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I mean, it's hard to not feel burned out when your day consists of process, navigating politics, and implementing ideas that are clearly doomed to fail. It's a

by Aeolun 2y ago

I mean, it's hard to not feel burned out when your day consists of process, navigating politics, and implementing ideas that are clearly doomed to fail. It's a lot better than homelessness though.

killjoywashere 2y ago
> It's a lot better than homelessness though. Yeah, I feel like more people in the developed world should go spend quality time with the least among us, the homeless, and folks in the developing world. A lot of people with burnout will find themselves skipping to work. Because at least you're not living in trees with insects and hollowing out a log to sail to another island to get your special needs kid to a doctor on another island 600 miles away. (one of infinite specific stories I'm familiar with).
- _yb2s 2y ago
  I have spent extended periods of time living and traveling on really small 15-17ft sailboats with no electricity or modern tech together with a young kid, and never miss anything about modern life. I feel so much healthier and happier using my body and being outdoors vs in my usual desk job. To be fair I have a job, home, and health care waiting for me if anything goes wrong. But I am certain this isn’t just simple romanticism- living simply outdoors drastically improves my mental health, it is giving me something I need that modern life lacks- possibly the combo of natural light, constant exercise, and no chronic stress. It is physically demanding and often very uncomfortable- and I don’t mind because I feel so much more alive and engaged. If I did not have a family to support, and a career that I feel is important, I am certain I would be happier just living simply and mostly outdoors.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- sandwitches 2y ago
  [dead]
- harimau777 2y ago
  I think that it's possible that isn't true. Perhaps the areas where people in the developed world are worse off (micromanagement, family, home ownership, etc.) are more important to avoiding burnout than the "comfort" that the developed world generally excels at providing. Stated another way, it is possible that burnout isn't determined by some overall sense of "how difficult is life" but is instead caused by life being difficult in specific ways.
  - _yb2s 2y ago
    People seem to confuse physical comfort with happiness and good mental health when they aren't the same at all. Extreme physical discomfort, or lack of food/water/shelter are awful, but they don't specifically cause burnout. And people don't start "skipping to work" just because they know someone else is less comfortable, when they are worn down from years of chronic stress.
- theshackleford 2y ago
  I’ve been homeless. I’ve also been burned out. Being homeless did not magically prevent me from becoming burned out in another stage of my life.
dexwiz 2y ago
This sentiment seems a lot like the “you have it great, there are starving kids in X who have it much worse” meme I often heard growing up. It encourages minimizing one’s problems, which can lead to all sorts of mental health issues. Thinking like this causes me to ignore real issues for too long, because someone else has it worse. It’s like gratitude’s evil twin of an emotion. But we should respect ourselves and strive for better lives, even if they are already good compared to others.
- sandwitches 2y ago
  [dead]
- Aeolun 2y ago
  Sure, but it’s all the same in large corporations. I might be happier in a smaller company, but they pay correspondingly less. I need to pay for a house and education. It’s depressing, but not depressing enough to throw away my children’s future.
mschuster91 2y ago
> It's a lot better than homelessness though. Yeah and that is why the lobbying power against housing-first, guaranteed/subsidized housing, basic income, unemployment benefits or healthcare not tied to workplaces and whatnot is so strong. The only thing that keeps people from voting with their feet and leaving their toxic employers is the threat of losing healthcare and housing. Take that power away from the employers, and a lot will change on its own.
jmcmichael 2y ago
Homelessness serves as excellent motivation for us to sacrifice our bodies and minds on the behalf of our employers’ profit. Poverty isn’t an unfortunate side effect of resource mis-allocation at the margins of society, but a necessary feature of the institutional mechanisms that burn out generations, keeping the bread and circuses going.

by Aeolun 2y ago

I mean, it's hard to not feel burned out when your day consists of process, navigating politics, and implementing ideas that are clearly doomed to fail. It's a lot better than homelessness though.

killjoywashere 2y ago

> It's a lot better than homelessness though. Yeah, I feel like more people in the developed world should go spend quality time with the least among us, the homeless, and folks in the developing world. A lot of people with burnout will find themselves skipping to work. Because at least you're not living in trees with insects and hollowing out a log to sail to another island to get your special needs kid to a doctor on another island 600 miles away. (one of infinite specific stories I'm familiar with).

_yb2s 2y ago
I have spent extended periods of time living and traveling on really small 15-17ft sailboats with no electricity or modern tech together with a young kid, and never miss anything about modern life. I feel so much healthier and happier using my body and being outdoors vs in my usual desk job. To be fair I have a job, home, and health care waiting for me if anything goes wrong. But I am certain this isn’t just simple romanticism- living simply outdoors drastically improves my mental health, it is giving me something I need that modern life lacks- possibly the combo of natural light, constant exercise, and no chronic stress. It is physically demanding and often very uncomfortable- and I don’t mind because I feel so much more alive and engaged. If I did not have a family to support, and a career that I feel is important, I am certain I would be happier just living simply and mostly outdoors.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
sandwitches 2y ago
[dead]
harimau777 2y ago
I think that it's possible that isn't true. Perhaps the areas where people in the developed world are worse off (micromanagement, family, home ownership, etc.) are more important to avoiding burnout than the "comfort" that the developed world generally excels at providing. Stated another way, it is possible that burnout isn't determined by some overall sense of "how difficult is life" but is instead caused by life being difficult in specific ways.
- _yb2s 2y ago
  People seem to confuse physical comfort with happiness and good mental health when they aren't the same at all. Extreme physical discomfort, or lack of food/water/shelter are awful, but they don't specifically cause burnout. And people don't start "skipping to work" just because they know someone else is less comfortable, when they are worn down from years of chronic stress.
theshackleford 2y ago
I’ve been homeless. I’ve also been burned out. Being homeless did not magically prevent me from becoming burned out in another stage of my life.

dexwiz 2y ago

This sentiment seems a lot like the “you have it great, there are starving kids in X who have it much worse” meme I often heard growing up. It encourages minimizing one’s problems, which can lead to all sorts of mental health issues. Thinking like this causes me to ignore real issues for too long, because someone else has it worse. It’s like gratitude’s evil twin of an emotion. But we should respect ourselves and strive for better lives, even if they are already good compared to others.

sandwitches 2y ago
[dead]
Aeolun 2y ago
Sure, but it’s all the same in large corporations. I might be happier in a smaller company, but they pay correspondingly less. I need to pay for a house and education. It’s depressing, but not depressing enough to throw away my children’s future.

mschuster91 2y ago

> It's a lot better than homelessness though. Yeah and that is why the lobbying power against housing-first, guaranteed/subsidized housing, basic income, unemployment benefits or healthcare not tied to workplaces and whatnot is so strong. The only thing that keeps people from voting with their feet and leaving their toxic employers is the threat of losing healthcare and housing. Take that power away from the employers, and a lot will change on its own.

jmcmichael 2y ago

Homelessness serves as excellent motivation for us to sacrifice our bodies and minds on the behalf of our employers’ profit. Poverty isn’t an unfortunate side effect of resource mis-allocation at the margins of society, but a necessary feature of the institutional mechanisms that burn out generations, keeping the bread and circuses going.