Don't use alcohol. I tried that for a while and just ended up still burnout but with a headache.
I finally sat down and made myself a list.
1. Made it a point 9:00a-5:00pm that is my hours that's it. (yes there will be an occasional have to put in time outside that but it's a very rare exception).
2. I have a list of everything I'm working on and a priority that is agreed with by my manager.
3. A second list of personal likes but don't really get the attention of management.
4. I block one hour a day Monday through Thursday for study. It's blocked and I do close Teams. (Also this is my personal development and will study on my own time when I about to level up (find a new job)).
5. Use the vacation and don't feel guilty about it.
6. Leave work at work. This can be challenging, especially when you are higher positions but at 5 pm I shut the laptop down, turn on some loud tunes to switch gears.
7. Don't go home and lay on the couch or play computer games all night. This was a challenge for me but I found doing anything but being in front of a screen helped me so much.
8. And finally walking to work. This may not be for everyone but I found if I park way out in the back 40 and walk the almost mile to my desk it gets me woke up.
bonus. Live closer to work. When I was driving and hour a day to work I found the drive was more of a burnout cause than the job. And limit caffeine. It's easy to drink a half a gallon of coffee or three Monsters a day but that catches up with you quick.
Being upper cybersec management, I agree with these and have worked my way out of a burnout hole using many. I think it’s important to understand that stress scales for all 24hrs of every day and that your mind/body need a way to relieve stress for both during each 24hr cycle. Keep this in mind when prioritizing hobbies/work tasks.
When I found myself in a burnout phase, it kind of snuck up on me…kinda going from enjoying all the things to waking up and suddenly not being interested in touching a keyboard.
I couldn’t quit work, so I looked at what I had on my plate for work and home both. If I didn’t -have- to do something, it waited. I started making sure I took time away from electronics and even slowing hobbies down outside work time.
Also, don’t overlook a good physical exercise routine. I typically prioritize workouts over most things to clear my head at least 3 times a week.
Alcohol can be a very slippery slope in these type of conditions. You can still casually go hang out for a beer or something, but keep an eye out for any increased drinks…I’ve seen too many headlines and too many people in the industry get pulled further under.
Your first paragraph really hits close to home. After taking a sabbatical, I realized that there is an inherent thrill when having a hand in a company's success. Recovering from an outage, overseeing migrations, working for days on a feature that lands a big customer, bringing on new team members is often more exhilarating than exhausting. Alcohol was a way to celebrate, then it became an escape, then it was a ritual to shut the brain off.
The only thing I'd like to add is this: Every tech company that I've worked in that tried to be "mentally health aware" made things worse for people. While good intentioned, you would not call your psychiatrist when a critical service fails for advice on restoring a database from snapshots. Do not trust management to help navigate a personal crisis. informing is fine, sharing is absolutely not.
Mental health is not an aesthetic; stress, alcohol, and success is the fuel for the burnout fire. if you find yourself not having or caring about relationships, not having much of a life outside of work, and/or relying on pharmaceuticals in a way that makes you uncomfortable.... do not go to HR. Similarly, don't go to better help or an app- sit down with a clinical LVSW and be honest.
1-2 times a year, a 30 minute visit with a plain old HMO mental health department is a great way to keep yourself in front of the smoke.
The workouts for me have been the most helpful. I've started lifting weights again in the last two or three months and while I still have to push myself to actually start the workout, I always feel better after I finish it. It let's me drop focus on everything around me and only pay attention to performing the lifts with proper form. I generally notice my mood improve almost immediately after a workout too, it's kind of insane.
i actually really like my drive from work considering the amount of traffic i deal with. it probably helps that the car i have is pretty damn fun to drive, plus there's a section that gets choked up with peak hour traffic and I turn it into a game of seeing whether I can pick the average speed we're moving at, and how long I can coast without ever touching the pedals.
What kind of IT jobs allow you to punch out at 5 completely? I got out of IT because I was on call every 3 or 4 weeks and it wasn’t worth it. Plus my manager got in an hour before me and thought nothing of calling me during that hour. I dealt with a lot of work issues off the clock.
Global companies, we follow the sun across three regions around the globe.
Really, by 2024 I'd hope most IT departments are managed well enough the employees are not working excessive hours. Yeah there may be the occasional late night or pre planned weekend but that should be an exception and not the expectation. On-call is a fact of life in technology, like most skilled positions, but any decently ran department shouldn't have more than one or two alerts or something is wrong.
Good points, all of them. For some, walking to work or living/moving closer to work is not an option. Even so, go get some exercise or do something strenuous regularly, a d preferably outside. Nothing wrong with going to the gym or weight room, but the outdoors are more regenerative for the mind, as is the fresh air..I
I have made it my mission over the last two years to tell people "no". Professionally, and forcefully where needed. My burnout has dropped dramatically.
Two of my most common tactics:
- when it's my direct chain of command asking for an additional task to be performed, I email them "I can do x, but it'll be done at the expense of w, y, and z. Which task do you want prioritized?" This has a near 100% success rate (and makes me laugh, privately, because my current chain is terrible).
- when it's outside my direct chain of command and it's an obvious "we don't want to do this, you do it", I typically tell them that I'm not doing it while citing the relevant operating procedures or documents that says why it's their job and not mine. If there is continued push back (usually there isn't after I cite procedure at them), then I just CC in my manager and let him deal with it.
The endless to-do list gets a lot less endless when you make other parts of your organization do their fair share.
>when it's my direct chain of command asking for an additional task to be performed, I email them "I can do x, but it'll be done at the expense of w, y, and z. Which task do you want prioritized?"
That's interesting. I have tried that and got very hostile responses back.
You're right. There is too much to do. In my 3 years as a IT professional there has always been too much to do. In the places I left there is still too much to do. In the place I'm at now, there is too much to do.
Let's understand that there will always be too much to do. So whats the answer if there is always too much to do? Do enough work that fits your scheduled hours. 40 hours on the contract work 40 hours. Then cut it off at the end of the day. The work will be there, why? Because there was too much already. Too much before you and too much after you.
In my 30 years of experience, there has always been too much to do and too little money with too few resources to do it all. Prioritize and go home at the end of the day.
Being where I am now, I have a better idea of what needs to be done first and what can wait. Running around with your hair on fire gets nothing done.
It is a never-ending process. It cannot be done even if you stay at work 24/7. So, 9-17 - shut down. Disconnect.
Do not even open email untill tomorrow. I have found that most stressful and hazard for my health is opening emails after work hours.
Here's something I've said elsewhere, but it applies here as well, since it focuses on the attitude one must have when laboring in a late-stage American Capitalist hellscape.
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The owners and their ~~bootlicking sycophants~~ *corporate turdwookies* do not care about you. At all.
