7 ms·

Is there a rise of late in up voted/front page “burnout” articles on HN? It seems like there is, but I’ve been struggling with my own burnout issues more than

Is there a rise of late in up voted/front page “burnout” articles on HN? It seems like there is, but I’ve been struggling with my own burnout issues more than ever before, so maybe the rate is the same as it’s always been and I’m just more sensitive.

erichahn 5y ago
Baader-Meinhof bias
- jeffparsons 5y ago
  You're probably right of course. But I've had the same impression recently (along with an increase in "everything is made-up nonsense" type articles), so I'd love to see if there's actually anything to my/their perceived up-tick in things like this. I wonder what's the easiest way to query front page Hacker News submissions over time...
prox 5y ago
Alt theory: the amount of freelancers never been this high. Most don’t set boundaries so they work weekends, take low pay gigs to support their passion project (like in the article) and at some point they crack. You really don’t see a burnout coming, but if you work all your waking hours there is a good chance you reach that breaking point. Stability truly is key to prevent it.
csomar 5y ago
Now that we are closing two years of this pandemic; some people have had reduced activity (due to lock-downs) or travel (due to travel restrictions), been working from home (if you don't have the right conditions or you hate it), been going through some climate change (hot summers) and that's us (tech) folks who mostly didn't lose jobs or have precarious financial situation. There are probably some countries with population-wide burnouts and on the risk of collapse (South Africa, North Africa, Colombia, etc...)
stepbeek 5y ago
I suspect that it's linked to the pandemic. I've been running a small company for a little over four years now and the last year and a half has been pretty brutal. Other than the obvious economic impacts of the pandemic on small businesses, the de-stressing activities I personally enjoy - lifting weight, martial arts, going to the cinema - have been unavailable for most of the pandemic. I think that this has led to a less well-defined stopping point at the end of each day both physically and mentally. The knock on effect of this has been more chronic stress. Before I had a really strong demarcation between the working week and my leisure time: up until things opened up again recently (Scotland), I haven't.
- prox 5y ago
  Have you tried anything to create a better demarcation?
  - stepbeek 5y ago
    I continued to "get dressed for work" each day, then would change out of a shirt at the end of the workday which helped more than I thought it would. I'm lucky enough to have a dedicated home office so also stopped doing anything resembling leisure (even technical reading) in my office after hours. Taking the dog a long walk after work each day showed promise, but it wasn't as effective as I'd hoped. I ended up just thinking/talking about work the entire time. Thankfully, most things have re-opened here (Scotland) now so I'm able to resume all those hobbies that were sorely missed.
postsantum 5y ago
I believe it reflects reality. Many people got more free time that they can handle and started quiestioning things. Been there myself when I got my first remote job long time ago

erichahn 5y ago

Baader-Meinhof bias

jeffparsons 5y ago
You're probably right of course. But I've had the same impression recently (along with an increase in "everything is made-up nonsense" type articles), so I'd love to see if there's actually anything to my/their perceived up-tick in things like this. I wonder what's the easiest way to query front page Hacker News submissions over time...

prox 5y ago

Alt theory: the amount of freelancers never been this high. Most don’t set boundaries so they work weekends, take low pay gigs to support their passion project (like in the article) and at some point they crack. You really don’t see a burnout coming, but if you work all your waking hours there is a good chance you reach that breaking point. Stability truly is key to prevent it.

csomar 5y ago

Now that we are closing two years of this pandemic; some people have had reduced activity (due to lock-downs) or travel (due to travel restrictions), been working from home (if you don't have the right conditions or you hate it), been going through some climate change (hot summers) and that's us (tech) folks who mostly didn't lose jobs or have precarious financial situation. There are probably some countries with population-wide burnouts and on the risk of collapse (South Africa, North Africa, Colombia, etc...)

stepbeek 5y ago

I suspect that it's linked to the pandemic. I've been running a small company for a little over four years now and the last year and a half has been pretty brutal. Other than the obvious economic impacts of the pandemic on small businesses, the de-stressing activities I personally enjoy - lifting weight, martial arts, going to the cinema - have been unavailable for most of the pandemic. I think that this has led to a less well-defined stopping point at the end of each day both physically and mentally. The knock on effect of this has been more chronic stress. Before I had a really strong demarcation between the working week and my leisure time: up until things opened up again recently (Scotland), I haven't.

prox 5y ago
Have you tried anything to create a better demarcation?
- stepbeek 5y ago
  I continued to "get dressed for work" each day, then would change out of a shirt at the end of the workday which helped more than I thought it would. I'm lucky enough to have a dedicated home office so also stopped doing anything resembling leisure (even technical reading) in my office after hours. Taking the dog a long walk after work each day showed promise, but it wasn't as effective as I'd hoped. I ended up just thinking/talking about work the entire time. Thankfully, most things have re-opened here (Scotland) now so I'm able to resume all those hobbies that were sorely missed.

postsantum 5y ago

I believe it reflects reality. Many people got more free time that they can handle and started quiestioning things. Been there myself when I got my first remote job long time ago