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Burnout

kristinn.ghost.io

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Re: Burnout

#111

Post by quaffapint »

karterk wrote: post #55
quaffapint wrote: post #50

I've got a crappy dev job that I've been in for over a decade that only gets worse with less pay. I don't bring home enough money and have my family living paycheck to paycheck. I stress over it and keep trying side stuff to bring in more, which mostly fail. I'm working hard right now trying to get this next side project out the door in the next month. I'm in my 40s and no one in the area has raised their dev salarie…

Depending on the terms of your employment, this might not even be possible, but you should try augmenting your primary source of income with some part-time consulting. While the lure of the profitable side project is hard to resist, it's much easier to become financially independent by doing consulting than through a side project. Bootstrapped SaaS projects grow very very slowly in terms of monthly recurring revenue…

Any suggestions on how to find part time consulting gigs? I know I can't compete with the odesk rates, not sure of non-spammy places to find em. I'll have to check on terms, as well.

Re: Burnout

#112

Post by quaffapint »

jshen wrote: post #97
quaffapint wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is most certainly location dependent. I'm in a standard suburb in the mid-Atlantic region (it's pretty much all the same, just different cities). I would be destitute if we lived in San Francisco. It's a very interesting, albeit depressing, time to be a dev around here. Jobs are plentiful - I get contacted by recruiters all the time. The difference is they are offering senior devs what they offered junior devs way…

Have you tried remote contract work? I know my company has a number of remote contractors making around $70-$80 per hour.

How did they go about finding the work?

Re: Burnout

#113

Post by [deleted] »

noname123 wrote: post #91
agentultra wrote: post #62

My theory is that "burnout" is a symptom of the endemic "hero" meme of our culture. Think about all the movies you've seen since the 1980s, the shows you've watched, the books you've read. Embedded in the majority of them is the simple idea that there's something special inside you that can set you apart from everyone else. It whispers seductively to that part of your brain that lies to you about how important you ar…

I'll start. I want to work so hard because I want to get up on a podium someday at my high school or college podium and make a "f-you all" speech like Jerry McGuire in "Jerry McGuire" (1996). I want to make all of the guys who bullied me or dismissed me wonder looking at me how they got where they are now. I want to make all of the girls/ex'es who spurned me or laughed at me wonder why they didn't see the diamond in…

[deleted]

Re: Burnout

#114

Post by hashberry »

dpcan wrote: post #72
agentultra wrote: post #62

My theory is that "burnout" is a symptom of the endemic "hero" meme of our culture. Think about all the movies you've seen since the 1980s, the shows you've watched, the books you've read. Embedded in the majority of them is the simple idea that there's something special inside you that can set you apart from everyone else. It whispers seductively to that part of your brain that lies to you about how important you ar…

I've reached a similar conclusion lately in dealing with burnout. I'm trying to figure out who I really want to be, rather than what I thought I was supposed to be. It wasn't so much movies,books,etc, but as a 34 yr-old ex-computer geek of the 90's, I'm dealing with my own "expectations" complex. I spent day and night back then on computers, building them, fixing them, coding, fixing them at schools, local businesses…

You're not alone. I'm in my 30s and daydream about having a post on the frontpage of HN with everyone "recognizing" how awesome my projects/thoughts are. How can anyone be satisfied with mediocrity?

Re: Burnout

#115

Post by [deleted] »

agentultra wrote: post #62

My theory is that "burnout" is a symptom of the endemic "hero" meme of our culture. Think about all the movies you've seen since the 1980s, the shows you've watched, the books you've read. Embedded in the majority of them is the simple idea that there's something special inside you that can set you apart from everyone else. It whispers seductively to that part of your brain that lies to you about how important you ar…

[deleted]

Re: Burnout

#116

Post by ZenoArrow »

gamegoblin wrote: post #65
agentultra wrote: post #62

My theory is that "burnout" is a symptom of the endemic "hero" meme of our culture. Think about all the movies you've seen since the 1980s, the shows you've watched, the books you've read. Embedded in the majority of them is the simple idea that there's something special inside you that can set you apart from everyone else. It whispers seductively to that part of your brain that lies to you about how important you ar…