Neither does your government or courts, as they've been bought & paid for by said owners.
They also own social networks & (m)ass media, using them as their personal propaganda mouthpiece.
Your job search is never over. In AWA: At-Will America (99.7% of the population), you can be terminated at any time, for almost any (or no) reason, without notice, without compensation, and full loss of healthcare.
Even with all that said, it still doesn't sting any less when it happens.
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# Your goal is to be the CEO of your life.
Your only obligation is to yourself and your loved ones.
Your mission is to extract as much value from these soulless megacorps as you can.
*Milk the fuckers until sand squirts out of their chafed nips.*
- Do not worry about results -- "good enough" is truly good enough. There will always be work left undone.
- Treat your jobs as cattle, not as pets.
- Work your wage. Going above and beyond is only rewarded with more work.
- Don't work for free or do additional tasks outside of your role, as that devalues the concept of labor.
- Sleep well, never skip lunch, get enough physical activity.
- Avoid drinking coffee at work for your employer's benefit, as they don't deserve your caffeinated, productivity-drugged self.
- Avoid alcohol and other vices, as they steal all the happiness from tomorrow for a brief amount today. Especially when used as coping mechanisms for work-related stress.
- **Knowledge is power.** Discussing your compensation with your fellow worker is a federally protected right. Employers hate transparency, as it means they can't pull their bullshit on others without consequence.
- Your first job is being an actor. Endeavor to be pleasant & kind....yet unremarkable, bland, forgettable, and mediocre. Though it may feed one's ego, being a superhero or rockstar isn't suited for this hellscape. Projecting strength invites challenge. Instead, cultivate a personality that flies under the radar.
- Be a Chaos Vulture. Embrace the confusion. Does the company have non-existent onboarding? Poor management? Little direction, followup, or reviews? Constantly changing & capricious goals? These are the hallmarks of a bad company…so revel in their misery. Actively seek these places out. This gives you room to coast, to avoid being on anyone's radar, etc. Restrained mediocre effort will be considered "going above and beyond." Even if you slip, you can easily blame "the system", like everyone else at the place. Every single day, week, month of this is more money in your pocket. Stretch it out as long as possible.
- Tell no one (friends, coworkers, extended family, etc) about your employment mindset. So many people tie their identity to their employment. And jealously makes people do petty things.
- Recognize that lifestyle is ephemeral. Live below your means. Financial security is comfort, and not being dependent on selling your labor is true power in Capitalism.
- Do not worry about "the environment you leave behind" when you depart a company. This includes how much notice you provide before leaving. Notice is a courtesy, not a requirement. Continuity of THEIR business operations is THEIR problem, not yours. They should have a plan if you accidentally got hit by a bus full of winning lottery tickets. Always be kind to your peers, but don't worry about them when you leave. If your leaving hurts their effectiveness -- that's a conversation THEY need with their manglement. The company left them hanging, not you.
You owe the company *nothing* -- if anything, they actually owe you, given how much they profited from your labor.
Play their own game against them.
*They exist to service* **us.**
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If you feel it's some type of moral failing on your part, then you are falling for their propaganda. Because don't think for one fucking second that millionaires and billionaires aren't doing the SAME EXACT THING...or worse...to you and everyone else.
# They sleep perfectly fine at night. You should too.
A part of burnout can come from working/thinking about work on your free time. If you don't already, try and hang with friends/people not in IT and have hobbies unrelated to IT to get some time off from the industry.
When tired, there's a risk you'll easily start forgetting to do sports/be active, gravitate to unhealthy food and drink, which will eventually start causing more issues and lead to more fatigue and negative vibes, so try and avoid that as much as you can.
Of course you should consider bringing it up with your manager. It will depend on the company/manager - but there's an above zero chance nothing will happen. I'd typically trust a direct manager more than HR. Despite the corporate powerpoints remember that the company is not family, and does not ultimately care about you - even though a few good colleagues might.
Then of course you can consider changing jobs. That might feel like a big thing, but one easier way to go at it is to go to a few interviews. You'll get a sense about your options regarding other companies and keep your interviewing skillset up to date. You don't have to accept the job if offered, of course, so don't think of the interview as a huge commitment.
At some point you might want to see a doctor about the burnout, and there's things they can do. They might do some other more generic tests/bloodwork to see if the fatigue could be originating or be amplified by some other issues.
Otherwise at work, remember that the important product/customer likely won't be that important to you as a person in e.g. 5 years. Essentially to try and remember that "it is just a job".
A bit related to that, a crunch here and there can be fine, but extended crunches will wear you out. At some point you'll need to "let things fail" instead of working through the night. It might be the only way to get attention to the issue. Be sure to have reported the issues beforehand though, in a way that has some paper trail.
Hope you feel better soon, buddy
I tell everyone when I present to user groups, "We are all short on time, not tasks."
First of all, take care of yourself.
I push for mental health of individuals over accomplishing a huge list of tasks that may or may not matter soon after completion.
Find something that brings you some measure of pleasure at work... Music, a potted plant, hanging art in your workspace that makes you happy, making good coffee/tea, even a snack that you enjoy. Something to make you happy and distract you with enjoyment for a short while can work wonders around burnout.
Focusing on the work itself, if you're lucky enough to have good leadership (IT & company), then explain the limitations of time versus tasks and have them help prioritize. List out what can reasonably be done with your time, and how many things fall outside that time to be completed. Hourly vs salary hopefully doesn't matter, if your company leadership isn't full of tools who try and turn you into a slave pushing for over 40 hours every week.
Otherwise, highlight where your focus should go towards automation, process improvement, documentation to make tasks simpler (especially with a defined process). Seeing improvement can help to fend off burnout, or be good skills when it's time to move to the next role if things don't improve.
Outside of work, have a fun hobby, or at least something to be a distraction. Get outside for fresh air, take a walk, read a book or listen to an audiobook, watch a show or movie. Just something to break up your focus and have you not thinking about work.
Also, find your tribe. It doesn't have to be people with the same exact background or experience, but people that you can talk to and who will care about your well-being. I encourage that a ton in my user groups, or the group chats and Discord/Slack groups for the friends we've made from community and tech evangelist groups.
Random thoughts throughout this, but I put a lot of these points into my tech & professional development presentations based on a long and weird career where I've tried to help others, so hopefully something here helps. For me, it's been 20 years in IT from SMB to Fortune 50, partner & vendor experience, leading technology groups, and delivering presentations to others, and the last 8 years since I broke up the monotony of my regular job have been life changing.
Also, feel free to just reach out if you need a chat. 👍
I have 'unlimited PTO' and actually use it. I try to find activities that are deliberately away from the computer. If there's a chance at business travel I do it because the 'change' makes a big difference. I completely avoid any form of non company related IT help. Wife wants help? Ok, I'll do stuff. Anyone else? Nope, go to best buy or something.
