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Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

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Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#111

Post by beaglesss »

Baeocystin wrote: post #64
kody wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really curious, how do you factor in time to learn ("up skill")? I'm a self taught dev with 2 young kids. I've always had a healthy approach to work, but now I'm feeling quite a lot of pressure to learn new things on my own time, whether to make sure I'm prepared for the interview circuit if I get laid off, or to patch my skills that are needed at work. I'm starting to feel burnout creep in, getting an hour of st…

You do it during work hours. Period. Your brain only has so many truly 'on' hours in a day, and it's already less than 8. Trying to burn even more in the pursuit of complex knowledge isn't just robbing Peter to pay Paul, it's eating the seed corn and wondering why your harvest failed. It's a scary thing to realize, and can be hard to stick with. But limits are real, and respecting them gets more work done in the long…

All hours spent with kids under 5 is basically 'on'. Which would leave most mothers I've met at zero 'on hours' left for work. A reason for the 'gender pay gap'?

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#112

Post by floating-io »

I wonder how much burnout is exacerbated by the fact that projects never actually end in this business?

You never truly finish something. If you think you did, you are quickly disabused of that notion. You are lucky to ever feel that sense of pride in completion, and if you do, it is brief.

Pride in a job well done is fleeting, if you are ever allowed to feel it at all.

Yes, I'm a recovering victim of burnout, and no, this was not the only cause, but sometimes I wonder...

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#113

Post by nunez »

beaglesss wrote: post #111
Baeocystin wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do it during work hours. Period. Your brain only has so many truly 'on' hours in a day, and it's already less than 8. Trying to burn even more in the pursuit of complex knowledge isn't just robbing Peter to pay Paul, it's eating the seed corn and wondering why your harvest failed. It's a scary thing to realize, and can be hard to stick with. But limits are real, and respecting them gets more work done in the long…

All hours spent with kids under 5 is basically 'on'. Which would leave most mothers I've met at zero 'on hours' left for work. A reason for the 'gender pay gap'?

[flagged]

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#114

Post by pjerem »

croshan wrote: post #63
burningChrome wrote: post #38

Early on in my career (I was a late bloomer and already in early 30's) as a developer, I got burnt out pretty bad twice. After the second time and teetering on a third, I knew I had to do something to change what I was doing and how I managed my work load. I just focused on getting MY stuff done and that was it. I stopped taking on other's people work. I stopped taking on more work once I got my stuff done. I would d…

This sounds depressing. I’m sorry that you had that experience. It’s a frustrating position to be in, and you can feel quite helpless. In my experience, it’s less about “do only what’s asked”, and rather “say no”. I.e. explain “I can do X, but if I do that then Y will suffer, and Y is a priority”. (Y being another company priority, or even your own mental health). Stated in these terms, it’s easier to negotiate your…

Thing is that may not depend on you.

I did this but I was surrounded by coworkers who were stupidly running straight into burnout themselves and said yes to anything.

Well, upper management felt I wasn’t doing enough in comparison and pressured/harassed me. Ultimately, I were the first to burn out.

Of course, in hindsight, I should have left way before it happened, but when you are in, you have no hindsight. Sometimes you can’t grab the surrounding toxicity before being hurt.

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#116

Post by yarg »

floating-io wrote: post #112

I wonder how much burnout is exacerbated by the fact that projects never actually end in this business? You never truly finish something. If you think you did, you are quickly disabused of that notion. You are lucky to ever feel that sense of pride in completion, and if you do, it is brief. Pride in a job well done is fleeting, if you are ever allowed to feel it at all. Yes, I'm a recovering victim of burnout, and no…

What did it for me wasn't the fact that the project had no end in sight,

It was the fact that every time I made an effort to move towards that point, the boss would pull in a dickhead architect (let's call him Huy) who would then veto my entire roadmap.

This happened many times, each time I felt more and more worthless; by the time I eventually left Bravura I was suicidal.

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#117

Post by ChiperSoft »

I recognized I was burned out three months ago, but wasn’t in a situation to do anything about it. Then work got even harder, and I tried to push through it.

My brain broke last Friday, I couldn’t think about even the most basic programming concepts without a lot of struggle and developing a nasty headache. I’m now in the exact same place as OP, and just told HR today that I need to file for temporary disability.

I’m scared, I fear my career may have just come to a screeching halt.

I regret not listening to myself months ago.

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#118

Post by copperx »

SoftTalker wrote: post #104
swatcoder wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you and the GP, but I suspect all three of us have pursued a balanced and satisfying career instead of the one with top of market compensation. Some of the folks here don't see alternative options when FAANG compensation is some integer multiple of what the rest of the industry has been supporting for the last 40+ years, and I don't entirely blame them for that. I'm not surprised when some later find themsel…

Yes, I’ve been in tech for 30+ years and just recently broke 6 figures in salary. But I live where a nice house is under $300K and I take satisfaction in living frugally.

That's interesting. What's your line of work?

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#119

Post by tonymet »

Burnout isn’t working too hard, it’s not working on the right thing. You have to have a purpose .

I don’t mean “doing what you love “ – that’s futile. I mean finding a purpose for doing what you are doing

It should always be conquering the world . Not changing it . Changing it is a half measure

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#120

Post by sneed_chucker »

mizzao wrote: post #44

I experienced several episodes of what I thought was burnout (from all the symptoms often described), but in retrospect were periodic recurring depressions from type 2 bipolar disorder, triggered by stress. PSA for anyone who might have the same situation — if you've experienced anything that resembles hypomania this may be worth investigating. The average time from first bipolar depression to diagnosis is 10 years,…

Did reading the book help you? Did you seek treatment?
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