Hanging out on sites like this definitely doesn't help. In every thread it seems like there is someone who is a perfect expert on whatever being discussed. Need to diagnose a problem in a defunct modem using only an oscilloscope? Someone can. Strange behavior of the JVM? Oh, someone has implemented their own JVM on a 4kb machine as a hobby project. Then you get username delineation and there is this idea of some abst…

You could see things like that, but the only reason I read comments at all is to get insights from people that are more knowledgable in a particular subject than myself (or to engage in debate with those that have an interesting point of view). Every time I learn something I value from a comment I've just broadened my horizons. You could see these people as competitors, but in reality we're all eternal students.

Re: Burnout

#117

Post by ZenoArrow »

agentultra wrote: post #62

My theory is that "burnout" is a symptom of the endemic "hero" meme of our culture. Think about all the movies you've seen since the 1980s, the shows you've watched, the books you've read. Embedded in the majority of them is the simple idea that there's something special inside you that can set you apart from everyone else. It whispers seductively to that part of your brain that lies to you about how important you ar…

Very well put. Thank you.

Re: Burnout

#118

Post by dkhenry »

talmir wrote: post #89
dkhenry wrote: post #59

I am not happy doing nothing. I don't understand how you can be do content just "chilling". Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with recreation and spending time with your family, there isn't even anything wrong with doing nothing, if its for a purpose, but just wasting time because you can is a waste of time. You should be optimizing your time to get the most value out of it. Maybe I am just odd, but I wou…

Talk about taking every single word I wrote literally :) Thats ok. I do regularly work on side projects. But being 100% productive 100% of the time, in my mind, is not healty. This is my personal opinion. The assumption you make about your vocation being your passion and for me it being just to pay the bills could not be more wrong. I have been a coder all my life. It is my job now and will continue to be as well as…

Here is how I see it. If your going on a drive and you have three choices, one of them is the most direct route its on the freeway and you will make it there is the shortest amount of time, the second is a winding country road it takes twice as long, but you get to enjoy the country road maybe listen to the radio maybe roll your windows down and enjoy the fresh spring air, and you have a separate freeway that is underground and always has a traffic jam. Doing nothing as your described is to me the third option, your just wasting time for no reason whatsoever and your telling yourself this is nice because I am not stressing out about whatever, but your still wasting you time. Relaxation doesn't have to be fruitless, for instance I relax by gardening. It is both calming and productive. After watching that movie or playing that game _most_ of the time all you have is three less hours to do something productive. You have just sat in that underground freeway when you could have been enjoying a spring drive or getting to your destination faster.

Re: Burnout

#119

Post by mathattack »

bovermyer wrote: post #52
mathattack wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's self development, and very few folks have 8 hours of continuous concentration in them.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the average person can concentrate on one thing for a maximum of 30 minutes. After that, attention wavers and efficiency declines. No idea where I read that, though. It might be rumor only.

That seems low. I can concentrate for hours is the topic is compelling enough, and I'm not that atypical. But not 8.

Re: Burnout

#120

Post by ehl »

noname123 wrote: post #91
agentultra wrote: post #62

My theory is that "burnout" is a symptom of the endemic "hero" meme of our culture. Think about all the movies you've seen since the 1980s, the shows you've watched, the books you've read. Embedded in the majority of them is the simple idea that there's something special inside you that can set you apart from everyone else. It whispers seductively to that part of your brain that lies to you about how important you ar…

I'll start. I want to work so hard because I want to get up on a podium someday at my high school or college podium and make a "f-you all" speech like Jerry McGuire in "Jerry McGuire" (1996). I want to make all of the guys who bullied me or dismissed me wonder looking at me how they got where they are now. I want to make all of the girls/ex'es who spurned me or laughed at me wonder why they didn't see the diamond in…

Nice meta-comment! Your facetious meter is up to eleven, although I don't think they will get it.
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