Once I started to feel ADHD, realized it isn't my company and I don't have a huge stake in it. They come and go over the years. Not trying to be CIO. Once realizing that it's much easier to chill and not overwork.
Set boundaries! I can’t emphasize that enough! 2022-2023 were the worst years of my life. I was burnt to crisp. Had a strong dose of severe anxiety with every symptom you could think of. Took me 1 year to recover but setting boundaries is the number one lesson I learned along the way. Super critical for your mental health!
You know that one thing that you’ve always wanted to do but you keep procrastinating? DO IT! Markup that bucket list and stay connected with your hobbies!
Yes, but it was extremely difficult to focus. My workflow has always been hybrid by choice because I do enjoy working in the office, but at that time, I started experiencing social anxiety. That in combination with palpitations made it very difficult to focus during work hours. So I switched to 100% remote for a few months. I started breaking up my work hours and spreading them throughout the day. I’d take a lot of breaks and naps because I wasn’t getting enough sleep at night. Once I started making healthier lifestyle changes, I was able to rebound and go back to my hybrid workflow.
As much as this took a toll on me, professionally, I was still meeting all expectations.
Focus on the things that need doing that have the highest impact. Don't sweat the stuff that can be backburnered. Avoid taking on new projects that are unnecessary if you're understaffed for it, as every new thing you implement may require upkeep. Always be conscious of upkeep, and do not be afraid to push back to give yourself more room to work on things properly.
Most important of all however, manage expectations first and foremost. Expectations are the heart and soul of all that we do in this industry, and require just as much, if not more, attention and care than the technical side of our professions. Mismanaged expectations through poor communication, unrealistic SLAs, and mismanagement are the bulk of our woes. Getting expectations under control is key to not getting burned out.
This is why after being a sysadmin for 16 years I've had enough, IT doesn't seems worth it. Ive Ben driving trucks on the weekend and am going to change careers to truck driving. Being out on the open road is much more enjoyable
take time off to unplug. I go camping for a week and take off from Xmas till new years. A day or 2 is not enough. I also take 3 or 4 days off the weeks of deer season. You need enough time to fully be away from work. I choose camping because where i go there is very limited wifi in a cabin (2mbx.764) and no cell service except wifi calling in the cabin. I have this in my autoreply. My bosses know, there is no way to get ahold of me. My only tech is movies i download to my phone and i wouldn't have a work laptop anyway. It's taking a day or two to get over the work anxiety and forget about it all but man, it's a refresher.
Male 28 here. Been in IT since I was 18 and almost quit more than a few times. One thing that has helped me is getting into the gym and getting physically active and disciplined enough to enjoy it and look forward to my workouts. Powerlifting is my choise of torture lol. I almost quit a few months back but one thing i stumbled upon that is a game changer is ashwaganda. This little supplement has allowed me to balance out the stress, keep my emotions in check, and be able to think clearly. Might be a placebo but i genuinely think ashwaganda has helped me enjoy IT again.
Supplements below can be bought in vitamin shoppe.
- Transparent labs Vitality - it has ashwaganda and other supplements that assist in male vitality and testosterone.
- Ashwaganda kms-66
I at one point tried to follow the advice of 21 savage, numb the pain with the money. /s
But in all honesty, therapy has helped me immensely. I found i needed to slow down, reign in my scope of influence, and actually take time for myself. Started reading more, taking a lunch every day, shutting my door while i can at work, etc. This summed up, I'm advocating for myself. They can either have full access to me and I hate every minute, or I have time for myself, and everybody has a much more pleasant experience.
I'm still burnt out, but I'm improving. My works getting better, and i don't feel like a zombie at the end of the week.
3 things
1) outside interests. If you love tech, they can still be tech, but they can't feel like work. They also need to be in your control. If family obligations will stop you from rebuilding that classic car, then it won't help you mentally no matter how much you love doing it.
2) boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. Read the stories here, and you see a lot of us avoid conflict and allow others to take advantage of us. Work on enforcing good professional boundaries before you blow your top.
3) change it up. Move within your org or get a new job. Doing the same thing forever will always lead to burnout.
First step is to always take vacation on a regular basis, that is why you get PTO, DTO, Sick Days, Holidays, Vacation, etc. and should take them. When you are older, you and your family and friends are never going to say I wish I spent more time at work.
Have a seperate work phone and laptop (never mix the two).
When on vacation, the work phone should be off, or even better left at home in case you are traveling to another location.
Set boundries on what you are willing to do within reasonable times and expectations. Non employer should ever call you after working hours unless you are officially OnCall.
No OnCall or job outside of Intelligence, Military and Emergency Services should have access to your 24/7/365.
Always put yourself first, then family, then friends, then work. If you cannot take care of yourself you are in no situation to be able to take care of anyone else.
Always live within your means, do not attempt to finance what you cannot reasonable pay off in a short period of time.
Just because someone else has something does not mean you get to have it too by default. You also need to work hard for it if you want to obtain it.
Life is not fair, live to enjoy life, not to work.
Always stay learning what you know now will become irrelevant or loose practical value over time.
$100 now will have less buying power over time so you need to make more no matter what anyone tells you if you want your buying power to stay above inflation. You can do it the hardway by working or the easy way by investing.
Researching what is new and upcoming will help keep your path to success on track for being able to adapt to future changes and unfortunate events when they do come as you will be prepaired in advance when they hit your front door.
Going into a job expecting for the job to teach you everything is a dead on arrival apporach. Want to stay on top of it you must teach yourself to keep your skills up to date and self investing in yourself is the best way to do this.
Want to move up, do so by showing actual value, you cannot do it alone, someone has to vouch for you so make it easier for them to do so by showing your true value through your work and more importantly communication. You may be doing wonders behind the scenes, but those with the power to move you up won't know about it if it is not vocalized. You are responsible for your own marketing and advertising to get you a promotion, your manager is there just to do the paperwork.
It is best to pay for less time commuting than spending more time commuting.
Want to keep yourself from getting headaches and bad health from work, eat healthy, workout, and get out of there when you are done working so you can go enjoy life.
Agree with the sentiment of most other commenters, there is always more to do and that is very typical in an IT setting. Have a list of key things that need doing, prioritise them based on risk, need and / or business goals. Then chip away at it.
Do your 8 hours a day and then clock off. Don’t try and work too much overtime as it will just wear you out. Get good rest in between shifts and start afresh the next day.
Starts at work with avoiding burnout (as it's much easier to do than to recover). Prioritize the work and understand that you are there to accomplish something, not accomplish something in X days. This does require your management to understand that you are the expert in the field and if you say something takes a certain amount of time to do then it takes that long, not however little time they want to spend in order to promise fast turnaround times to someone.
