I read a blog post about burnout and I've been thinking about that post a lot recently. I'm finding it difficult to remain motivated and even with taking some time off, I'm not feeling refreshed when I get back. I have a hard time not feeling like all I'm doing is hitting my head against the same very hard wall over and over.
In parallel with my normal work, I'm also going through a leadership training program at work where we are taking classes to help us learn about ourselves, how others perceive us, and how we can strive to improve our leadership abilities. For anyone who knows me, I am one of the biggest introverts you've ever met. I don't like to be around a bunch of people, especially people I don't know very well. Going through these classes, especially because they are in-person, is a source of anxiety for me.
I have a problem. I think I'm burned out and have high anxiety, which isn't helping the burnout.
Reflection
How did I get here? I'm honestly not sure. As that original blog post points out, burnout is a little like slowly boiling to death. It is difficult to point out one thing that got me here. It is likely lots of little things that add up. I've been saving up my vacation, so I haven't taken a lot of time off from work. Some of the things I've been working on, I've been working on for 3+ years and we've made only minimal progress. I've enjoyed working from home, but I'm now coming into the office more than I used to - and I did mention I'm an introvert, right?
What Am I Doing About It?
Well, I started off with a list of things that give me energy, and these are the things that I'm going to focus on for a bit. Here is my list, depending on your personality, yours will likely look different.
Learn a new language - while I've been dabbling in learning some Spanish, I'm talking about a different kind of language. I'm trying to learn Go. With more talk about microservices, I've always heard that Go is a good language to quickly build them.
Spend time outside - as part of the leadership training classes, I took a Birkman assessment and I have interests solidly in the outdoor group of activities. I've started going to the park more with the dog, getting out on the motorcycle more, and doing more yard work.
Find more focus time - Microsoft Teams has been great for keeping up to date on what is going on. I have notifications set to Always for a large number of channels. I've never felt more connected to the work going on. Unfortunately, this also means constant interruptions. I wish Microsoft Teams had features like we have in Slack. I want to have pre-scheduled 'Do Not Disturb' windows where I see no notifications except those which I am specifically mentioned in. For now, I am manually turning on/off 'Do Not Disturb' during certain hours of the day to focus on work.
Taking more breaks - yes, I'm saving up my vacation, but that doesn't mean I can't take breaks. Periodically throughout the day, I am stepping away from the computer and going outside with the dog and playing in the yard. Or maybe the dog and I will hop in the truck and go for a drive. My goal with these breaks is to not look at a screen. No TV, no phone, just disconnect.
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Burnout is a form of a mental health issue and mental health issues in tech are rampant. If you didn't know, May is Mental Health Awareness month. And for me, the more we talk about it, the more it feels "normal." There shouldn't be any stigma associated with mental issues and as a tech community we need to support each other. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a group that offers free mental health resources including education, support and advocacy.
I hope that if you are having issues then reading this helps you realize you aren't alone and may give you some ideas on things you can do to help in your life. If you need help and blog posts like this aren't enough, I recommend checking out NAMI at https://www.nami.org/. There is a lot of educational material on their site and you can find local affiliates that can have additional resources like weekly support group meetings.
Top comments (2)
Felt this post, buddy. Burnout's insidious because it's often hard for the person who has it to spot it until it's too late to prevent.
Props for recognizing it and taking action. High-functioning burnout keeps the train on the rails but it's not a fix.
I've seen a lot of talk about it across lots of folks in the industry. With everything our society's been through in the past couple of years, burnout is likely the next pandemic we'll face.
Taking a break from whatever is burning you out tends to be the most useful option in my experience.