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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?

#31

Post by toddrew »

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…

I did the same. Mexico for a couple years (I love Mazunte and Zipolite!) then Guatemala and Chile. Actually moving back to Toronto from Guatemala in a few days after almost 5 years to work with a startup there.

The thing I've found most effective to combat my own burnout has always been a change of scenery and behaviour and getting a fresh perspective on my work.

I would recommend heading somewhere nice, warm, and cheap, and finish your project from there.

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

#32

Post by syewell »

Totally agree with all the comments about taking care of your health and managing expectations with your business partner. Trying to be practical though, you feel a commitment to "get the job done." Maybe try to think of ways where you can fulfill your role as technical lead and out source some of the development to contractors off odesk. There will be a couple weeks of inefficiency while you figure out the process, true, and then you should have a couple developers you can lean on to help you out. Your role will change from coder to product manager / architect. It's an uncomfortable transition, but I think worthwhile. If you want tips on getting through this process let me know.

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

#33

Post by forgotpasswd3x »

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…

What kind of income would I need to bring in to move to a place like that and live comfortably?

How is your internet connection?

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

#34

Post by aerovistae »

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…

Do you speak Spanish??

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

#35

Post by greggman »

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…

I'd be really curious to hear your story. Clearly you're still reading HN once in a while. Are you doing your own projects? How much time do you spend on the computer vs other stuff? Was your burn out the computer itself or just doing stuff on it you didn't want to do for other people?

I quit 19 months ago and have been traveling and goofing off since. I can't say it's made me any happier. I spent 9 months last year working on my own project which was kind of fun but also kind of not fun.

Looking back over my life so far what I think I need is (a) more balance as in stuff not computing and (b) partners as in when I am computing I don't want to be alone. I want to collaborate with a few people at the same location I really like working with on something we all want to do. I'm not sure how to get from where I am to that though except to go to meetups, hackathons, etc and hope I meet some guys before I run out of money and need a job again.

not sure if any of that helps the OP.

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

#36

Post by mod »

laex wrote: post #12

Is the idea behind the app validated ? Has your partner talked with the potential customers ? Is the problem you're solving really an important problem ? Have you already built an MVP ? I've been in similar situations where my non-tech friends ask me to start dev work on their ideas. My response usually to them is to find 10 customers willing to pay even before the product exists. So the bottom line is that you shoul…

I don't disagree, however if this hasn't been the idea, it's going to be a hard sell now.

If the plan was "hey, let's build this mvp and meanwhile I'll do x, y, and z marketing materials, and then we'll get out and sell!" and OP agreed, well--that's where he's at.

Saying "well I'm not working until you get 10 customers" at this point is not okay.

In the future, OP: take this very good advice.

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

#37

Post by thrillgore »

I was in a similar situation working 12+ hours all the damn week, no paid OT. They gave me no expectation of downtime. Which was where I started to lose hope. I eventually reached a point where I quit on the spot. No resignation. No notice, after my 17th consecutive panic attack and manic call to my father, who knew I was in pain.

It took me at least three weeks to totally process where I was. Being with my family helped even if they didn't understand the technical background of things.

Sometimes you have to take the nuclear option.

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

#38

Post by akuma73 »

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…

Maybe this should be another Ask-HN question... How do you escape the rat race?

What are the logistics? Cost of living? Taxes? Immigration? etc...

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

#39

Post by toomuchtodo »

forgotpasswd3x wrote: post #33
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…

What kind of income would I need to bring in to move to a place like that and live comfortably? How is your internet connection?

About $10-15K/year.

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

#40

Post by toomuchtodo »

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…

> Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico

I'm absolutely shocked at how good the google street view coverage is of that entire city/area.

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