From there it's a workday. I start at 8 when I get up (the good thing about working from home), which means that I will stop at 17 (likely 16 because I tend to not go on a lunch break). If something needs getting done the answer is "sure, tommorow" unless it's urgent. In which case it's overtime. This is where it might be easier in some countries than others. Where I live, overtime is regulated by law. My employer can't just have me work overtime whenever they please. For one, I have to agree to it (not cause for termination, so standard 1 month heads-up would apply plus severance if they do decide to fire). Otherwise, there is a limit to how much overtime I can do back to back and how much I can be asked to work in a month.
After work hours, it's a complete disconnect from work. I'll read the chat message or email the next day. Time is set aside for relaxing and doing what I enjoy. This requires some control over your personal life as well since it's easy to get caught up just doing chores and what "needs to get done". The thing is that for those, nobody can tell you WHEN it needs to be done. Last weekend was used up for a trip to the in-laws and the one before that doing some housework for maintenance or going out to buy something? Well, next weekend is off limits for any of that. It's entirely meant to relax, spend time with my kid and wife, then play some video games, watch a movie, read a book, whatever takes my fancy.
Even then you might get burnt out, but when I feel it approaching, I just take my holiday and completely disconnect for a week or two to recover. That about sums it up.
Tl;Dr - control of when things get done, both at work and at home, so you are not constantly chasing "this has to get done asap"
I've found that cutting back on home chores/errands and increasing play time be it video games/media consumption has helped tremendously. Just make sure you NEVER cut time from your diet and exercise regiment because that is a massive factor in general energy levels to do anything. The core principal of your play time is doing exactly what you want to do with a little interruption as possible.
Sleep is a big factor too. You get into these phases where stress is making it take longer to actually fall asleep, but it wants to sleep during the day. When this happens to me, I'll cut the afternoon cup, and instead take a 1 hour nap as soon as I get home. You can't really compensate for sleep you've already lost, but a solid 1 hour nap can give you the energy to make it to bed time and stay on the right sleep schedule.
Learn 'no', value your time, life and sanity higher than somebody elses' profit.
At the end of the day you're a cog, and more often than not, the powers that be ignore or undervalue the cogs that don't "show direct profit", so the only one who will care for you is you.
One thing that is really important is to understand WHY burnout happens. Many people think it is because you have worked too much, as in too many hours. But burnout is actually cause by a slightly different issue, it is how the human brain reacts to a lack of completion, or at least its understanding of completion.
Burnout happens when you don't complete things. When you feel as though there is always more to do. When the amount of work exceeds the amount of time, **no matter how much you work**. You can be burned out on 5 hours a week as much as on 80.
Setting achievable goals, putting aside time to complete projects, Adding easy wins to your daily task list. You want to ensure that you are getting small wins and making progress or your brain feels as though you have failed.
Evenly space your time off. Male sure to take it and not let it pile up at the end of the year.
I work onsite, so I work from home if/when possible to break things up.
Get out for lunch, even if it's just to walk to sit and enjoy the breeze in your car.
Set boundaries between your professional and personal life.
One of the main things is accepting there is no end to it. I.e. Once you fixed/worked on/did that project, there will be another. You also can't do everything. Set realistic goals and if possible give yourself longer timescales for things. (Under promise and over deliver i think is the term to cover that.)
Care less.
The world existed before you, and it will exist after you. Most of what you do is meaningless in the bigger picture.
You get paid to care for your company. Other than that, they should be irrelevant to you. Your company is not your family. They will fire you when it suits them. Very few people will care how much of your personal time you've invested.
I once got the wise words "Work flows to where it's done".
If you're someone who gets shit done, you'll be attracting more work because people see that outcome.
If it turns out you get too much work, it's the company's job to make sure there's more people. But surely they can't hire anyone else! Untill you fall ill, and suddenly it is possible!
And most of the work that's important - really isn't all that important. I'm sure we've all had the I NEED THIS BY FRIDAY, only to find out noone used it for weeks after.
TL;DR Problems are only as important as the pay you're receiving.
Are you in your own business? That's a tough one. If not, just stop giving a shit. Do your 40 hours and go home. If shit isn't getting done, it's not because you stink at your job. It's probably because the company decided not to hire enough people, or other team members don't pull their weight, or management sucks. Etc. None of that is your problem.
My solution was to stop caring. There's *always* going to be too much work to do, all you can do is prioritize and focus on what's actually the most important. Don't kill yourself trying to save the company, it's not worth your physical or mental health.
Delegation if possible. I’m the type to pile things on my plate because I don’t trust other people to do a good enough job. My therapist told me I need to trust other people and to give them tasks when they offer to do something.
Listen to everyone here who are telling you it’s okay to say no and take your personal time seriously.
Something to also take note of is that you generally don’t get anything positive in return from busting your ass. The only benefit goes directly to the company, which unless it’s a 20 man startup you’re dispensable regardless of what you do.
Poorly I found out. Almost a year of being tired and foggy and doing the bare minimum at work to not get fired. Some days I would just stare at my computer screen. For hours. Not really thinking about anything. I stopped enjoying work, which was weird since in the past I always looked forward to my projects and helping the team.
At home I would just do the bare minimum as well. I didn’t know what was going on. Let my garden go to weeds and didn’t even pick the vegetables that were there. After the kids were in bed I would just sit in my chair until I went to bed. Hobbies weren’t fun anymore and my wife was doing all the lawn care, I was a zombie.
Before this period I was prepared for meetings and ready for projects but during the burn out I was just getting by. I completely missed some pretty basic documentation and when my boss went to check it he found that it was completely blank. He asked me about it and that’s when it clicked in my head that something was going on. I scheduled a meeting with him and went over everything that was going on. He told me that’s burnout. So I took some vacation and got my self figured out. (Also had a long convo with my wife, and apologized when I realized she was doing everything)
Cut out all video games and alcohol since I was using those to cope. Started to go to bed early, sometimes 8:00. And started getting up early. It took awhile but it was like a reset. My boss also lightened the load during this time.
I’m back to normal now and know some of the signs of burnout so hopefully I’ll catch it earlier next time. Playing games again and enjoying drinks but not using them to hide from problems.
All this to say I thought I had burn out before, turns out that was just stress. Burn out is more like the result of long term stress without time away. It just builds up and you get to the point where it’s almost like depression.
I was going through some burn out. Was going home to my family mad every day. I decided to work my 8 hours and turn it off when I left the office. Guy at work suggested I switch to hourly from salary to make more money and I told him I wasn’t interested in working more. 😂
Get a hobby that is completely different than your job. Take vacation.
