Burnout caused by chronic stress is widespread

What I find sad about this (and other articles like this) is when the time comes within the article to lay out how to avoid burnout and stress, the list nevver includes ways to spend less time working. It's almost like an unspoken rule. I know that to recommend that is to take a chance with your livelihood but I really hope that we can at least stop blaming ourselves for the ridiculous work/life ratio we currently must shoulder to live.

Off the top of my head, there should be a moratorium on requiring email responses for non-essentials outside of office hours. I'd like to get rid of most salaried positions and get people paid by the hour. I've a sneaking suspicion that all the crazy hours that are currently "required by the times" would miraculously evaporate once employers were charged for the time they demand of their people.

Pretty sure I burned myself out three years ago, while launching a big thing for my business. Basically, I ran a live course, and it happened right after some travel that had already been scheduled, so I had no downtime. It was all rush, rush, rush for 2-3 months straight.

This basically set me up for the next several years in business, and I'm glad I did it, but ooof was the penalty high. This makes me think 1. Good heavens, most people burning out don't even get this upside, and 2. If I had just structured things somewhat differently or canceled the travel, I probably could have gotten the benefit while avoiding years of fatigue

Watch out, because it's hard to know what will break you until it does break you. And what breaks quickly takes longer to fix. I generally try to cultivate a high degree of slack in everything that I do: I ignored it once, and paid for it.

Symptoms were:

* Messed up sleep

* a sort of "deadening" where I felt less joy in regular things

* A constant sense of being overwhelmed

* Worsened digestive troubles

* Less ability to tolerate caffeine (I ended up quitting it)

* More muscle tension

* Lack of focus, tendency towards distraction

* More short term thinking

And other stuff I can't remember now. It's basically all fixed, and I feel great. One quibble with the article:

"Burnout is caused by chronic stress, not stressors, the Nagoskis say in their book. It’s important to differentiate the two. Stressors are external: to-do lists, financial problems or anxiety about the future. Stress, on the other hand, “is the neurological and physiological shift that happens in your body when you encounter [stressors],” the Nagoskis write.

To fix burnout, people need to address the stress itself. They must allow their body to complete its stress response cycle. Instead, people tend to focus on stressors. “They assume their stress will go away if they’re on top of things, if they’re accomplishing things and constantly checking things off their to-do list,” Emily Nagoski says."

--> I found that removing stressors by addressing them and getting rid of the source of the stressor was extremely helpful.

But not in a "do the whole todo list" sense. Rather, thinking about what leads to repeat stressors in my life, and eliminating that. Could be as simple as decluttering the house, improving sleep, changing cooking habits, etc. Anything in the daily routine that eliminates a pressure and lets your system cope better with the remaining stressors. Also a big part of it was working less.

I consider myself “paid by the hour” even if I’m not formally paid by the hour. I log my time and have a bank of hours that can’t go outside +/-20 hours. If I did 41 hours last week I’ll do 39 next week. I’ll never take a position where I do more than 40h on average. There is no amount of money that will be compensation enough for regular 45h weeks.

> I'd like to get rid of most salaried positions and get people paid by the hour.

I think having someone counting the number of hours you have your butt in a seat is a particularly degrading form of micromanagement, and I'm glad I don't have to endure it. Your TC is the only number that matters; there's no financial difference between getting paid 300k and no overtime and getting paid 200k + 100k overtime. It's silly to claim that the one is exploitative and the other is not just because the former involves "unpaid overtime".

Did you try doing charity work in your community? It gives your day some structure and it might connect you to people that are willing to employ you.