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Books on Burnout

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Re: Books on Burnout

#21

Post by codesushi42 »

spaginal wrote: post #14
codesushi42 wrote: post #7

Here is a hint: Stop working so fucking hard on apps/websites/digital junk that helps no one, except by making your boss rich (be it manager, VC, or otherwise). If you engage in meaningful work, then it is impossible to get burned out for too long. Stop being a drone. Take a step back and look at the big picture and ask yourself: what am I coding for? Who is going to use this? Will it help anyone in any meaningful wa…

Meaningful work isn't a guarantee that burnout won't happen. My first small business I owned hit every bullet point in my career wants and desires and I burned out pretty hard on it. The constant state of being turned on, dangling the career carrot in front of myself wasn't healthy. I had a bad relationship with my own business. Even though I enjoyed the work, the compensation was good, and I used my hands creatively…

I like to post hyperbole because it elicits interesting and insightful counterpoints like this one.

Thank you sir.

Also, to others: stop burning out from working on stupid shit.

Re: Books on Burnout

#22

Post by hinkley »

agota wrote: post #13
codesushi42 wrote: post #7

Here is a hint: Stop working so fucking hard on apps/websites/digital junk that helps no one, except by making your boss rich (be it manager, VC, or otherwise). If you engage in meaningful work, then it is impossible to get burned out for too long. Stop being a drone. Take a step back and look at the big picture and ask yourself: what am I coding for? Who is going to use this? Will it help anyone in any meaningful wa…

I think that doing meaningful work is a privilege that is quite rare. Usually, the work that one is likely to find meaningful pays less, so there is a trade-off. This trade-off might not seem significant to a single person without any responsibilities, but I'd imagine that people with families to support often simply can't afford it (though in that case the meaning can be found in providing for the family). Maybe one…

The counterargument I often hear is that janitorial work is, in the grand scheme of things, very important and yet nobody would do it if we all just did what we wanted to do.

As a veritable army of curmudgeons has pointed out, "that's why they call it 'work'".

That said, when those of us who have the privilege and opportunity to take this advice don't follow it, that's unfortunate.

The American legacy of Calvinism is that you do well by doing good, or working hard. If people work their asses off and there's no payoff at the end... if nobody 'arrives', if it's slaving away until you're old and broken...

Then what's the whole point? Why do we think we are more right than the slackers? Where's the evidence?

Re: Books on Burnout

#23

Post by hinkley »

vvanders wrote: post #15
codesushi42 wrote: post #7

Here is a hint: Stop working so fucking hard on apps/websites/digital junk that helps no one, except by making your boss rich (be it manager, VC, or otherwise). If you engage in meaningful work, then it is impossible to get burned out for too long. Stop being a drone. Take a step back and look at the big picture and ask yourself: what am I coding for? Who is going to use this? Will it help anyone in any meaningful wa…

> If you engage in meaningful work, then it is impossible to get burned out for too long. Yeah, sorry that doesn't work either(spent many years in gamedev doing what I thought was meaningful work at the time). You know what prevents burnout? Not working insane hours.

What prevents burnout is taking care of yourself. To realize that your value in the long run is higher if you don't carve off little pieces of yourself every month to "give 110%" until there is nothing left.

Re: Books on Burnout

#24

Post by hinkley »

Jaygles wrote: post #18

I've been a developer for about three years now but before that I worked in food service for about eight years. One habit I've had to break is the constant looking for something to do attitude that you absolutely need to keep an orderly kitchen. The pool of tasks to complete doesn't replenish in software like it does in food service. When you've suitably completed a task and the next task lacks the definition needed…

I like to read release notes for libraries we use or clean up the Wiki.

Nobody wants me starting code at 3:00 on a Friday. But I can still clean up text just fine.

Re: Books on Burnout

#25

Post by sdinsn »

codesushi42 wrote: post #7

Here is a hint: Stop working so fucking hard on apps/websites/digital junk that helps no one, except by making your boss rich (be it manager, VC, or otherwise). If you engage in meaningful work, then it is impossible to get burned out for too long. Stop being a drone. Take a step back and look at the big picture and ask yourself: what am I coding for? Who is going to use this? Will it help anyone in any meaningful wa…

> If you engage in meaningful work, then it is impossible to get burned out for too long.

Definitely not true.

Re: Books on Burnout

#27

Post by erobbins »

codesushi42 wrote: post #7

Here is a hint: Stop working so fucking hard on apps/websites/digital junk that helps no one, except by making your boss rich (be it manager, VC, or otherwise). If you engage in meaningful work, then it is impossible to get burned out for too long. Stop being a drone. Take a step back and look at the big picture and ask yourself: what am I coding for? Who is going to use this? Will it help anyone in any meaningful wa…

For me personally, "meaningful" can be replaced by "interesting". I don't really care if what I'm doing has any meaning whatsoever, I want it to be interesting and tap into my strengths.

Note also, this had nothing to do with difficulty. I hear people say "I love difficult problems" all the time, but interesting yet easy work is far more rewarding to me than boring and difficult.

Re: Books on Burnout

#28

Post by pm215 »

Jaygles wrote: post #18

I've been a developer for about three years now but before that I worked in food service for about eight years. One habit I've had to break is the constant looking for something to do attitude that you absolutely need to keep an orderly kitchen. The pool of tasks to complete doesn't replenish in software like it does in food service. When you've suitably completed a task and the next task lacks the definition needed…

That's an interesting take, because my experience has generally been that there's an inexhaustible pool of tasks -- bugs that could be fixed, minor but nice-to-have features, little refactorings and code cleanups, closing stale bug reports -- in any largish codebase. Mostly these don't get done because major feature work or fixing bugs users complain about takes priority, but I've pretty much never found myself on a Friday afternoon thinking "no, there is nothing at all I could do for the moment".

Re: Books on Burnout

#29

Post by johnchristopher »

codesushi42 wrote: post #21
spaginal wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meaningful work isn't a guarantee that burnout won't happen. My first small business I owned hit every bullet point in my career wants and desires and I burned out pretty hard on it. The constant state of being turned on, dangling the career carrot in front of myself wasn't healthy. I had a bad relationship with my own business. Even though I enjoyed the work, the compensation was good, and I used my hands creatively…

I like to post hyperbole because it elicits interesting and insightful counterpoints like this one. Thank you sir. Also, to others: stop burning out from working on stupid shit.

Posting something wrong and waiting for people to correct it to claim how you drove the conversation to an interesting place is mostly wasting everyone's time.

Re: Books on Burnout

#30

Post by codesushi42 »

johnchristopher wrote: post #29
codesushi42 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like to post hyperbole because it elicits interesting and insightful counterpoints like this one. Thank you sir. Also, to others: stop burning out from working on stupid shit.

Posting something wrong and waiting for people to correct it to claim how you drove the conversation to an interesting place is mostly wasting everyone's time.

And your response isn't? And who is to say it's wrong?
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