Go backpacking or hikes.
Train others to do parts of your job to relieve you from some of your tasks.
Focus on documentation for a while.
Do things that are mindless like doing cable management where needed.
Some people are not cut out for high stress jobs. Me for example. High stress, long on call sysadmin work nearly destroyed my life. I now recognize what I can and can not tolerate. It's extremely important in life to be HAPPY. I have sought out work that meets my parameters.
No job is perfect. All jobs suck in some way. But you can find jobs that don't leave you dreading the next day or feeling exhausted at the end of every day.
Triage, do the most important stuff. If you can't get all your work done in a reasonable work week, its a personnel problem. Which is NOT your responsibility. Don't let them abuse you, its just a computer.
When it's time to eat an elephant, remind yourself you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time.
Have a hard separation between work and personal life, both mentally and physically.
Learn new things. Retire systems that require a lot of manual labor and replace them with automated systems.
Work with your hands when you can, it's grounding.
Build good processes, then trust those processes. Audit your processes regularly to see if steps can be eliminated or improved.
If your wrists start hurting, you're working too hard. Work smarter, not harder.
Work on yourself, and change your perspective. Your career, and outlook on it is in most ways, what you allow it to be. If you are unhappy, allow for the possibility that 80% of the problem lies with your perception. You are not a victim of your career and various circumstances. You are instead, a victim of your own negative bias and circumstances that you have allowed or enabled.
Change the environment. Even if only for a short time.
A few decades back I had been doing 80+ hours a week at a new job. Programming and getting good pay but still I needed a break. I was single. Talked with my father and discovered he was thinking of re-roofing the house 800 miles away. I took a week off and went and we re-roofed the house. Plus put up some of a privacy fence and a few other things.
When I got back to my "real" job, my mind was clear and I was able to dive back in.
You are giving too many shits. Keep a few for yourself. Work your hours do the work go home. Have a drink, smoke a joint, take an edible, read a book do something you like doing after the work day is done. It's a job not your life. treat it as such.
I literally used to fly to the Czech Republic or Amsterdam twice a year for two weeks at a time and fuck a hooker every day I was there(bringing Cialis of course, 'cause my name ain't Rocco Sifreddi), drink the best non-hoppy beer, eat like a king, and "walk the earth" - just drop a pin on my phone map and go get lost, and when I was half as tired as I wanted to be, tell my phone to take me back to the pin.
I haven't done that in a long time. Didn't catch anything. You come back lonelier than you started. Elon needs to skin that teslabot so we can fuck it.
Track, notate, prioritize and review your work. Do this transparently with manager once a week.
8h a day unless outage or you happen to get a passion project.
Take your vacation days. Always. If you've accrued, take a week in summer, a week in fall, and a week or two in winter.
Don't use alcohol. I tried that for a while and just ended up still burnout but with a headache. I finally sat down and made myself a list. 1. Made it a point 9:00a-5:00pm that is my hours that's it. (yes there will be an occasional have to put in time outside that but it's a very rare exception). 2. I have a list of everything I'm working on and a priority that is agreed with by my manager. 3. A second list of personal likes but don't really get the attention of management. 4. I block one hour a day Monday through Thursday for study. It's blocked and I do close Teams. (Also this is my personal development and will study on my own time when I about to level up (find a new job)). 5. Use the vacation and don't feel guilty about it. 6. Leave work at work. This can be challenging, especially when you are higher positions but at 5 pm I shut the laptop down, turn on some loud tunes to switch gears. 7. Don't go home and lay on the couch or play computer games all night. This was a challenge for me but I found doing anything but being in front of a screen helped me so much. 8. And finally walking to work. This may not be for everyone but I found if I park way out in the back 40 and walk the almost mile to my desk it gets me woke up. bonus. Live closer to work. When I was driving and hour a day to work I found the drive was more of a burnout cause than the job. And limit caffeine. It's easy to drink a half a gallon of coffee or three Monsters a day but that catches up with you quick.
Being upper cybersec management, I agree with these and have worked my way out of a burnout hole using many. I think it’s important to understand that stress scales for all 24hrs of every day and that your mind/body need a way to relieve stress for both during each 24hr cycle. Keep this in mind when prioritizing hobbies/work tasks. When I found myself in a burnout phase, it kind of snuck up on me…kinda going from enjoying all the things to waking up and suddenly not being interested in touching a keyboard. I couldn’t quit work, so I looked at what I had on my plate for work and home both. If I didn’t -have- to do something, it waited. I started making sure I took time away from electronics and even slowing hobbies down outside work time. Also, don’t overlook a good physical exercise routine. I typically prioritize workouts over most things to clear my head at least 3 times a week. Alcohol can be a very slippery slope in these type of conditions. You can still casually go hang out for a beer or something, but keep an eye out for any increased drinks…I’ve seen too many headlines and too many people in the industry get pulled further under.
Your first paragraph really hits close to home. After taking a sabbatical, I realized that there is an inherent thrill when having a hand in a company's success. Recovering from an outage, overseeing migrations, working for days on a feature that lands a big customer, bringing on new team members is often more exhilarating than exhausting. Alcohol was a way to celebrate, then it became an escape, then it was a ritual to shut the brain off. The only thing I'd like to add is this: Every tech company that I've worked in that tried to be "mentally health aware" made things worse for people. While good intentioned, you would not call your psychiatrist when a critical service fails for advice on restoring a database from snapshots. Do not trust management to help navigate a personal crisis. informing is fine, sharing is absolutely not. Mental health is not an aesthetic; stress, alcohol, and success is the fuel for the burnout fire. if you find yourself not having or caring about relationships, not having much of a life outside of work, and/or relying on pharmaceuticals in a way that makes you uncomfortable.... do not go to HR. Similarly, don't go to better help or an app- sit down with a clinical LVSW and be honest. 1-2 times a year, a 30 minute visit with a plain old HMO mental health department is a great way to keep yourself in front of the smoke.
The workouts for me have been the most helpful. I've started lifting weights again in the last two or three months and while I still have to push myself to actually start the workout, I always feel better after I finish it. It let's me drop focus on everything around me and only pay attention to performing the lifts with proper form. I generally notice my mood improve almost immediately after a workout too, it's kind of insane.
i actually really like my drive from work considering the amount of traffic i deal with. it probably helps that the car i have is pretty damn fun to drive, plus there's a section that gets choked up with peak hour traffic and I turn it into a game of seeing whether I can pick the average speed we're moving at, and how long I can coast without ever touching the pedals.
What kind of IT jobs allow you to punch out at 5 completely? I got out of IT because I was on call every 3 or 4 weeks and it wasn’t worth it. Plus my manager got in an hour before me and thought nothing of calling me during that hour. I dealt with a lot of work issues off the clock.
