Ask HN: How to Deal with Burnout?

[burnouthrow]

Over the last 2-3 or so years I've experienced intense burnout in my workplace accompanied with an intense feeling of guilt and hopelessness. Guilt because I feel I'm not performing up to expectations, that I'm doing very little to earn my (very decent) salary. Hopelessness because I fear this feeling will haunt me at any future job and that whatever job I may find the conditions will turn out to be worse than my current one.

I work as a technical support manager for a small company. The job is remote and I've been at it for close to 10 years now. I'm self-taught and was hired as a support representative but quickly took over a lot more responsibilities. My bosses are of the type that is very hands-off and were always very happy with my performance.

For many people this would be a dream job. Remote work with good pay with management that is easy to work with and a lot of freedom. But I just can't do this anymore. The smallest things irritate me. Completing the simplest tasks feels like a huge chore. Total inability to concentrate and get things done.

A year ago I talked to management and we decided to hire another person to take over most of my mundane responsibilities and to move to a more managerial position. In this new position I haven't been able to find the motivation to lead and complete any new projects.

I continuously think about quitting but fear that this lack of motivation will continue and I'll either become jobless or end up doing the same thing at another company with worse conditions and worse pay. I believe I'm a very capable person but I am a 39 year old true generalist with no college degree or programming projects that I can present in my CV. It will be extremely difficult to get my foot at the door.

Looking for advice from people who faced burnout and were able to beat it in whatever way possible. Either managed to reverse the situation and stayed in the same job or you moved to a different job/career which now makes you happy.

[tra3]

I know you’re looking for an easy answer, but there isn’t one. It took me roughly a year to get over my burnout.

A lot of things in your post resonate with me including feelings of guilt and hopelessness. I was questioning my job for 2 years before I found enough motivation to quit. If you’re continuously mulling the same question over and over you know what the answer is. You don’t have to slam the door on your way out, you can slowly reduce your responsibilities. Your lack of motivation could be because of your burnout. See what else is out there. It’s not worth it.

[giantg2]

"I continuously think about quitting but fear that this lack of motivation will continue and I'll either become jobless or end up doing the same thing at another company with worse conditions and worse pay."

This is my fear as well. I'm basically taking the approach that I just need to tough it out. I can't say it's the right approach.

[vectorboost]

I went to 2, or maybe 2,5 burnouts. When my 3rd burnout was on its way I realized I cannot continue like this.

I did a PhD in IT and taught a few courses. After some time i realized that the research I do is mostly useless and waste of public funds. I just could not continue, I felt like you for about a year and then decided to quite and went for a support job in corporate IT.

That felt good for about two years, I finally felt I am doing something real and useful. But later same feelings kicked in and I realized that very few people actually care about what I do. The people at the top cared only if the KPIs are fulfilled, not if the work is effective or meaningful.

After long thinking I reflected and tried to be honest with myself. I have put down pros and cons of the current job and realized there are way more cons.

I decided to move to smaller company and do a very different job. I left a senior position and started on a junior position. Which felt a bit weird but I can feel I am on a much better track, doing more hands on job with new technologies. In the previous job, the stagnation was actually the biggest problem. I realized that I actually cannot do repetitive and mundane task. I excel at examining new things and solutions.

So my suggestion to you is:

- Think about pros and cons, or write them down

- If you would not do your current job, what would you like to do?

- Is there some element missing in your current job? Like:

-- Do you miss new things?

-- Is it challenging enough?

-- Do you feel that you need to stretch a bit to complete your tasks (because this is where your grow, even muscles grow when they are pushed to the limit, at least sometimes)?

- Is there something in your job with which you have moral problem?

Sometimes you realize that only small change is needed. But I guarantee you that you need to change something, otherwise your burnout will get worse. If you realize a major change is needed, you can still take smaller steps.

For instance I still work in IT now, but I feel I would like to teach smaller kids, so I am planning to apply for evening study college to become a IT and History teacher on elementary school. Maybe I will find out that's not what I want, in that case I can just quite the college.

Last thing. Don't be afraid to take the step! Sometimes one just needs to do it to move things forward and see the changes happening!

[burnouthrow → vectorboost]

Thank, you. You gave me some food for thought.

[facorreia]

I burnt out a long time ago after a long period of death marches and stressful situations.

What helped me was to take a long vacation. Over a month long. And getting medical help.

I learned that no job is worth your health. Good, sustainable companies want their employees to be healthy.