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My conclusion after reading this is never give it your all unless it's your own company. Burnout after working for someone else in tech should not happen at all

My conclusion after reading this is never give it your all unless it's your own company. Burnout after working for someone else in tech should not happen at all. The post overall has negative undertones so it feels like the burnout was really bad after all this time, I hope the author recovers and finds joy and peace working on their own projects.

imafish 3y ago
Also, from my understanding, the burnout did not seem to stem from the actual work but more from interpersonal relations and disagreements. I am certain that is not uncommon
- redrove 3y ago
  Rarely was my burnout caused by actual work. It’s usually caused by management being asshats.
- CipherThrowaway 3y ago
  This is what burnout is. Burnout is not caused by working, but by stress. The root cause of this stress is personal and interpersonal factors. People can burn out on very small workloads if the ratio of interpersonal toxicity to hours of work is high enough. Sometimes it looks like people are burning out because of extreme workloads. In these situations, I've always asked "why is the workload so extreme to begin with?" This gets you to the real source of stress.
  - karolist 3y ago
    It's amazing how many issues in life are caused by the act of thinking of these possible issues, than the issues themselves. My friend had horrible issues sleeping, he tried many things before going to psychiatrist. The conclusion was quick and accurate - your issues sleeping are caused by your fear of not falling asleep, basically anxiety. Anti-anxiety meds fixed it immediately.
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    The root is mostly stress on things that you have no control over.
- aiisdoomed 3y ago
  Wu Tang has the best lines to describe corporate workers: “You're just worms in the worst part of the apple that's rotten You squirm and you turn from the right, still plottin All slimy cause you stay grimy, petty crimey” While some have no alternative others enjoy that kind of game and are part of the problem. Best stay away from such jobs, and undermine corporate at every turn.
ngc248 3y ago
Do just enough day to day. Show heroic effort here and there. Don't get too attached to your project, service, code etc. Always understand the undercurrents so that you can keep abreast of things.
- karolist 3y ago
  Yes. To add, always try to escape, have a side project, dabble in opensource, wake up early and use your best brain capacity for that then go to work. I know it's hard but if you're just what you do at work then future employment prospects are lower than otherwise.
  - ngc248 3y ago
    Exactly, every company and org has a meta that you need to understand. If you understand the meta and you can/want to play the game, then play else start searching.
- garbanz0 3y ago
  This is a great way to articulate it. People operate in extremes, caring too much or little
- doublerabbit 3y ago
  SSsh, don't leak the secret.
hnarn 3y ago
> never give it your all unless it's your own company It’s the classic “last founder or first employee” problem. If you are an employee at a startup, have no illusions: if “they”[1] don’t give a shit about you now, you can be sure “they” will not give a shit about you later. [1]: the company is and always be an inanimate and abstract object, your boss and colleagues will change
itronitron 3y ago
It's important to know what 'your all' is for the company. I learned early on that working more than 40 hours a week writing code results in my introducing bugs into the code base. So doing more is counter productive. Choosing to not care is much harder as we have all had years of education conditioning us that we need to achieve more and to be the best.
- leetrout 3y ago
  > Choosing to not care is much harder as we have all had years of education conditioning us that we need to achieve more and to be the best. Very much so. I enjoyed reading Coddling of the American Mind as well. Not 1:1 but related to the conditioning, lack of maturity, and in some cases, learned helplessness.

imafish 3y ago

Also, from my understanding, the burnout did not seem to stem from the actual work but more from interpersonal relations and disagreements. I am certain that is not uncommon

redrove 3y ago
Rarely was my burnout caused by actual work. It’s usually caused by management being asshats.
CipherThrowaway 3y ago
This is what burnout is. Burnout is not caused by working, but by stress. The root cause of this stress is personal and interpersonal factors. People can burn out on very small workloads if the ratio of interpersonal toxicity to hours of work is high enough. Sometimes it looks like people are burning out because of extreme workloads. In these situations, I've always asked "why is the workload so extreme to begin with?" This gets you to the real source of stress.
- karolist 3y ago
  It's amazing how many issues in life are caused by the act of thinking of these possible issues, than the issues themselves. My friend had horrible issues sleeping, he tried many things before going to psychiatrist. The conclusion was quick and accurate - your issues sleeping are caused by your fear of not falling asleep, basically anxiety. Anti-anxiety meds fixed it immediately.
- jacquesm 3y ago
  The root is mostly stress on things that you have no control over.
aiisdoomed 3y ago
Wu Tang has the best lines to describe corporate workers: “You're just worms in the worst part of the apple that's rotten You squirm and you turn from the right, still plottin All slimy cause you stay grimy, petty crimey” While some have no alternative others enjoy that kind of game and are part of the problem. Best stay away from such jobs, and undermine corporate at every turn.

ngc248 3y ago

Do just enough day to day. Show heroic effort here and there. Don't get too attached to your project, service, code etc. Always understand the undercurrents so that you can keep abreast of things.

karolist 3y ago
Yes. To add, always try to escape, have a side project, dabble in opensource, wake up early and use your best brain capacity for that then go to work. I know it's hard but if you're just what you do at work then future employment prospects are lower than otherwise.
- ngc248 3y ago
  Exactly, every company and org has a meta that you need to understand. If you understand the meta and you can/want to play the game, then play else start searching.
garbanz0 3y ago
This is a great way to articulate it. People operate in extremes, caring too much or little
doublerabbit 3y ago
SSsh, don't leak the secret.

hnarn 3y ago

> never give it your all unless it's your own company It’s the classic “last founder or first employee” problem. If you are an employee at a startup, have no illusions: if “they”[1] don’t give a shit about you now, you can be sure “they” will not give a shit about you later. [1]: the company is and always be an inanimate and abstract object, your boss and colleagues will change

itronitron 3y ago

It's important to know what 'your all' is for the company. I learned early on that working more than 40 hours a week writing code results in my introducing bugs into the code base. So doing more is counter productive. Choosing to not care is much harder as we have all had years of education conditioning us that we need to achieve more and to be the best.

leetrout 3y ago
> Choosing to not care is much harder as we have all had years of education conditioning us that we need to achieve more and to be the best. Very much so. I enjoyed reading Coddling of the American Mind as well. Not 1:1 but related to the conditioning, lack of maturity, and in some cases, learned helplessness.