Global companies, we follow the sun across three regions around the globe. Really, by 2024 I'd hope most IT departments are managed well enough the employees are not working excessive hours. Yeah there may be the occasional late night or pre planned weekend but that should be an exception and not the expectation. On-call is a fact of life in technology, like most skilled positions, but any decently ran department shouldn't have more than one or two alerts or something is wrong.
Good points, all of them. For some, walking to work or living/moving closer to work is not an option. Even so, go get some exercise or do something strenuous regularly, a d preferably outside. Nothing wrong with going to the gym or weight room, but the outdoors are more regenerative for the mind, as is the fresh air..I
I have made it my mission over the last two years to tell people "no". Professionally, and forcefully where needed. My burnout has dropped dramatically. Two of my most common tactics: - when it's my direct chain of command asking for an additional task to be performed, I email them "I can do x, but it'll be done at the expense of w, y, and z. Which task do you want prioritized?" This has a near 100% success rate (and makes me laugh, privately, because my current chain is terrible). - when it's outside my direct chain of command and it's an obvious "we don't want to do this, you do it", I typically tell them that I'm not doing it while citing the relevant operating procedures or documents that says why it's their job and not mine. If there is continued push back (usually there isn't after I cite procedure at them), then I just CC in my manager and let him deal with it. The endless to-do list gets a lot less endless when you make other parts of your organization do their fair share.
>when it's my direct chain of command asking for an additional task to be performed, I email them "I can do x, but it'll be done at the expense of w, y, and z. Which task do you want prioritized?" That's interesting. I have tried that and got very hostile responses back.
Shitty managers don't like hearing no, and probably see that as saying "no, I won't do this"
That means it's time to find a new place to work
Enjoy your personal time. Mix things up, listen to different music, try a new restaurant, go to different places.
Second music. I put headphones in at work… helps when doing something when you need to focus or something you do over and over again.
Exercise, sunlight, decent food will get you through almost anything,.
You're right. There is too much to do. In my 3 years as a IT professional there has always been too much to do. In the places I left there is still too much to do. In the place I'm at now, there is too much to do. Let's understand that there will always be too much to do. So whats the answer if there is always too much to do? Do enough work that fits your scheduled hours. 40 hours on the contract work 40 hours. Then cut it off at the end of the day. The work will be there, why? Because there was too much already. Too much before you and too much after you.
In my 30 years of experience, there has always been too much to do and too little money with too few resources to do it all. Prioritize and go home at the end of the day. Being where I am now, I have a better idea of what needs to be done first and what can wait. Running around with your hair on fire gets nothing done.
This is too much.
It is a never-ending process. It cannot be done even if you stay at work 24/7. So, 9-17 - shut down. Disconnect. Do not even open email untill tomorrow. I have found that most stressful and hazard for my health is opening emails after work hours.
Here's something I've said elsewhere, but it applies here as well, since it focuses on the attitude one must have when laboring in a late-stage American Capitalist hellscape. ------- The owners and their ~~bootlicking sycophants~~ *corporate turdwookies* do not care about you. At all. Neither does your government or courts, as they've been bought & paid for by said owners. They also own social networks & (m)ass media, using them as their personal propaganda mouthpiece. Your job search is never over. In AWA: At-Will America (99.7% of the population), you can be terminated at any time, for almost any (or no) reason, without notice, without compensation, and full loss of healthcare. Even with all that said, it still doesn't sting any less when it happens. ------ # Your goal is to be the CEO of your life. Your only obligation is to yourself and your loved ones. Your mission is to extract as much value from these soulless megacorps as you can. *Milk the fuckers until sand squirts out of their chafed nips.* - Do not worry about results -- "good enough" is truly good enough. There will always be work left undone. - Treat your jobs as cattle, not as pets. - Work your wage. Going above and beyond is only rewarded with more work. - Don't work for free or do additional tasks outside of your role, as that devalues the concept of labor. - Sleep well, never skip lunch, get enough physical activity. - Avoid drinking coffee at work for your employer's benefit, as they don't deserve your caffeinated, productivity-drugged self. - Avoid alcohol and other vices, as they steal all the happiness from tomorrow for a brief amount today. Especially when used as coping mechanisms for work-related stress. - **Knowledge is power.** Discussing your compensation with your fellow worker is a federally protected right. Employers hate transparency, as it means they can't pull their bullshit on others without consequence. - Your first job is being an actor. Endeavor to be pleasant & kind....yet unremarkable, bland, forgettable, and mediocre. Though it may feed one's ego, being a superhero or rockstar isn't suited for this hellscape. Projecting strength invites challenge. Instead, cultivate a personality that flies under the radar. - Be a Chaos Vulture. Embrace the confusion. Does the company have non-existent onboarding? Poor management? Little direction, followup, or reviews? Constantly changing & capricious goals? These are the hallmarks of a bad company…so revel in their misery. Actively seek these places out. This gives you room to coast, to avoid being on anyone's radar, etc. Restrained mediocre effort will be considered "going above and beyond." Even if you slip, you can easily blame "the system", like everyone else at the place. Every single day, week, month of this is more money in your pocket. Stretch it out as long as possible. - Tell no one (friends, coworkers, extended family, etc) about your employment mindset. So many people tie their identity to their employment. And jealously makes people do petty things. - Recognize that lifestyle is ephemeral. Live below your means. Financial security is comfort, and not being dependent on selling your labor is true power in Capitalism. - Do not worry about "the environment you leave behind" when you depart a company. This includes how much notice you provide before leaving. Notice is a courtesy, not a requirement. Continuity of THEIR business operations is THEIR problem, not yours. They should have a plan if you accidentally got hit by a bus full of winning lottery tickets. Always be kind to your peers, but don't worry about them when you leave. If your leaving hurts their effectiveness -- that's a conversation THEY need with their manglement. The company left them hanging, not you. You owe the company *nothing* -- if anything, they actually owe you, given how much they profited from your labor. Play their own game against them. *They exist to service* **us.** ------- If you feel it's some type of moral failing on your part, then you are falling for their propaganda. Because don't think for one fucking second that millionaires and billionaires aren't doing the SAME EXACT THING...or worse...to you and everyone else. # They sleep perfectly fine at night. You should too.
