Used to think of burn out as a weakling thing, but i have to admit the job doesnt channel the same energy as before. Its become stale, and is starting to feel like a drag. How does burnout present, and what can i do to get things back under control?
when you feel like no matter what you do, it’s not enough
when you don’t care to do better than necessary
when you think negatively about work when you’re not at work
when you stop going outside your own scope of work and start letting shit fall apart because somebody else didn’t do their job or nobody knew whose job it was, and you could have avoided the situation by pointing it out ahead of time
How do you get out of it, especially when it’s seasonal. I’m having the hardest time disconnecting, even on vacation.
I work at a scale-up. It’s a very busy season, and I’m a bit irreplaceable for a critical part of our business. I was close to hitting the wall at the end of last week after three weeks of non-stop getting hit up late at night, and also woken up at night. When putting the kid to bed on Friday I still had three things to wrap up before I could disconnect for the weekend. I slept all Saturday.
I’ve done startups for 16 years and I’ve fallen into the trap of being a hero before. This time I’m building a team that can work without me. This week my #1 is taking over being on-call after a few months of being on the job. I’ve got my notifications off, and he’s the only one I’d pick up the phone for. We’re gonna start looking for a #2 shortly and once he/she is on-boarded we’ll be smooth sailing with only being a hero every third week.
I usually manage to disconnect by just writing down what needs doing the next day. When the wall approaches, you just can’t disconnect enough to rest. You’ll wake up second-guessing if you did that one thing already or not.
I’m having a manic breakdown lmao
When you wake up and the first sense you have is dread about having to go do whatever you do. It’s when you can’t imagine doing it anymore or it hurts to consider it.
You stop caring to argue your point.
Someone does a big presentation.
Back of your head: “Well that’s obviously a terrible idea for X, Y, and Z reasons.”
You keep quiet and let it blow up instead of trying to fix the process as it’s being implemented.
This is my default without burnout.
This. My technical skills have not been replicated across the enterprise, so the weight of expectation is substantial. Not for lack of trying to transfer knowledge on my part, mind you. But there is a gulf between myself and the people around me.
OP: what you describe, sounds more like a bore-out than a burn-out to me. The result is the same though. Been there.
Just going to add that burnout is not a weakling thing. Sometimes you’re forced to work with idiots that makes baboons hyperintelligent by comparison. That can drain anyone.
Sorry, not implying it was at all. But i was one of those young able punks at one time, so when people mentioned it in the past, id just pfft it off.
I skimmed this and read baboons as balloons by mistake but honestly I like both.
One red flag for me us too much multitasking. If I have too many things I am working on and none of them are getting completed eventually switching between tasks becomes so disruptive I cease to make any progress on anything. I fight this with focus and prioritization: find the things that are most important and focus on them until closure.
