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> The trick is to... It's hard to do any one of those, let alone more or all, when you're approaching burnout. > - stay out of product meetings I started to

> The trick is to... It's hard to do any one of those, let alone more or all, when you're approaching burnout. > - stay out of product meetings I started to avoid product meetings. Still burned out. > - not actually care how cool and interesting and useful the product can or will be I started to not care how cool or interesting or useful the product can or will be. Still burned out. > - Only give feedback to your inner circle (manager, peers) when asked about it I started to only give feedback to my inner circle. That was even more painful, and still burned out. > - enjoy the tasks assigned to you however dull or basic they may be after you mastered them I could never enjoy tasks assigned to me when they're dull and basic things I've mastered. > - Be proud of your work. As for being proud of my work... well I'm always proud of my work. I still burned out. I don't want to even touch the things I'm proud of. Everyone's story of burnout is uniquely different. There's no single magic bullet that works for everyone.

righthand 2y ago
You neglected two of my suggestions. > I could never enjoy tasks assigned to me when they're dull and basic things I've mastered. If you do need more interesting work and can’t shift teams then find a new job. You will eventually find yourself needing to do the same again after you’ve mastered the new challenge. Keep it up and you will run out of leaps. However if you want to exist in a place for a while you need to accept that not every project, task, idea will be exciting work. Once you accept this, it also opens up doorways with what else you can do with your time. Since you have a mastered skill set, these menial tasks should not be weighing you down to free yourself from the drudgery of work. > As for being proud of my work... well I'm always proud of my work. I still burned out. I don't want to even touch the things I'm proud of. You should always be critical of past mistakes and look to correct but you should always put your best effort forward. That is what pride in work means. You shouldn’t have to admire every piece of work you deliver as a masterpiece, which is what I assume you mean by wanting to touch it. You should always carry a positive mindset about your work and not treat each success and failure in your life as some sort of definitive legacy. Invite in and operate under best intentions. A lot of my advice is about how it works in harmony, not some quick instant burnout solution. Resting is important as well (breaks, vacations). Anecdotally I was recently hired at a company that is in dire straights. This weighed on me heavily for the first six months, eventually they shrunk my team. However I cannot afford to get burned out. So the only options are to extract as much of the burden from me by being a cog in a bullshit factory or find a new job in a psychotic job market.
- beacon294 2y ago
  Not sure why you got flagged. This is good advice, work is not a one size fits all solution for self actualization. Most workers just want to fill their requirements and do something meaningful to them with the rest of their time. I especially like your point about enjoying the fruits of mastery of a task.
  - Aeolun 2y ago
    > Not sure why you got flagged. They replied to the one that told them their magic advice didn’t actually help them (and they still burned out) with some variety of “That had nothing to do with my advice, you just did it wrong.” That’s… not cool.
    - righthand 2y ago
      I didn’t say they did it wrong. The commenter tossed out two pieces of my advice as not relevant and I wanted to reinforce that all the advice was linked. Not a pick-3 three, toss two situation. What is not cool is having some sort of animosity or negative reaction because I chose to reinforce the ideas. Someone who is not willing to listen or reconsider will easily be susceptible to burn out again. Especially to advice only intended to help not criticize.

righthand 2y ago

You neglected two of my suggestions. > I could never enjoy tasks assigned to me when they're dull and basic things I've mastered. If you do need more interesting work and can’t shift teams then find a new job. You will eventually find yourself needing to do the same again after you’ve mastered the new challenge. Keep it up and you will run out of leaps. However if you want to exist in a place for a while you need to accept that not every project, task, idea will be exciting work. Once you accept this, it also opens up doorways with what else you can do with your time. Since you have a mastered skill set, these menial tasks should not be weighing you down to free yourself from the drudgery of work. > As for being proud of my work... well I'm always proud of my work. I still burned out. I don't want to even touch the things I'm proud of. You should always be critical of past mistakes and look to correct but you should always put your best effort forward. That is what pride in work means. You shouldn’t have to admire every piece of work you deliver as a masterpiece, which is what I assume you mean by wanting to touch it. You should always carry a positive mindset about your work and not treat each success and failure in your life as some sort of definitive legacy. Invite in and operate under best intentions. A lot of my advice is about how it works in harmony, not some quick instant burnout solution. Resting is important as well (breaks, vacations). Anecdotally I was recently hired at a company that is in dire straights. This weighed on me heavily for the first six months, eventually they shrunk my team. However I cannot afford to get burned out. So the only options are to extract as much of the burden from me by being a cog in a bullshit factory or find a new job in a psychotic job market.

beacon294 2y ago
Not sure why you got flagged. This is good advice, work is not a one size fits all solution for self actualization. Most workers just want to fill their requirements and do something meaningful to them with the rest of their time. I especially like your point about enjoying the fruits of mastery of a task.
- Aeolun 2y ago
  > Not sure why you got flagged. They replied to the one that told them their magic advice didn’t actually help them (and they still burned out) with some variety of “That had nothing to do with my advice, you just did it wrong.” That’s… not cool.
  - righthand 2y ago
    I didn’t say they did it wrong. The commenter tossed out two pieces of my advice as not relevant and I wanted to reinforce that all the advice was linked. Not a pick-3 three, toss two situation. What is not cool is having some sort of animosity or negative reaction because I chose to reinforce the ideas. Someone who is not willing to listen or reconsider will easily be susceptible to burn out again. Especially to advice only intended to help not criticize.