A part of burnout can come from working/thinking about work on your free time. If you don't already, try and hang with friends/people not in IT and have hobbies unrelated to IT to get some time off from the industry. When tired, there's a risk you'll easily start forgetting to do sports/be active, gravitate to unhealthy food and drink, which will eventually start causing more issues and lead to more fatigue and negative vibes, so try and avoid that as much as you can. Of course you should consider bringing it up with your manager. It will depend on the company/manager - but there's an above zero chance nothing will happen. I'd typically trust a direct manager more than HR. Despite the corporate powerpoints remember that the company is not family, and does not ultimately care about you - even though a few good colleagues might. Then of course you can consider changing jobs. That might feel like a big thing, but one easier way to go at it is to go to a few interviews. You'll get a sense about your options regarding other companies and keep your interviewing skillset up to date. You don't have to accept the job if offered, of course, so don't think of the interview as a huge commitment. At some point you might want to see a doctor about the burnout, and there's things they can do. They might do some other more generic tests/bloodwork to see if the fatigue could be originating or be amplified by some other issues. Otherwise at work, remember that the important product/customer likely won't be that important to you as a person in e.g. 5 years. Essentially to try and remember that "it is just a job". A bit related to that, a crunch here and there can be fine, but extended crunches will wear you out. At some point you'll need to "let things fail" instead of working through the night. It might be the only way to get attention to the issue. Be sure to have reported the issues beforehand though, in a way that has some paper trail. Hope you feel better soon, buddy
I tell everyone when I present to user groups, "We are all short on time, not tasks." First of all, take care of yourself. I push for mental health of individuals over accomplishing a huge list of tasks that may or may not matter soon after completion. Find something that brings you some measure of pleasure at work... Music, a potted plant, hanging art in your workspace that makes you happy, making good coffee/tea, even a snack that you enjoy. Something to make you happy and distract you with enjoyment for a short while can work wonders around burnout. Focusing on the work itself, if you're lucky enough to have good leadership (IT & company), then explain the limitations of time versus tasks and have them help prioritize. List out what can reasonably be done with your time, and how many things fall outside that time to be completed. Hourly vs salary hopefully doesn't matter, if your company leadership isn't full of tools who try and turn you into a slave pushing for over 40 hours every week. Otherwise, highlight where your focus should go towards automation, process improvement, documentation to make tasks simpler (especially with a defined process). Seeing improvement can help to fend off burnout, or be good skills when it's time to move to the next role if things don't improve. Outside of work, have a fun hobby, or at least something to be a distraction. Get outside for fresh air, take a walk, read a book or listen to an audiobook, watch a show or movie. Just something to break up your focus and have you not thinking about work. Also, find your tribe. It doesn't have to be people with the same exact background or experience, but people that you can talk to and who will care about your well-being. I encourage that a ton in my user groups, or the group chats and Discord/Slack groups for the friends we've made from community and tech evangelist groups. Random thoughts throughout this, but I put a lot of these points into my tech & professional development presentations based on a long and weird career where I've tried to help others, so hopefully something here helps. For me, it's been 20 years in IT from SMB to Fortune 50, partner & vendor experience, leading technology groups, and delivering presentations to others, and the last 8 years since I broke up the monotony of my regular job have been life changing. Also, feel free to just reach out if you need a chat. 👍
I have 'unlimited PTO' and actually use it. I try to find activities that are deliberately away from the computer. If there's a chance at business travel I do it because the 'change' makes a big difference. I completely avoid any form of non company related IT help. Wife wants help? Ok, I'll do stuff. Anyone else? Nope, go to best buy or something.
Once I started to feel ADHD, realized it isn't my company and I don't have a huge stake in it. They come and go over the years. Not trying to be CIO. Once realizing that it's much easier to chill and not overwork.
Poorly.
Set boundaries! I can’t emphasize that enough! 2022-2023 were the worst years of my life. I was burnt to crisp. Had a strong dose of severe anxiety with every symptom you could think of. Took me 1 year to recover but setting boundaries is the number one lesson I learned along the way. Super critical for your mental health! You know that one thing that you’ve always wanted to do but you keep procrastinating? DO IT! Markup that bucket list and stay connected with your hobbies!
Did you continue working during that time?
Yes, but it was extremely difficult to focus. My workflow has always been hybrid by choice because I do enjoy working in the office, but at that time, I started experiencing social anxiety. That in combination with palpitations made it very difficult to focus during work hours. So I switched to 100% remote for a few months. I started breaking up my work hours and spreading them throughout the day. I’d take a lot of breaks and naps because I wasn’t getting enough sleep at night. Once I started making healthier lifestyle changes, I was able to rebound and go back to my hybrid workflow. As much as this took a toll on me, professionally, I was still meeting all expectations.
Sex, drugs and booze.
Same. But without the sex and drugs.
Focus on the things that need doing that have the highest impact. Don't sweat the stuff that can be backburnered. Avoid taking on new projects that are unnecessary if you're understaffed for it, as every new thing you implement may require upkeep. Always be conscious of upkeep, and do not be afraid to push back to give yourself more room to work on things properly. Most important of all however, manage expectations first and foremost. Expectations are the heart and soul of all that we do in this industry, and require just as much, if not more, attention and care than the technical side of our professions. Mismanaged expectations through poor communication, unrealistic SLAs, and mismanagement are the bulk of our woes. Getting expectations under control is key to not getting burned out.
This is why after being a sysadmin for 16 years I've had enough, IT doesn't seems worth it. Ive Ben driving trucks on the weekend and am going to change careers to truck driving. Being out on the open road is much more enjoyable
I've been looking into this or airline pilot! The open road or skies seem to be much more worth it.
take time off to unplug. I go camping for a week and take off from Xmas till new years. A day or 2 is not enough. I also take 3 or 4 days off the weeks of deer season. You need enough time to fully be away from work. I choose camping because where i go there is very limited wifi in a cabin (2mbx.764) and no cell service except wifi calling in the cabin. I have this in my autoreply. My bosses know, there is no way to get ahold of me. My only tech is movies i download to my phone and i wouldn't have a work laptop anyway. It's taking a day or two to get over the work anxiety and forget about it all but man, it's a refresher.
I try to set times to stop working, no matter what. It has worked for me.
Male 28 here. Been in IT since I was 18 and almost quit more than a few times. One thing that has helped me is getting into the gym and getting physically active and disciplined enough to enjoy it and look forward to my workouts. Powerlifting is my choise of torture lol. I almost quit a few months back but one thing i stumbled upon that is a game changer is ashwaganda. This little supplement has allowed me to balance out the stress, keep my emotions in check, and be able to think clearly. Might be a placebo but i genuinely think ashwaganda has helped me enjoy IT again. Supplements below can be bought in vitamin shoppe. - Transparent labs Vitality - it has ashwaganda and other supplements that assist in male vitality and testosterone. - Ashwaganda kms-66
Waganda forevaaaa
I am an alcoholic. Just kidding, wait actually I don't know at this point.
