Ask HN: How do you recover from burnout? - togusa2017
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muzani
I find that relaxation doesn't help at all. Even after taking about a half
year break after selling my startup, I was still burnt out. What helped me out
of it was teaching.

Quoting Tony Robbins: "The reason you're suffering is you're focused on
yourself."

It's a powerful enough quote that I'll probably print it and put it in my
office.

Don't think about the work. Don't think about the pay, the holidays, the
things you will buy, the fame you'll get.

Instead of focusing on the work, think what you do with it. Think of making
them very happy. It could be a client or customer. It could be your boss.

Instead of focusing on the money, think of what you can do to make people
happy. It could be bringing your significant other on a vacation somewhere. It
could be buying your daughter a new toy or bringing them to the zoo.

You can also try giving back - if you're a techie, you can teach people to
code. Or answer questions on Stack Overflow. Write articles and blogs. Make
videos on Udemy. Don't focus on making money from it but on passing down your
experience.

~~~
Top19
Hey I really like that you said “relaxing doesn’t work”. Weirdly enough I’ve
found that to be true. I mean there are times when you’re not sleeping enough
where it becomes key, but that’s about it for me.

I noticed in “Daily Rituals”, a book about the day to day lives of artists,
none of them really take breaks. 30,40,50 years go by, and they just find more
ways to creatively renew themselves. I’m sorry I can’t think of any examples
here but if you’re reading this you should buy a copy.

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dstroot
Hardest for me was giving myself “permission” to recover. What I mean is that
like a NBA star who is in the game but exhausted gets pissed when the coach
pulls him out of the game for a breather (even if he desperately needs one)
because well he’s the “the man” and you don’t put the man on the bench. I was
exhausted, depressed, and anti-social outside work. But I did _not_ want to
stop because work was also my identity where I was “the man”. I forced myself
(eventually) to take a time out but it has been very difficult being idle and
I find myself struggling for something that is interesting and makes me happy
to do. I can’t just sit on the bench. I find “doing nothing” basically
impossible.

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zapperdapper
It really depends on how you are set up, what your job is, how long you've had
burnout for, how long you've been working for and many other variables.

You have to be careful because depression and burnout seem to be best buddies.
You need to deal with this sooner rather than later.

For me the answer was quite simple - to just work less - a lot less. I
contract and take lots of time off between contracts. I take long walks every
day - sometimes with a weight vest, sometimes without. I meditate (nothing
fancy). I eat light. I occasionally row. It's important to get away from the
computer, and get outside and get some fresh air. In my spare time I do my
hobbies: Python coding, work on my website, photography, read, travel, stroke
my cat, relax with my partner. I have a side project to watch every Star Trek
movie/episode ever made! {grin}

I realized in the end I had to re-prioritize my life away from work and money.
It's worked out far better than I could have hoped for. YMMV. If you want to
discuss more feel free to contact me via my website (see my profile here for
details). All the best.

~~~
togusa2017
Thanks will do so. It's a side project I have been working on for a year and
so . It's very close to finish like just publish it to app store but I feel so
blank with ideas or tired and fear that once I publish it in need to work
harder so I m trying to get away from it for sometime coz I see signs of
burnout / depression .

~~~
imhoguy
Release early and often.

Keep in touch with your audience and give them clear signal that this is your
hobby project and you value their input before they leave any rating etc.
Side-project which doesn't make you happy sucks. You may be afraid of success
or failure, but avoiding validation with users and constantly imagining what
they might need more will make your burnout worse. I would hide non functional
features and release now! Then do small update releases often - this boosts
brain's instant gratification nicely.

~~~
togusa2017
You are right. I am going to publish it this week no more holding onto it or
adding things. Thanks for your effort, I have side projects in the form of
website and never felt like this in publishing it. It's the mobile app world
which is new to me scares me a little

