Exercise. Meditate. Sleep.
Eat. Pray. Love. :)
Ask HN: Working through burnout?
11–20 of 96 posts
Re: Ask HN: Working through burnout?
#12If you are burned out, it may very well be that you will miss that 'hard deadline'. However, very few deadlines in life are really 'hard' (as in you will lose your life if you don't meet the deadline.) Talk to the folks who have set the deadline to see if it can be rescheduled. If they cannot or will not reschedule your deadlines, then resign yourself to the consequences of the missed deadline and start thinking of your life beyond the deadline. If it is some sort of application deadline, remember these sorts of deadlines are artificial. You can always apply the next round. Or a different opportunity will arise. All the best. Don't make burnout worse by stressing about deadlines. If missing the deadline isn't going to result in your death or the death of a loved one, it's not a final deadline.
Re: Ask HN: Working through burnout?
#13You have obligations to your team and your company and yourself that just can't put off.
Yes, and they have obligations to you. Notably, not to kill you. That's the level of seriousness you're looking at - people who push through chronic fatigue (or adrenal fatigue) and carry on working extended hours without proper rest run quite a significant risk of death. Accept the fact that you are now totally unproductive and (possibly) actually having a negative impact on the project.
Best solution: Find a freelancer to step in for a few weeks to give you a break. Less good solution: cut your hours in half and hope the rest of the team can pick up the difference.
Re: Ask HN: Working through burnout?
#14Everyone's giving different answers, which is not surprising. We all have different strategies for coping with unendurable burdens.
My strategy is sheer bloodymindedness, but I find I can only dredge that up so often. When I push through burnout when I know I shouldn't, I end up knackered for months.
It's an effort I can really only dredge up once a year or so. Make sure you talk to your boss about this.
Re: Ask HN: Working through burnout?
#15A hard cardio workout, followed by a 20 min sauna, followed by a healthy meal... every morning. Tell yourself burnout is childish, and you're simply stepping up and doing what needs to be done. Then do it. Don't over think it. That's a big part of what burnout is, just refuse to play that mind game.
Re: Ask HN: Working through burnout?
#16[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Working through burnout?
#17> but how do you keep your brain operative and your mind focused enough to read and write code for those intervening 3 days
Adderal, Ritalin or Captagon can be used to get you out of a bad situation. But you should be very careful not to use them for longer periods because you will regret it. Talk to your doctor and then go talk to your employer.
I know where I live at least you can take a permanent medical leave for burn-out, the first month of which is to be paid by your employer, so most corporations would rather find a solution.
Re: Ask HN: Working through burnout?
#18Exercise. Meditate. Sleep.
I have to say these three do wonders and are critical for sustainable productivity.
Meditating/relaxing in bed before sleep I think is pretty important. Just taking 10-30 minutes to completely relax the muscles, stretch everything, forget everything. Pine trees, crickets, water lapping over white sands.
To do it well, I focus on the extremities of the toes and fingers, and give them a really good stretch, then let them relax. Then work inwards. Eventually you'll feel like you're floating, and get a good night's sleep. But I also mean stretch your eyebrows, your jaw etc. Stretch everything possible and let it relax. Its amazing where you can hold tension.
Re: Ask HN: Working through burnout?
#19If you're as fogged out as you seem to be, then the hours you're spending at work are pretty much completely unproductive. I'd suggest you use them more wisely by going home and getting a really good nights sleep. Consider it an investment in being more productive tomorrow.
That is useless advice. More so, it is hurtful advice. "Get a long night sleep" is not always an option. And the person above is clearly asking "When a long night of sleep is not an option, what else can I do?" We all know there are professions (fire fighters, police, soldiers, nurses, doctors, computer programmers, etc) where it is sometimes necessary to work extreme hours. And the question being asked is clearly, h…
I see no reason for extreme hours for programmers, it's just wasted time. More companies should embrace 6 hour work days and 4 day work weeks, as people are then forced to work on only the important things and not do any busywork.
Go get a good long sleep. Rest. Get a hammock and sleep on parks. Enjoy life. Work is not life. Work is means to an end but not life.
Re: Ask HN: Working through burnout?
#20Everyone's giving different answers, which is not surprising. We all have different strategies for coping with unendurable burdens. My strategy is sheer bloodymindedness, but I find I can only dredge that up so often. When I push through burnout when I know I shouldn't, I end up knackered for months. It's an effort I can really only dredge up once a year or so. Make sure you talk to your boss about this.
You burn out once a year? Is this common? I'm contemplating a venture but I'm trying to evaluate the {mental, emotional, financial} toll it will take before I do.