Discuss: Burnout
by Scott Boms
- Editorial Comments
2 Great article
Scott,
We’ve been going through similar issues, but on a business level. We’re such a small shop that each individuals emotional drive is closely connected to the each others. Do you know if research has been done on burn outs affecting the entire small businesses?
We’re not specifically experiencing depression or doubt, the biggest issue we find is constantly battling to re-align ourselves with our goals, no one ever told us that that would be one of the hardest parts of starting up!
I’d love to buy you a beer sometime! – you’re in Toronto? – thanks for the article!
posted at 09:29 am on May 26, 2009 by Cameron Westland
3 Group Burnout
Cameron,
I can’t say I’ve come across anything related to group burnout (for lack of a better term) since predominantly the specific causes and effects are personal on an individual level. Burnout really comes down to a misalignment of personal needs/expectations and essentially what each person receives as a result of their ongoing effort. If input does not equal the desired output, cracks will slowly start to appear.
I can say from my own experience that that sort of constant re-alignment of goals can be a slippery slope. As challenging as it can be at times, I’ve found one of the best things you can do is define what you need or want to achieve, set standards and really work at sticking to them – be uncompromising. That probably means saying “no” a lot more than you might be doing now. It might feel painful in the short term, but there’s a greater opportunity for it to be great in the long term.
And yes, I’m in Toronto and will certainly take you up on that beer :)
posted at 10:32 am on May 26, 2009 by Scott Boms
4 Great read
Very good read and always timely. This topic is greatly pushed aside by younger developers (like myself) who are used to managing burnout from college days and just pushing through it.
Hopefully this article can serve as a heads up for the younger generation so they can guard against this very common issue.
posted at 10:43 am on May 26, 2009 by Tim Wright
5 Burnout Is Scary
I hit my own burnout back in 2006. Interestingly enough, it was right after I read the “Science of Burnout” article mentioned here.
Taking a trip to the ER was a real eye-opener, but it was the second trip less than six months later that really put things into perspective.
Not too long before the first ER trip, my management and duties changed significantly. I pretty much ran through the bullets in the “How It Happens” section.
The change I made was to find a different job. It helped, but I have to make sure I’m doing things for me to keep my equilibrium.
Excellent article, and a subject that is far too often ignored or belittled.
posted at 11:00 am on May 26, 2009 by iamthechad
6 Nice Article
Well written and very helpful. Thank you for your tips and advice, Scott.
posted at 11:16 am on May 26, 2009 by SixTwentyBlog
7 Excellent and important article!
It’s not a badge of honor to work 80 hours a week or to answer e-mail or to Twitter at all hours of the night.
This is so very true, and such a very important idea to keep in mind. Modern technology makes it so easy to be consistently connected and people today feel a need to constantly be busy.
It’s important to remember that your work is just work. What you do should not be what defines you. If we keep that in mind, it can help to remind us to take time for ourselves. Quiet time with family and friends, or even just by ourselves, can be very rewarding and relaxing.
When trying to find a balance between my work and my personal life, I always try to remember that no one lying on their death bed ever said, “I wish I spent more time working.”
posted at 11:30 am on May 26, 2009 by Tim Kadlec
8 Working
When trying to find a balance between my work and my personal life, I always try to remember that no one lying on their death bed ever said, “I wish I spent more time working.”
Bingo! We’re much more likely to regret the fact that we’ve ignored our real lives than our online/working ones no matter how passionate we might be about what we do.
It definitely is possible to have the best of both worlds but it’s incredibly easy to get caught up in the modern online world and not notice other things (that might be equally important) passing us by.
posted at 11:42 am on May 26, 2009 by Scott Boms
9 DARK SIDE OF THE WEB
This is great advice for anyone who works online. I’m a “community manager” and sometimes it can be hard to “turn off” the firehose of information. Working on the web sometimes feels like sitting in front of about 100 TVs.
Maybe this is why I’ve been having so many fantasies lately about living in the forest and building furniture for a living.
:)
posted at 12:05 pm on May 26, 2009 by jmcnally
10 Emails are responsible
In my opinion, the emails we exchange every day with clients and colleagues are incredibly stressing.
Emails are too fast. The sender usually expects you to answer in the 10 minutes after you receive the message. The emails you receive all day long are like small notes in your head telling you have something to do… That is incredibly stressing for me.
To avoid that, I shut down my mail client when I have to focus on a task. Then, handling emails becomes a task that happens only once or twice in my day.
posted at 12:15 pm on May 26, 2009 by Franckg
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1 Worth the wait
I’d say this article was worth the better part of a year that it took to get done. Thank you so much for not only the help in identifying burnout, but more importantly, what to do to correct and prevent it. All to often you read articles that scratch the surface with things like “eat lunch out, or listen to music”. It’s encouraging that there’s honest input here with some excellent advice and insight.
posted at 09:28 am on May 26, 2009 by mariafrey