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Do you have any tips for combating burnout that worked well for you? I'm starting to feel the signs of burnout (which probably means I'm actually in deeper than

Do you have any tips for combating burnout that worked well for you? I'm starting to feel the signs of burnout (which probably means I'm actually in deeper than I think), and I'd like to try to head this off before it gets worse. I know setting hard boundaries for work/non work and taking chunks of time for yourself is a good start, but would love to hear if you had any more advice? Thanks!

joslin01 11y ago
While this might not be the right thing to say, I feel compelled to say it nevertheless: nothing can hurt you unless you give it power to do so. When I was in the heat of it and naturally did not want to work, I eventually reached a place of working zen -- I will try to do what I can, and forget about my imagined needs of this or that. I simply stared at the screen if I didn't know the buttons to press. This is the experience that I am proud of and that makes me say "I'm happy I went through that." Too often, we mistake our own fears for limitations, and limitations we do have, we treat as if they were unmalleable. While I always want people to look out for their mental health, I also want people to know what it means to give it their all because I know that teaches you how to break through your self-imposed limitations and grow into an even stronger wo/man. My advice is to always keep one day for yourself. For me, it's Sunday. Sunday, if I want to work, I work (and when it's that way, work doesn't always feel like work). If I don't want to work, no one can say anything. This gives you time to not think at all about work, which should give you time to stay in system 1 and heal. What's a real killer is all that unnecessary anxiety and general negative emotions coming from _thinking_ about your work that is hurting you. When you're away from work, stop thinking about work. It's not prudent or responsible of you to be stressing out about something that isn't even going on right now. When it's time to rest, you rest. When it's time to work, you work. It seems simple, but it's the blurred gray area in between the two that affects people the most. When I worked very hard and hit my "work zen mode", it was here that I began to let go of things like what does my boss think or what does my coworker think or some other-nonsense-BS-anxious-thing that has nothing to do with actual work. I hope it helps. I'm really no huge expert myself, but I am usually the hardest person in the room.
- woohoo7676 11y ago
  Thanks, I appreciate the perspective! I definitely agree with the real killer being thinking about working while not working. The concept is simple like you said, but actually sticking to it...quite hard. Also, keeping one day a week for yourself seems like a good place to start as well.
abledon 11y ago
Qigong worked wonders for me, 30 mins a day 7 days a week. Learn to treat it as a ritual so you won't fall out of the habit easily. p.s. there are a lot of charlatans, so you have to find an actually talented teacher
- solveforall 11y ago
  I second this, although I don't have the discipline to do it everyday. When I feel really crappy, I do it and always feel much better for a whole day afterwards. It's also an exercise that is stress-free, easy, and can be done everywhere. I'm not sure about the teacher part though -- I'm not into the mystical mumbo-jumbo (even though I'm Chinese). Something about the movements is just good for relieving stress and I'm not sure they need to be done in exactly the right way -- sort of like how sham acupuncture helps people.
CuriousSkeptic 11y ago
Haven't actually tested it, but super better might be your thing ( http://janemcgonigal.com/2014/01/06/superbetter-show-me-the-science/ http://janemcgonigal.com/2014/01/06/superbetter-show-me-the-... ), it's an interesting experiment at least.
rarepostinlurkr 11y ago
I stop doing work on nights & weekends. I generally very much enjoy my job, but when I start to feel off, I cut off all work and just focus on other things that I enjoy. I read more, I play video games, knowing they are "pointless, and I should be using my time better". I watch a movie with my wife instead of opening the laptop and working. I've found this works fairly well. Sometimes I'll go for two weeks or two months of just turning off 'work'. It has the advantage of letting me continue to be employed. One of these stints was also when I thought hell, why not try and learn Haskell? ;)

joslin01 11y ago

While this might not be the right thing to say, I feel compelled to say it nevertheless: nothing can hurt you unless you give it power to do so. When I was in the heat of it and naturally did not want to work, I eventually reached a place of working zen -- I will try to do what I can, and forget about my imagined needs of this or that. I simply stared at the screen if I didn't know the buttons to press. This is the experience that I am proud of and that makes me say "I'm happy I went through that." Too often, we mistake our own fears for limitations, and limitations we do have, we treat as if they were unmalleable. While I always want people to look out for their mental health, I also want people to know what it means to give it their all because I know that teaches you how to break through your self-imposed limitations and grow into an even stronger wo/man. My advice is to always keep one day for yourself. For me, it's Sunday. Sunday, if I want to work, I work (and when it's that way, work doesn't always feel like work). If I don't want to work, no one can say anything. This gives you time to not think at all about work, which should give you time to stay in system 1 and heal. What's a real killer is all that unnecessary anxiety and general negative emotions coming from _thinking_ about your work that is hurting you. When you're away from work, stop thinking about work. It's not prudent or responsible of you to be stressing out about something that isn't even going on right now. When it's time to rest, you rest. When it's time to work, you work. It seems simple, but it's the blurred gray area in between the two that affects people the most. When I worked very hard and hit my "work zen mode", it was here that I began to let go of things like what does my boss think or what does my coworker think or some other-nonsense-BS-anxious-thing that has nothing to do with actual work. I hope it helps. I'm really no huge expert myself, but I am usually the hardest person in the room.

woohoo7676 11y ago
Thanks, I appreciate the perspective! I definitely agree with the real killer being thinking about working while not working. The concept is simple like you said, but actually sticking to it...quite hard. Also, keeping one day a week for yourself seems like a good place to start as well.

abledon 11y ago

Qigong worked wonders for me, 30 mins a day 7 days a week. Learn to treat it as a ritual so you won't fall out of the habit easily. p.s. there are a lot of charlatans, so you have to find an actually talented teacher

solveforall 11y ago
I second this, although I don't have the discipline to do it everyday. When I feel really crappy, I do it and always feel much better for a whole day afterwards. It's also an exercise that is stress-free, easy, and can be done everywhere. I'm not sure about the teacher part though -- I'm not into the mystical mumbo-jumbo (even though I'm Chinese). Something about the movements is just good for relieving stress and I'm not sure they need to be done in exactly the right way -- sort of like how sham acupuncture helps people.

CuriousSkeptic 11y ago

Haven't actually tested it, but super better might be your thing ( http://janemcgonigal.com/2014/01/06/superbetter-show-me-the-science/ http://janemcgonigal.com/2014/01/06/superbetter-show-me-the-... ), it's an interesting experiment at least.

rarepostinlurkr 11y ago

I stop doing work on nights & weekends. I generally very much enjoy my job, but when I start to feel off, I cut off all work and just focus on other things that I enjoy. I read more, I play video games, knowing they are "pointless, and I should be using my time better". I watch a movie with my wife instead of opening the laptop and working. I've found this works fairly well. Sometimes I'll go for two weeks or two months of just turning off 'work'. It has the advantage of letting me continue to be employed. One of these stints was also when I thought hell, why not try and learn Haskell? ;)