. Quitting will still be an available option. And don't forget, it's a perfectly acceptable one!

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you are ridiculously burnt out?

#25

Post by elpachuco »

nso wrote: post #7

I quit my job, sold my house, sold all my stuff and moved to a lazy beach town near the equator. Never felt happier, never felt more rested, never thought as clearly as I do now. Totally not answering you question when it comes to finishing the project, but sometimes you just have to call it quits because your health is more important than yet-another-website. If you are ever in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico -- gi…

"Feo y sentido como los jarros de Oaxaca."

Just a useful saying in Mexican Spanish when you want to poke fun at someone that has a thin skin.

In english: Ugly and easy to break (thin skinned) like the mugs of Oaxaca.

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you are ridiculously burnt out?

#26

Post by sillysaurus3 »

ggreer wrote: post #10

Sometimes, the best way to accomplish your goals is to work nonstop. Sometimes, it's more productive to dial back and make a long, sustained effort. Sometimes, the thing you're working on isn't worth the effort, so you do something else. No matter what you choose, I strongly recommend you talk to your buddy. Don't vent, but try to help him understand what you're going through. Tell him what needs to change, and be co…

Don't vent

Actually, it seems like a major problem is if they don't have anyone to vent to. The fact that they're making an HN post suggests they might not.

The HN post is of course more than welcome. What I'm saying is, they need someone in their personal life to vent to about all of this, otherwise they're going to start making bad decisions.

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you are ridiculously burnt out?

#27

Post by ajkjk »

"I can't eat from the stress getting to my stomach, and I can't sleep because I always think about the project"

I think you should take it as a rule of life that this is an unacceptable state to be in. You should see this as justification for drastic action - be it letting your team down, or standing up and saying you can't do this, or quitting entirely and moving to the equator, or whatever works for you.

I think there's no state in which it's reasonable for a human to be mentally oppressed like that, and you should do absolutely whatever it takes to get out of that situation as soon as possible and to not edge back into it. (Not to be confused with having a lot of work to do and having to work late and being under pressure from timelines. That doesn't have to necessarily come with these physiological effects.)

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you are ridiculously burnt out?

#29

Post by sillysaurus3 »

beachstartup wrote: post #23

you're being taken advantage of. quit and recuperate and find a real job or a real co-founding team. if you insist on going through with it, have a lawyer verify all the company paperwork. good luck.

Probably the most important comment in the thread.

You're being taken advantage of. This can't be overstated enough. And if you really insist on letting it happen, you must check that your payoff is going to be what you expect. Make sure your equity won't get diluted too much, make sure your equity can't be taken away from you, and make sure that in a liquidity event you're in a proper position to receive payout. Some liquidity events result in no money going to certain kinds of equity holders due to payment priority.

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