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Burnout

johnnyrodgers.is

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Re: Burnout

#61

Post by itronitron »

hellisothers wrote: post #19
didgeoridoo wrote: post #11

My wife is a clinical psychologist focusing on the mental health impact of high-pressure jobs. She had me build this “Burnout Calculator” based on a self-evaluation protocol they use in their practice. Leaving it here in case it’s helpful for anyone: https://azimuthpsych.com/burnout-calculator

Assuming this is a relatively standardized protocol this is a great idea. However, getting a score at the end and then the tag line “you’re fine but you should contact us anyway to see if therapy could help” feels icky

Also questioning how they standardized this. I just got a 20 out of 50 and probably should have gotten a 5 out of 50. If you're not a super-fake optimist then the questionnaire is going to think you are the poster-child for burnout.

Re: Burnout

#62

Post by kd5bjo »

cityzen wrote: post #45
westoncb wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> more about working any amount of hours on something that you subconsciously believe is fundamentally misaligned with your core principles/true self. That rings true to me. My speculation as to why: at the most general level, our 'work' in life resembles a hierarchical optimization process--goals and sub-goals (and so on) forming a structure defined by nested utility functions. Our professional goals (and their day-…

What would you tell your kids today? I have 2 boys, 7 and 10, and I don't want to lead them into the same trap. We are already dealing with the fear that the schools put into kids about tests. The pressure on kids to be in "performance" mode all the time is really disappointing to me.

First, I should note that I’m speculating without any basis at all here: I don’t have kids nor have I had any relevant formal training. It’s entirely possible this is a wrong approach or simply too nuanced for their ages.

I’d try to frame test as purely information-gathering. There should be neither penalties for low grades nor accolades for high grades (those are for dangerous things and showing initiative). Instead, use the grades to adjust study strategies- are their high grades because of a natural affinity or spending too much time on the subject? Are their low grades from not putting in enough time/effort, not understanding the fundamentals, not finding interest in the subject, etc.

Re: Burnout

#63

Post by almost_usual »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #51
almost_usual wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure what being a millionaire has to do with avoiding burn out. There are plenty of wealthy people who still burn out. If you’re burning yourself out solely for “getting rich” you should probably buy lotto tickets instead.

If you are rich you’re burning out by choice. Having to go through something like long workdays because you want to is a completely different experience than doing so because you have to. I never understood why people keep working once they have accumulated enough to not have to work anymore.

The wealthiest people I know work 6-7 days a week. It’s no coincidence they’re rich. The money is nice but that’s not their motivation.

Re: Burnout

#64

Post by jasim »

dasil003 wrote: post #30
jasim wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've come to believe that reading isn't as useful as I previously thought. I still read prolifically, because it is pleasurable, and occasionally inspiring, but not because there are any causal benefits I can point to. "The saying experientia magistra rerum, ‘experience is a great teacher’, was familiar in the Middle Ages: you don’t learn to ride a horse or shoot an arrow by reading books." (from the book, oh the iro…

It sounds like you might be over-correcting if you truly believe reading doesn't have any "causal benefits". The vast majority of what you read might not be directly applicable to your pursuits, but when you find those nuggets that reveal a flaw you hadn't perceived, or point you in a new direction the results can be dramatic. Practice and knowledge go hand-in-hand, the key is judgement on where to focus day-to-day.

I agree - it is a bit of over-correction.

Re: Burnout

#65

Post by eccbits »

Slack spends a lot of time promoting itself as a “work hard, them go home” culture. Do others fimd tat to be true? If so, why would burnout be a risk for someone at Slack?

Re: Burnout

#66

Post by geggam »

twbarber wrote: post #59
geggam wrote: post #4

This was the hardest one for me and caused me a burnout a couple times, especially when working remote from home. Separate your work and personal life. This was a major change for me. I’ve always identified very closely with my work. I’m learning to separate my sense of self-worth and purpose from my professional self.

How did you manage to separate it? I've been remote 2 years now, and I'm just now starting to become aware of how big of a problem this is.

Filled my calendar with things like gym and family time outside of working hours. Set my calendar to reject double booked meetings / events automatically was the first step

After that it depends on the reactions you get from that.

Re: Burnout

#67

Post by gepiti »

Caretaker burnout anyone? Nobody talks about it but this is the hardest of all. You can turn the back on a career but not to your loved ones.

Re: Burnout

#68

Post by fhy45678 »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #46
metalgearsolid wrote: post #31

I think I'm burning out because my job is too easy. I like working. Satisfaction of completing a good job makes me happy. Is anyone else experiencing burnout as a result of numbingly boring tasks rather than from intense bursts of mentally challenging work? Am I conflating burnout with something else like depression? Writing up UI designed by a designer who doesn't understand my domain's interface guidelines, reexpla…

> Is anyone else experiencing burnout as a result of numbingly boring tasks rather than from intense bursts of mentally challenging work? For me it’s boring, meaningless and ill-defined tasks. Especially if you have many of those assigned without clear priorities. I actually like a good crisis at work. E.g. a major production system suddenly going down. Suddenly, there is focus, interrupts go away, the desired result…

>>>a major production system suddenly going down. Suddenly, there is focus, interrupts go away

Do you want to do that everyday for next 20 years?

Re: Burnout

#69

Post by fhy45678 »

jacknews wrote: post #7

Is this really burnout, or just overheating? To me burnout is more the psychological state of "why am I even doing this anymore?", loss of enthusiasm, perhaps even some degree of despondency and hopelessness about the future, etc. This seems more like just temporary over-exertion, under-nutrition/exercise/etc, which can be fixed with a lazy holiday, safe in the knowledge that all those Slack shares are vesting.

I guess the source of the burnout is that we are not allowed t o switch careers even for a while. e.g. you are a rockstar developer, say you take a switch to a marine archaeologist or a wildlife photographer for two years and then come back to s/w development? Oh boy you are so screwed

Re: Burnout

#70

Post by forgottenpass »

Wilduck wrote: post #14
jacknews wrote: post #7

Is this really burnout, or just overheating? To me burnout is more the psychological state of "why am I even doing this anymore?", loss of enthusiasm, perhaps even some degree of despondency and hopelessness about the future, etc. This seems more like just temporary over-exertion, under-nutrition/exercise/etc, which can be fixed with a lazy holiday, safe in the knowledge that all those Slack shares are vesting.

I downvoted you and wanted to tell you why. In this story someone just shared an experience of being in deep pain, psychologically and physically. While you may not intend to be mean, your response boils down to "you didn't feel enough pain to qualify for burnout." Even if you didn't intend it, this response has an aspect of shaming the author. I think that it's really important for people to be able to talk about me…

>it's often really hard to go through the steps needed to improve the situation for themselves. Having others around them understand that it's a struggle, and not something they can "snap out of" is really important.

Having gone through some dark periods of my life, I'd much rather take "snap out of it" advice over the unintentionally patronizing "support". Both are the words of well-intentioned people unable to relate, but one of them mistakenly believes they've overcoming their inability to relate.

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