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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

#281

Post by ein0p »

SoftTalker wrote: post #251
ein0p wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also works, at least for men. Idk what it is, almost meditative rest between the sets, higher T, or making routine physical exertion easier due to being stronger. It does take some willpower though, which severely depressed/burned out people might not have.

Yes it takes some willpower, however I did not find it to be that big an issue and I say that as someone who was never athletic and has never been able to stick with an exercise program for more than a few weeks. But everything I tried in the past was cardio -- running, biking, swimming -- it all sucked. Weightlifting for some reason kind of stuck and I've been doing it regularly for a few years now. And specifically…

My experience mirrors yours. I feel like this would depend on how quickly you make gains. When I started lifting I was so physically decrepit I’d sometimes have to lie down on the floor due to pain in my lower back. I literally started with just a bar, and within a year progressed to a 525 lb deadlift. That was fun. But if the gains were slower idk if I’d be able to keep my motivation

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

#282

Post by carlosjobim »

Carrok wrote: post #133
gk1 wrote: post #9

For me the critical moment was recognizing I had burnout. It happened when I saw this post on HN, whose list of symptoms almost perfectly matched what I was feeling: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2022/03/29/how-people-fall-ap... I’ve obviously heard of burnout and experienced it before, yet somehow I failed to recognize what was happening until then. So thank you for posting this. Hopefully it’ll help someone out th…

This article really hit home for me as well. But this sentence leaves me in possibly more distress than before reading the article. > The Cornell study found that after a month of reduced stress, these effects disappeared. I do not believe I will ever be able to experience “a month of reduced stress” until the day I die. But maybe that’s just the burnout talking.

> I do not believe I will ever be able to experience “a month of reduced stress” until the day I die.

Read your sentence again, so you can see how ridiculous it is. What do you have to do that is so incredibly important that you have to throw away your entire life for it?

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

#283

Post by reaperducer »

brailsafe wrote: post #253
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…

I'd agree with what others have answered (do it on company time if it's company related), but although I don't have kids, I've burnt out quite badly 2 or 3 times. Apathy is the scar tissue you get from burnout, it's helpful in avoiding it after recovery, but it's best if you don't include your family in that. If possible (probably if you try hard enough) I'd suggest separating the things you want or feel you should l…

Ask for help from your family if possible in letting you occasionally just isolate and immerse.

My family wouldn't understand that, so I play hookie.

Twice a year, I schedule a vacation day that I don't tell my family about. I act as if I'm going to work like normal, but I spend the day at the art museum or sitting in the park reading, or something else that doesn't involve anyone else.

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

#284

Post by dyingkneepad »

reaperducer wrote: post #283
brailsafe wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd agree with what others have answered (do it on company time if it's company related), but although I don't have kids, I've burnt out quite badly 2 or 3 times. Apathy is the scar tissue you get from burnout, it's helpful in avoiding it after recovery, but it's best if you don't include your family in that. If possible (probably if you try hard enough) I'd suggest separating the things you want or feel you should l…

Ask for help from your family if possible in letting you occasionally just isolate and immerse. My family wouldn't understand that, so I play hookie. Twice a year, I schedule a vacation day that I don't tell my family about. I act as if I'm going to work like normal, but I spend the day at the art museum or sitting in the park reading, or something else that doesn't involve anyone else.

And then some day someone will recognize you somewhere, tell your wife "hey, I saw reaperducer at the park today!", and then she will think you're cheating on her.

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

#286

Post by seabearDEV »

gk1 wrote: post #9

For me the critical moment was recognizing I had burnout. It happened when I saw this post on HN, whose list of symptoms almost perfectly matched what I was feeling: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2022/03/29/how-people-fall-ap... I’ve obviously heard of burnout and experienced it before, yet somehow I failed to recognize what was happening until then. So thank you for posting this. Hopefully it’ll help someone out th…

Damn, this article is describing me.

I’ve always been an eloquent speaker in meetings but recently it seems like I can’t respond at all, I have these thoughts and then when I go to speak nothing comes out. I’ve began to doubt my skills and abilities even though I’ve been a senior dev for almost 20 years.

The past several weeks I get in front of my screen at work and just stare, sometimes for hours… it’s as if I have waking sleep paralysis or something.

Everything feels fake, like I’m observing myself from the outside and the person I’m seeing is someone else.

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

#287

Post by brailsafe »

reaperducer wrote: post #283
brailsafe wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd agree with what others have answered (do it on company time if it's company related), but although I don't have kids, I've burnt out quite badly 2 or 3 times. Apathy is the scar tissue you get from burnout, it's helpful in avoiding it after recovery, but it's best if you don't include your family in that. If possible (probably if you try hard enough) I'd suggest separating the things you want or feel you should l…

Ask for help from your family if possible in letting you occasionally just isolate and immerse. My family wouldn't understand that, so I play hookie. Twice a year, I schedule a vacation day that I don't tell my family about. I act as if I'm going to work like normal, but I spend the day at the art museum or sitting in the park reading, or something else that doesn't involve anyone else.

I mean, that sounds great, I can totally get behind this in a way.

My big thing is being able to protect my sense of autonomy, even when I'm responsible for things or obligated toward others. If I literally can't take a day away from my phone or without telling people where I am, I've found myself in a risky space emotionally. So I'll occasionally leave the phone at home, or go hiking from sun up to after nightfall alone with the phone off, only maybe telling someone (including my spouse). People need their own space.

In addition to my previous comment, burnout seems to happen when you're working a lot on something you don't really control the outcome or reward of, along with the presence of some force that gradually erodes your sense of autonomy. If you feel like someone else is the arbiter of not just most of your energy, but all of it, over a long enough period of time, you'll grow to resent yourself, those people, and the work.

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

#289

Post by BlueTemplar »

Carrok wrote: post #133
gk1 wrote: post #9

For me the critical moment was recognizing I had burnout. It happened when I saw this post on HN, whose list of symptoms almost perfectly matched what I was feeling: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2022/03/29/how-people-fall-ap... I’ve obviously heard of burnout and experienced it before, yet somehow I failed to recognize what was happening until then. So thank you for posting this. Hopefully it’ll help someone out th…

This article really hit home for me as well. But this sentence leaves me in possibly more distress than before reading the article. > The Cornell study found that after a month of reduced stress, these effects disappeared. I do not believe I will ever be able to experience “a month of reduced stress” until the day I die. But maybe that’s just the burnout talking.

Well, you better watch out, because with enough stress you can get burnout.

At which point I guess at least you will not be able to do whatever stressed you any more.

But then also there's no (complete) coming back from burnout, even after years of reduced stress :

https://web.archive.org/web/20230607211423/https://www.econo...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12234937

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

#290

Post by BlueTemplar »

gnulinux wrote: post #233
changexd wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well in this case my friend, perhaps sometimes it's okay to go back home? I have lots of friends doing this to them, they are burned out both physically and mentally, people usually have options if they can step back a bit, do you really want to sacrifice your happiness for working abroad and become "successful"? Only you can drag yourself out as you've mentioned your therapist's solutions do not work for you, it's o…

It's not possible to do so due to having my entire life here and nothing "back home" where I haven't even visited last 15 years. I have my fiancée, my cat, my house, my career here and there I have nothing. Would you leave your future wife, mom of your future kids, and go to the other end of the world to a country you last visited when you were a kid?

Wait, did you keep jumping from country to country during 15 (!!) years or something, that you couldn't get citizenship in one of the new ones ?!?
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