Earlier quoted context omitted.
Basecamp? IIRC DHH mentioned he was working like 10 hours a week on it.
Is there a link for this? Would love to read about it.
Burnout and Mental Health
71–80 of 118 posts
Re: Burnout and Mental Health
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there a link for this? Would love to read about it.
https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3106-all-or-something https://signalvnoise.com/posts/1078-it-doesnt-have-to-be-all... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=214930 https://twitter.com/dhh/status/286532709533229056
Thanks!
Re: Burnout and Mental Health
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you care to share - why would that be?
I've been working on my latest project for about 5 years (before that I spent 5 years on a project which ended in failure) with my latest project, the market has kept changing and I keep pivoting in subtle ways to stay relevant. I've never raised any funding and I'm competing against really well funded startups so basically every few months, I see some other company implement my idea (ahead of me) and I have to keep…
Sometimes in order to "speed up" (in the sense of a deep, longer-range goal) -- you need to slow down.
So like the others are saying -- I really hope you can take a vacation soon.
Re: Burnout and Mental Health
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the most common frameworks to thinking about anxiety is CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy). Basically there are both things that you’re doing and things that you’re thinking that trap you in a cycle of anxiety. The symptom tsunamifury talked about is what we call Catastrophizing – that is you over-estimate / over-value negative consequences over positive or neutral ones. It’s not just “If I stop working or slo…
Thanks! Should I look for a particular type of therapist?
I'm not a medical professional but a fellow sufferer, so you should probably take this all with a grain of salt. It's more than likely you'll see a psychologist who will administer cognitive behavioural therapy; essentially the rational examination of your thinking as described above. Although specific treatment modalities somewhat depend on the nature and severity of your anxiety disorder.
If your anxiety is more 'phobic' in nature (i.e. it spikes when you're exposed to specific stimuli) , a therapist might inter-weave elements of 'gradual exposure therapy' in as well. For instance, if you have severe arachnophobia, you might start off standing on the other side of the room to a large spider in a glass cage. Then you might stand half-way across the room. Then next to the glass. Then touching the glass etc. But CBT is the workhorse of modern psychotherapy, and can be quite effective for anxiety suffers.I'd also suggest steering well clear of any therapists that use psychoanalysis/psychoanalytic theory in their practice. It's arguably a non-falsifiable pseudo-science.
Unless your anxiety is so acute that you can't function on any normal level (like the time I didn't leave my house for about 2-3 weeks), I'd hold off on medication and try your non-chemical options first. To be clear, I'm not one of those people who thinks that 'unnatural drugs are bad maaannnnn', and have in fact been prescribed (and taken) meds at various times. In certain circumstances, for certain people, they are the only option and they can be a god send for some. But in my experience the pharmacological options for anxiety are are pretty poor. There are really only two mainstream choices: anti-depressants like SSRIs/SNRIs, which are rarely effective for anxiety and take 6-8 weeks to have any effect. So you end up on a very long-term course of trial and error.
The other pharmacological option has traditionally been benzodiazapines (valium, kloponin etc.). Again, unless your illness is extremely acute, I very strongly urge you to never go down this path. They're very physically and psychologically addictive in the medium to long-term (sudden withdrawal can even result in in grand-mal seizures), and you will experience 'rebound' anxiety when you stop taking them.
Lastly, although not a cure, a few lifestyle changes can vastly improve your quality of life while you're seeking out profession treatment. The big three are exercise, regular sleep and mindfulness meditation. It's difficult to start at first, but if you can make even 1 or 2 or those a regular habit you will see an improvement in your life.
Anyhow, I really wish you all the best. Anxiety sucks, but fortunately there's a growing number of ways to make it suck less.
Re: Burnout and Mental Health
#75I hope I don't sound conceited here, but this was me and I resolved the issue. Meditation. 15 minutes a day is all it takes, and I get myself to that place of not giving a care in the world and feeling all the stress just drop away. The only way I can describe it as, is like when you go on a beach holiday and you're lying in the sun, not sure what day it is (Saturday, Wednesday?) and feeling content. Its now become v…
Can you recommend any resources for beginning meditation?
I recommend The Mind Illuminated by John Yates. It's a brilliant book, see the reviews on amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0990847705/).
Re: Burnout and Mental Health
#76Still recovering. Slowly. To those, who seeking for help, I can recommend a very good read: "The Power of Now", by Eckhart Tolle.
I can even recommend it even if you never experienced burnouts, PA's.
Re: Burnout and Mental Health
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Take 2 weeks off and buy an airplane ticket asap. It helps to have something to look forward to. Go to a different country, a change of scenery, new cultures to explore are always a great way to take your mind off the daily grind.
I refined my initial comment a little to not to sound so depressing. I do enjoy my work itself but the pursuit of success is not enjoyable when you don't get any meaningful results - Especially when the whole system feels like it is stacked against you. I did change countries recently - I'm working remotely but it's definitely not a break.
Hey, I've definitely felt that way before, and know a few friends that spent a good deal of time there. Sometimes you can spend so much time in a paper bag you forget that it's a paper bag you could punch your way out of any time you want. If it's not too personal, how is it that you feel that the system is stacked against you?
Re: Burnout and Mental Health
#78I hope I don't sound conceited here, but this was me and I resolved the issue. Meditation. 15 minutes a day is all it takes, and I get myself to that place of not giving a care in the world and feeling all the stress just drop away. The only way I can describe it as, is like when you go on a beach holiday and you're lying in the sun, not sure what day it is (Saturday, Wednesday?) and feeling content. Its now become v…
Can you recommend any resources for beginning meditation?
Ajahn Brahm's guided meditation on YouTube isn't bad, and in fact some of his talks are decent as well (and relaxing). If you can get over a bald, English monk in Australia. There's a logical, rather secular sensibility that appeals to the geek that I am.
Helped me through times of personal and work burnout stress.
Re: Burnout and Mental Health
#79For someone with no responsibilities except work, 70 hour weeks are sustainable (did it for 3 years, not to be recommended, but no burnout.) People report way larger numbers of hours though and probably have to handle more than just their work; I don't know where things start to break down, they ought to somewhere.
It's sustainable from the perspective of not dropping dead.
But what happens to your health? How can you exercise and eat healthily? Go for a run on your only day / half day off?
Your future self will be angry at your past self when it sees what you've done.
Re: Burnout and Mental Health
#80> I was used to being scared of being fired-- not that long ago, I'd been scraping by, had a hard time finding work. I didn't fully realize that I had more power now as a programmer. I didn't think about power struggles-- how other people did go home, but because they took the risk of standing up for themselves. This is a real part of burnout--the realization that as employee #3422 you don't have much bargaining powe…
Save your money. Don't buy new cars, or fancy clothing, or live in a high end apt. Put the money in the bank so you can walk away when you want.