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> When I was running TinyPilot, I didn’t have time for technical work, which was a bummer because I love writing software. > I’ve always loved programming, but

> When I was running TinyPilot, I didn’t have time for technical work, which was a bummer because I love writing software. > I’ve always loved programming, but I’ve never found it as exciting as I have in the last year. I’m awed by all the amazing open-source software that’s freely available. Whenever I'm able to take two consecutive weeks off of work, it's like my brain STARTS the process of healing, and I begin to see a glimmer of hope that I could actually enjoy programming again. But then it's right back in, and the burnout and overwhelm is back immediately. I realize I need to take extended time off work at some point before the burnout becomes much harder to heal from, but it's just never a good time. This year particularly feels so weird and uncertain.

0_____0 2y ago
> never a good time Perhaps your threshold is too high? The graveyards are full of indispensable men. Will your project actually fall apart without you? Even if it does, is that a reason to not treat burnout?
- Trasmatta 2y ago
  It's not about the projects and more so about the money and living costs and the instability in the world. I also have some expensive chronic diseases, which is problematic in the US. I've thought about other options like part time contracting, though.
  - 0_____0 2y ago
    Health insurance that's tied to your employer is such a toxic pattern in the US, and it's so expensive to escape. I pay something like $550 a month because I'm not tied to a company and I'm young and healthy. I have a few friends who have moved to a contracting model within the hardware world and haven't gone back to W2. I think they've had some issues with managing workloads, because they'll typically have multiple overlapping clients who have no awareness of each other, so occasionally I hear about someone being booked solid for a month or something like that when busy phases overlap. Balanced sometimes by 10 hour weeks.
e1g 2y ago
From the last 20 years of bootstrapping to various levels of success, I now have an absolute rule: when I feel like I definitely cannot take a break _now_ that the time I must take a break, non-negotiable. Even a few days is enough. I have often felt outrage at having to invoke this rule, but the effect is so pronounced that I have always doubled down on it afterwards, as a life sustaining aide to my future self.
- Trasmatta 2y ago
  I think the problem is that I feel like I need a lot more than a few days...a 3 month sabbatical might be a good start. But I've heard from some people that you really need 6 months or more when you really hit a burnout breaking point. It's hard to pull that off, so for now I'm just relying on the coping mechanisms as best I can.

0_____0 2y ago

> never a good time Perhaps your threshold is too high? The graveyards are full of indispensable men. Will your project actually fall apart without you? Even if it does, is that a reason to not treat burnout?

Trasmatta 2y ago
It's not about the projects and more so about the money and living costs and the instability in the world. I also have some expensive chronic diseases, which is problematic in the US. I've thought about other options like part time contracting, though.
- 0_____0 2y ago
  Health insurance that's tied to your employer is such a toxic pattern in the US, and it's so expensive to escape. I pay something like $550 a month because I'm not tied to a company and I'm young and healthy. I have a few friends who have moved to a contracting model within the hardware world and haven't gone back to W2. I think they've had some issues with managing workloads, because they'll typically have multiple overlapping clients who have no awareness of each other, so occasionally I hear about someone being booked solid for a month or something like that when busy phases overlap. Balanced sometimes by 10 hour weeks.

e1g 2y ago

From the last 20 years of bootstrapping to various levels of success, I now have an absolute rule: when I feel like I definitely cannot take a break _now_ that the time I must take a break, non-negotiable. Even a few days is enough. I have often felt outrage at having to invoke this rule, but the effect is so pronounced that I have always doubled down on it afterwards, as a life sustaining aide to my future self.

Trasmatta 2y ago
I think the problem is that I feel like I need a lot more than a few days...a 3 month sabbatical might be a good start. But I've heard from some people that you really need 6 months or more when you really hit a burnout breaking point. It's hard to pull that off, so for now I'm just relying on the coping mechanisms as best I can.