5 ms·

Your work is not your god: welcome to the age of the burnout epidemic

25 points by rustoo 5y ago

magicroot75 5y ago
I had gotten to the point where work was consuming my psychology. It's not that the hours were crazy. But the pressure and pace at which I was working made it so I no longer wanted to travel while working, go on dates, exercise, cook, etc. I'd clock out at 6:30pm completely mentally drained after 9.5hrs with no breaks of video chats and high paced, high visibility work. I recently put in my notice and finish my current job this week. When I finished my giving me boss notice, I sat on my bed and cried. No job is worth that level of stress.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- iamevn 5y ago
  I hope you can enjoy some rest in the coming weeks/months. Personally I have found that it was beneficial to completely stop myself from doing any sort of side project/fun programming for at least a week or two after leaving my last job because I was entirely burnt out. You really gotta rest for real.
mgh2 5y ago
Is "abolishing work" the answer? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29867290 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29867290 We need a middle ground to the Protestant work ethic
- sascha_sl 5y ago
  I don't think drawing a line to that thread and coloring the expectations one would have about it is not very fair. "Ending work" conceptually is more about the need to rethink work, to eliminate bullshit jobs, to prevent most of the value workers create to end up in the pockets of bosses. It's more pointing at the problem than offering a solution. I disagree a bit with "middle ground", but nobody here is proposing we all turn to stereotypical mad-max style anarchy. (There are far better styles of anarchy to consider after all)
  - mgh2 5y ago
    > "They were exhausted, but they did not have the 21st-century psychological condition we call burnout, because they did not believe their work was the path to self-actualization. The ideal that motivates us to work to the point of burnout is the promise that if you work hard, you will live a good life: not just a life of material comfort, but a life of social dignity, moral character and spiritual purpose." Connecting the dots: So work has become worship, an alternative belief system, similar to identify politics. People are just replacing their values/void with their own "god" (vs. 1st commandment) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27473167 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27473167
    - sascha_sl 5y ago
      Identity politics is the result of some people failing to catch up with the constantly changing status quo of what is acceptable. This has been happening forever, except now it happens in broad view, with a huge audience. To which I, as someone inherently accused of being the very embodiment of identity politics, can only say: I'm very sorry if my existence and other people's acceptance of it seems like ideology to you. The previous status quo seemed ideological to me too.

25 points by rustoo 5y ago

I had gotten to the point where work was consuming my psychology. It's not that the hours were crazy. But the pressure and pace at which I was working made it so I no longer wanted to travel while working, go on dates, exercise, cook, etc. I'd clock out at 6:30pm completely mentally drained after 9.5hrs with no breaks of video chats and high paced, high visibility work. I recently put in my notice and finish my current job this week. When I finished my giving me boss notice, I sat on my bed and cried. No job is worth that level of stress.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
iamevn 5y ago
I hope you can enjoy some rest in the coming weeks/months. Personally I have found that it was beneficial to completely stop myself from doing any sort of side project/fun programming for at least a week or two after leaving my last job because I was entirely burnt out. You really gotta rest for real.

mgh2 5y ago

Is "abolishing work" the answer? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29867290 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29867290 We need a middle ground to the Protestant work ethic

sascha_sl 5y ago
I don't think drawing a line to that thread and coloring the expectations one would have about it is not very fair. "Ending work" conceptually is more about the need to rethink work, to eliminate bullshit jobs, to prevent most of the value workers create to end up in the pockets of bosses. It's more pointing at the problem than offering a solution. I disagree a bit with "middle ground", but nobody here is proposing we all turn to stereotypical mad-max style anarchy. (There are far better styles of anarchy to consider after all)
- mgh2 5y ago
  > "They were exhausted, but they did not have the 21st-century psychological condition we call burnout, because they did not believe their work was the path to self-actualization. The ideal that motivates us to work to the point of burnout is the promise that if you work hard, you will live a good life: not just a life of material comfort, but a life of social dignity, moral character and spiritual purpose." Connecting the dots: So work has become worship, an alternative belief system, similar to identify politics. People are just replacing their values/void with their own "god" (vs. 1st commandment) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27473167 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27473167
  - sascha_sl 5y ago
    Identity politics is the result of some people failing to catch up with the constantly changing status quo of what is acceptable. This has been happening forever, except now it happens in broad view, with a huge audience. To which I, as someone inherently accused of being the very embodiment of identity politics, can only say: I'm very sorry if my existence and other people's acceptance of it seems like ideology to you. The previous status quo seemed ideological to me too.