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osrec
Take time out, but don't do nothing. From what I've seen in my friends, I
think burnout is a sign that the mind is craving variety. It's anecdata, but
those of my friends that took up a new enjoyable pastime (music, art, sport),
rather than doing absolutely nothing, seem to recover a great deal faster and
their enthusiasm for their subsequent work projects was even more noticeable.

~~~
RickS
I think there's another component to this that might be worth noting:

The more "nothing" you do, the faster you'll want to get back in the game, and
the more likely you are to return before you've actually gotten better.

I left a really abusive job a few years ago, and was fortunate enough to be
able to do nothing but smoke weed and play xbox and "recover", which I did for
about 3 months.

I think that:

1) I didn't do the things that I needed to do in terms of health (recovery is
not wildcard leisure. it's a form of work)

2) Those activities got old _fast_ and cause me to be eager to reenter the
workforce when, in retrospect, I had merely forgotten about my problems,
rather than solving them.

Overexerting your mind/psyche requires mental therapy the same way
overexerting your leg requires physical therapy. It's counterintuitive that
one should respond to too much work with a new kind of work, but I believe
that's the case.

FWIW I think Jordan Peterson has some strong advice here around routine and
the acquisition of meaning, but that's perhaps not everyone's brand.

~~~
Declanomous
>The more "nothing" you do, the faster you'll want to get back in the game,
and the more likely you are to return before you've actually gotten better.

I left a job where I was totally burned out in June. I traveled the country
from June - September. After I got back, I tried working on my personal
projects full time and quickly learned I was still burned out. Looking for a
job made the same point even clearer.

I'm currently working as seasonal help at UPS. I don't need the money, but
it's really nice to have a job where I have tangible successes and any effort
I put into it is paid back out immediately.

I'm absolutely wiped when I get home, but since I've started that job I've
found that it's much easier to work on my personal projects. I think I just
needed something else to concentrate on, and I needed some obvious successes
in my life.

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brailsafe
Here are a few quotes from answers I've given to similar questions in the
past, over a timeline of about two years suffering on and off from burnout.

From this thread:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15505304](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15505304)
> "Now things have got better. I surrounded myself with smart people, took
some time off (the majority I was unable to find gainful work), and tried to
find inspiration. I took some risks, had a lot of adventures, and am much more
satisfied and happy. Only problem now is that software development tends to
detract from all those things and it's tough to reconcile."

Also went back to school for this semester because as a Canadian I can't
hypothetically get a work visa anywhere else without a degree and I wouldn't
be doing anything more productive with my time."

From this thread:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14570003](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14570003)
> "If there's one thing I've learned so far in my experience (at 25) it's​
that momentum is important. It's difficult and depressing to maintain momentum
in interviewing if you get no feedback, can't improve, don't see success, and
waste vast amounts of time. It's very difficult to maintain momentum in
software in general if you've spent so long outside of it interviewing that
you haven't worked on anything of value in months. The junior pos will allow
to keep some level of momentum and at the very least that will keep.you paid
and moving forward."

And this question:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14390426](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14390426)

Many of the responses directly to me are very valuable, as are adjacent
comments amongst those threads. I sincerely appreciate their time and hope
someone finds this comment useful.

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saluki
Start taking walks to break up your work day.

Relaxing and read a book in the evening.

Try getting more sleep for a week or two to recharge.

Find/Restart a hobby, guitar, video games.

Try something new, hiking, camping, backpacking are good activities to get you
to unplug.

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kahlonel
If I feel like burning out, I book a train to a neighboring country, get an
AirBnB in a small town and live there for 3-4 days before heading back. I only
address "emergency" work-related issues during my stay. I work 100% remote so
that makes it possible for me.

~~~
ekr
I'm sorry if this comes off as a bit condescending, but burnout has a precise
medical term, and the term itself is widely overused in other contexts which
dilutes the meaning.

Burnout could be characterised as prolonged exposure to stress in work-related
environments. It usually takes years, months in therapy, it very often causes
career change. Many people never get out of it, especially not without
support.

Everyone has periods when they feel a bit off, or a bit under the weather.
What you describe is definitely not burnout in the medical sense of term.

~~~
brailsafe
While your characterization sounds about right, I certainly wouldn't agree
that burnout is a precise medical term. The aspects of burnout vary from
person to person, and while the result may be approximately similar, I don't
think you can say "definitely not burnout". Though I would also agree that
feeling burned out and being burned out are a bit different, but feeling
burned out is certainly a contributing factor to getting burned out. The
parent here is doing something that may distance themselves from burnout. One
general — possible — criteria of burnout is prolonged feelings of
disempowerment and control over your work that leads to the state of being.
Reminding yourself that you are in control could have a positive impact.

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leksak
Heal for two years is what did it for me. Never took a leave of absence,
instead I did a lot of job hopping which is ill-advised but somehow I'm okay
now.

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tmaly
exercise, hiking, long walks, eat healthy.

