
Ask HN: How to survive a year at my job while burned out - rizizep
I&#x27;ve been really burned out for more than a year and feel really crappy going to work every day. I am not burned out by software engineering, in fact I enjoy it a lot. It&#x27;s just the way the company is managed: poor processes, bad hires, plenty of good people leaving.<p>At the same time, there is a pretty big financial incentive in place if I somehow survive here for another year. It&#x27;s a pretty significant amount of money, so I find it very hard to justify leaving now, even though I really want to. But one year is a pretty long time to be unhappy.<p>Has anyone been in a similar situation lately? Any tips on how to make this extra year tolerable?
======
mneil
I was pretty unhappy cleaning oil tanks at a refinery for a year where the
average summer temperature is 100+ degrees fahrenheit. I was also pretty
unhappy working retail at a big box hardware store and pulling mandatory
monthly night-shift while working through college.

I can't tell you personally how to not be unhappy. But rather than looking at
all the negative why don't you try to find the good things about your job?
You're probably making more money than 95% of your peers from high school. You
can likely pay bills, put food on the table, etc... I've had a lot of bad jobs
over the years but none of them in tech compare to the dozen other non-tech
jobs that paid less and worked me harder.

I'm married and have 2 children. They give me a reason to get up every day and
work hard and look past all the negative little things in the day to day life.
Set some goals, look to the future, and try not to worry about what makes you
unhappy now. Push through it for a year then find something better knowing
that you're making a good financial decision today. And, if you're still
really that unhappy and money isn't important long or short term then quit.
There are a lot of other worse places just waiting for your resume to hit the
desk.

------
a3n
Don't work any more overtime than absolutely necessary. Have something
fun/meaningful to do in your off hours.

Be nice to people. Help people.

Beyond working {code|product}, make your work product look good, something
that you enjoy looking at for looking's sake. If that's code, make it pleasant
to read and easy for other professionals to understand.

If you're depressed or otherwise unsettled, get professional help appropriate
for whatever that is.

Hmm ... that all applies to any job. :)

------
Sajgon
Exactly how I feel atm. I hope to see some useful comments.

