
Burnout - sant0sk1
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/burnout/
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swombat
I think there's one fallacy there... you can easily burn out while still
engaged in your work. Or rather, you can be fully engaged in your work, happy
about it, feeling great and on top of everything, and yet still get to a point
where your body and mind just can't take anymore, and then you crash and burn
for a few days (or longer, depending on the way your mind works), where you
feel totally disengaged and don't do anything productive.

By the time you realise that you're not engaged in your work anymore, imho,
you've already crashed.

~~~
nostrademons
That's burnout? I just take that as a normal work routine - I'll work really
hard on something for a week or two, then do nothing for a couple days while I
recharge. I figure it's more productive than an arbitrary 5-days-on-2-days-off
schedule, and it lets me make better use of the downtime, since I'm more
inclined to try something completely different when I really _don't_ feel like
doing anything productive than when I'd rather be working.

My cofounder was the same way, and our downtimes never seemed to be
synchronized, which was a good thing because it meant there was always someone
going full steam ahead.

~~~
swombat
It's burn-out if you don't realise that you need to sit back and relax for a
few days to recharge, and keep ploughing on regardless. Once you learn how to
manage this burnout cycle, it becomes a feature rather than a bug, as you
describe. If you try to keep going, though, a couple of days of downtime can
easily turn into weeks of morose can't-be-arsed-to-do-anything-ness.

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pxlpshr
This is a really good article that does a great job of outlining burnout in
the design and development industry, and reiterates why I got out of the
service side of it in favor of: startups. Service-oriented design/programming
just doesn't do it for me on that level as very few companies are setup for
trickle down benefits if the service-agency produces a big win for XXXXX
client.

Artists (programmers & designers) are very much alike in that we tend to get
very obsessive-compulsive about our work. That being said, I switched over to
startups realizing that if I'm going to work this hard then I want to be on
the end that receives the big reward if we knock it out of the park (mental,
personal growth, fiscal, etc). And unless deep down you feel very passionate
about it, working at that intensity can be short-lived.

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asciilifeform
Is it "burnout" when you come to realize that your entire field has the
intellectual depth of Saturday morning cartoons?

~~~
abossy
No, it's time for a career change.

~~~
asciilifeform
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to find intellectually deep, non-
interpersonal-communication work which does not involve programming in some
way, without extensive re-credentialing. I'm working on it, though.

~~~
hhm
You can keep programming, there are many specific disciplines inside software
development / programming that are intellectually deep. Getting into them is
hard, but the reward is infinite.

~~~
asciilifeform
I have come to deeply loathe all extant programming systems. And in practice,
this means that I deeply loathe all programming.

~~~
bdr
There's something missing intellectual depth, but it isn't programming.

~~~
asciilifeform
Instead of thinly veiled insults, say what you mean to my face. Do you believe
that despising the nonsensical constraints of today's programming languages
marks one as stupid? Pray tell how.

~~~
bdr
Ok, that's fair. It was a cheap shot. Sorry. Here is what I believe:

\- There is great intellectual depth in theoretical computer science. This
field includes facets that are very close to programming, such as algorithms,
and those that are one layer removed, such as complexity theory. These deep
subjects are implied by any kind of programming.

\- If you believe that today's programming languages have nonsensical
constraints, you should explain what those are so that we can all benefit from
their removal.

~~~
asciilifeform
> There is great intellectual depth in theoretical computer science

No one will pay me to do theoretical computer science. The odds are similar to
those facing someone seeking to be a concert violinist in a national symphony
orchestra.

> nonsensical constraints, you should explain what those are so that we can
> all benefit from their removal

I find forced syntax to be a nonsensical constraint, and prefer to use
S-expressions. Most people are happy in their chains and do not wish for their
removal.

~~~
hhm
I had a similar problem as the same you are having now... I was a successful
game developer (considered by many as one of the field leaders in my country),
but I started getting bored. After a lot of trouble, I could manage to start
working in machine learning and other related areas of what used to be known
as AI. I'm really happy to be working on this now, and I have a lot to learn.
Almost every day I work in an interesting challenge, which is very different
from what I used to do.

It was not so hard to leave my previous field, which I was bored of, but to
get a chance to work on this new field. I got to do this by doing a slow
transition, first doing work that was halfway between game development and
different areas of AI, and every time pushing forward my objective. It took me
a lot of time to do it but now I'm very happy with the results.

If I can give you my advice, investigate the many areas related to programming
that exist, investigate what companies that you didn't even know that existed
do, and find something that you really wish you could do too. Then start
moving in that direction, one step at a time.

I'm not by far as successful in the new field as I was in my previous life.
But hey, I'm having a lot of fun. And with time, you get your knowledge and
experience back again.

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tjic
One step I used to help lower my stress level and fight burnout was this:

Never check statistics and analytics outside of the office.

I used to be a mouse slapping that cocaine-delivery-bar in my cage: I'd get up
from my reading chair every 15 minutes in the evening to click "refresh" in my
browser.

Good stats? On top of the world!

Bad stats? Obsess, dwell, worry, calculate.

There's time for that - do it in the office.

If I'm already putting in a 10-12 hour day, there's no need to take that crap
home.

~~~
cracki
stats of what?

~~~
eru
Perhaps stats of his business? I guess of his website.

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gahahaha
Love the "about the author" box:

"XXX as been designing on paper, wood, plastic, metal and that ‘ol web thing
for around 15 years, most recently as principal at Wishingline, working with
clients such as PayPal, Masterfile, and Toronto Life Magazine while somehow
still finding time to write, take pictures, perform and release records and
actually have a life away from the internet. "

~~~
wizard_2
Why did you censor his name? He wrote it on the article. (Of course I'll leave
it off until I know you reasons.)

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Rob15283
I'd recommend reading Thoreau's "Walden Pond." That dude really knew how to
chill out.

