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I think there are severity levels. I think everyone's typical week has at least a couple of "OMG I hate this place!" moments that are related to a particularly

I think there are severity levels. I think everyone's typical week has at least a couple of "OMG I hate this place!" moments that are related to a particularly difficult commute, a technical problem that crops up at a particularly frustrating time, repeated runins with a difficult coworker that you usually only have to deal with once a month, etc. But you're able to "talk yourself down" within a few minutes. But when it's every day much of the day, it's a problem. So where do you draw the line is the question.

hmschreck 7y ago
At my last job, I was getting paid $45k/yr and was expected to work 80-100 hours per week, on top of a 1.5 hour round-trip commute, because the other people on the team for the project were pulled to do other things that were deemed "more important", but the timeline for the project didn't shift at all, because it was also "vital". There's a really great Usenix talk about burnout I stumbled across, and it so perfectly described what I was feeling, even down to the fact that I found myself drinking more and more each night just to be functional. On paper, I took a pay cut at my next job, but I earned enough in overtime to more than make up for it, and I've gotten significant raises since then.
- candiodari 7y ago
  I find this sort of thing really destresses me. That may sound stupid, but stressfull is when your managers asks 90%, or 110%, 120%. You know, vaguely realistic. Just a tiny bit less, or more than you can realistically do. So that it really matters how you feel. An unpredictable illness (you or kids, or ...) can easily make the difference between delivering or failing. You start worrying if your breaks are too long. When your manager asks 200%, there's zero stress. It's like someone pointing a gun at you demanding you lasso the moon. It's funny. Because you see, whether you get shot or not does NOT depend on whether you try. Therefore it's a sunk cost. There's no point worrying about it. In fact, there's very good reasons to be very easy going about it. No point shortening any break. The same with your manager. He asks the impossible, and of course you won't deliver. So whatever will happen, has already happened. It does NOT depend on your level of effort. Whether you get blamed ... is already determined at that point. Whether you get fired ... is a done deal. No point worrying about it, as the decision is made. Find an online course, or watch some esports on Youtube. Put in the hours, but ... It's no more worrying than the idea that an asteroid might be (in fact almost certainly is) on a collision course with the earth right now.
candiodari 7y ago
> So where do you draw the line is the question. That's the whole point: that's actually not the question. Read the diagnosis guide. There is no line there. None whatsoever. Makes you wonder why we even tolerate psychiatric care ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenhan_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenhan_experiment > Rosenhan's study was done in eight parts. The first part involved the use of healthy associates or "pseudopatients" (three women and five men, including Rosenhan himself) who briefly feigned auditory hallucinations in an attempt to gain admission to 12 psychiatric hospitals in five states in the United States. All were admitted and diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. After admission, the pseudopatients acted normally and told staff that they felt fine and had no longer experienced any additional hallucinations. All were forced to admit to having a mental illness and had to agree to take antipsychotic drugs as a condition of their release. The average time that the patients spent in the hospital was 19 days. All but one were diagnosed with schizophrenia "in remission" before their release. I repeat "All were forced to admit to having a mental illness and had to agree to take antipsychotic drugs". What The F

hmschreck 7y ago

At my last job, I was getting paid $45k/yr and was expected to work 80-100 hours per week, on top of a 1.5 hour round-trip commute, because the other people on the team for the project were pulled to do other things that were deemed "more important", but the timeline for the project didn't shift at all, because it was also "vital". There's a really great Usenix talk about burnout I stumbled across, and it so perfectly described what I was feeling, even down to the fact that I found myself drinking more and more each night just to be functional. On paper, I took a pay cut at my next job, but I earned enough in overtime to more than make up for it, and I've gotten significant raises since then.

candiodari 7y ago
I find this sort of thing really destresses me. That may sound stupid, but stressfull is when your managers asks 90%, or 110%, 120%. You know, vaguely realistic. Just a tiny bit less, or more than you can realistically do. So that it really matters how you feel. An unpredictable illness (you or kids, or ...) can easily make the difference between delivering or failing. You start worrying if your breaks are too long. When your manager asks 200%, there's zero stress. It's like someone pointing a gun at you demanding you lasso the moon. It's funny. Because you see, whether you get shot or not does NOT depend on whether you try. Therefore it's a sunk cost. There's no point worrying about it. In fact, there's very good reasons to be very easy going about it. No point shortening any break. The same with your manager. He asks the impossible, and of course you won't deliver. So whatever will happen, has already happened. It does NOT depend on your level of effort. Whether you get blamed ... is already determined at that point. Whether you get fired ... is a done deal. No point worrying about it, as the decision is made. Find an online course, or watch some esports on Youtube. Put in the hours, but ... It's no more worrying than the idea that an asteroid might be (in fact almost certainly is) on a collision course with the earth right now.

candiodari 7y ago

> So where do you draw the line is the question. That's the whole point: that's actually not the question. Read the diagnosis guide. There is no line there. None whatsoever. Makes you wonder why we even tolerate psychiatric care ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenhan_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenhan_experiment > Rosenhan's study was done in eight parts. The first part involved the use of healthy associates or "pseudopatients" (three women and five men, including Rosenhan himself) who briefly feigned auditory hallucinations in an attempt to gain admission to 12 psychiatric hospitals in five states in the United States. All were admitted and diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. After admission, the pseudopatients acted normally and told staff that they felt fine and had no longer experienced any additional hallucinations. All were forced to admit to having a mental illness and had to agree to take antipsychotic drugs as a condition of their release. The average time that the patients spent in the hospital was 19 days. All but one were diagnosed with schizophrenia "in remission" before their release. I repeat "All were forced to admit to having a mental illness and had to agree to take antipsychotic drugs". What The F