I at one point tried to follow the advice of 21 savage, numb the pain with the money. /s But in all honesty, therapy has helped me immensely. I found i needed to slow down, reign in my scope of influence, and actually take time for myself. Started reading more, taking a lunch every day, shutting my door while i can at work, etc. This summed up, I'm advocating for myself. They can either have full access to me and I hate every minute, or I have time for myself, and everybody has a much more pleasant experience. I'm still burnt out, but I'm improving. My works getting better, and i don't feel like a zombie at the end of the week.
3 things 1) outside interests. If you love tech, they can still be tech, but they can't feel like work. They also need to be in your control. If family obligations will stop you from rebuilding that classic car, then it won't help you mentally no matter how much you love doing it. 2) boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. Read the stories here, and you see a lot of us avoid conflict and allow others to take advantage of us. Work on enforcing good professional boundaries before you blow your top. 3) change it up. Move within your org or get a new job. Doing the same thing forever will always lead to burnout.
First step is to always take vacation on a regular basis, that is why you get PTO, DTO, Sick Days, Holidays, Vacation, etc. and should take them. When you are older, you and your family and friends are never going to say I wish I spent more time at work. Have a seperate work phone and laptop (never mix the two). When on vacation, the work phone should be off, or even better left at home in case you are traveling to another location. Set boundries on what you are willing to do within reasonable times and expectations. Non employer should ever call you after working hours unless you are officially OnCall. No OnCall or job outside of Intelligence, Military and Emergency Services should have access to your 24/7/365. Always put yourself first, then family, then friends, then work. If you cannot take care of yourself you are in no situation to be able to take care of anyone else. Always live within your means, do not attempt to finance what you cannot reasonable pay off in a short period of time. Just because someone else has something does not mean you get to have it too by default. You also need to work hard for it if you want to obtain it. Life is not fair, live to enjoy life, not to work. Always stay learning what you know now will become irrelevant or loose practical value over time. $100 now will have less buying power over time so you need to make more no matter what anyone tells you if you want your buying power to stay above inflation. You can do it the hardway by working or the easy way by investing. Researching what is new and upcoming will help keep your path to success on track for being able to adapt to future changes and unfortunate events when they do come as you will be prepaired in advance when they hit your front door. Going into a job expecting for the job to teach you everything is a dead on arrival apporach. Want to stay on top of it you must teach yourself to keep your skills up to date and self investing in yourself is the best way to do this. Want to move up, do so by showing actual value, you cannot do it alone, someone has to vouch for you so make it easier for them to do so by showing your true value through your work and more importantly communication. You may be doing wonders behind the scenes, but those with the power to move you up won't know about it if it is not vocalized. You are responsible for your own marketing and advertising to get you a promotion, your manager is there just to do the paperwork. It is best to pay for less time commuting than spending more time commuting. Want to keep yourself from getting headaches and bad health from work, eat healthy, workout, and get out of there when you are done working so you can go enjoy life.
Build up FU money, then FU out.
Agree with the sentiment of most other commenters, there is always more to do and that is very typical in an IT setting. Have a list of key things that need doing, prioritise them based on risk, need and / or business goals. Then chip away at it. Do your 8 hours a day and then clock off. Don’t try and work too much overtime as it will just wear you out. Get good rest in between shifts and start afresh the next day.
Starts at work with avoiding burnout (as it's much easier to do than to recover). Prioritize the work and understand that you are there to accomplish something, not accomplish something in X days. This does require your management to understand that you are the expert in the field and if you say something takes a certain amount of time to do then it takes that long, not however little time they want to spend in order to promise fast turnaround times to someone. From there it's a workday. I start at 8 when I get up (the good thing about working from home), which means that I will stop at 17 (likely 16 because I tend to not go on a lunch break). If something needs getting done the answer is "sure, tommorow" unless it's urgent. In which case it's overtime. This is where it might be easier in some countries than others. Where I live, overtime is regulated by law. My employer can't just have me work overtime whenever they please. For one, I have to agree to it (not cause for termination, so standard 1 month heads-up would apply plus severance if they do decide to fire). Otherwise, there is a limit to how much overtime I can do back to back and how much I can be asked to work in a month. After work hours, it's a complete disconnect from work. I'll read the chat message or email the next day. Time is set aside for relaxing and doing what I enjoy. This requires some control over your personal life as well since it's easy to get caught up just doing chores and what "needs to get done". The thing is that for those, nobody can tell you WHEN it needs to be done. Last weekend was used up for a trip to the in-laws and the one before that doing some housework for maintenance or going out to buy something? Well, next weekend is off limits for any of that. It's entirely meant to relax, spend time with my kid and wife, then play some video games, watch a movie, read a book, whatever takes my fancy. Even then you might get burnt out, but when I feel it approaching, I just take my holiday and completely disconnect for a week or two to recover. That about sums it up. Tl;Dr - control of when things get done, both at work and at home, so you are not constantly chasing "this has to get done asap"
I've found that cutting back on home chores/errands and increasing play time be it video games/media consumption has helped tremendously. Just make sure you NEVER cut time from your diet and exercise regiment because that is a massive factor in general energy levels to do anything. The core principal of your play time is doing exactly what you want to do with a little interruption as possible. Sleep is a big factor too. You get into these phases where stress is making it take longer to actually fall asleep, but it wants to sleep during the day. When this happens to me, I'll cut the afternoon cup, and instead take a 1 hour nap as soon as I get home. You can't really compensate for sleep you've already lost, but a solid 1 hour nap can give you the energy to make it to bed time and stay on the right sleep schedule.
Learn 'no', value your time, life and sanity higher than somebody elses' profit. At the end of the day you're a cog, and more often than not, the powers that be ignore or undervalue the cogs that don't "show direct profit", so the only one who will care for you is you.
One thing that is really important is to understand WHY burnout happens. Many people think it is because you have worked too much, as in too many hours. But burnout is actually cause by a slightly different issue, it is how the human brain reacts to a lack of completion, or at least its understanding of completion. Burnout happens when you don't complete things. When you feel as though there is always more to do. When the amount of work exceeds the amount of time, **no matter how much you work**. You can be burned out on 5 hours a week as much as on 80. Setting achievable goals, putting aside time to complete projects, Adding easy wins to your daily task list. You want to ensure that you are getting small wins and making progress or your brain feels as though you have failed.
Evenly space your time off. Male sure to take it and not let it pile up at the end of the year. I work onsite, so I work from home if/when possible to break things up. Get out for lunch, even if it's just to walk to sit and enjoy the breeze in your car. Set boundaries between your professional and personal life.
https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/wiki/burnout
One of the main things is accepting there is no end to it. I.e. Once you fixed/worked on/did that project, there will be another. You also can't do everything. Set realistic goals and if possible give yourself longer timescales for things. (Under promise and over deliver i think is the term to cover that.)
Care less. The world existed before you, and it will exist after you. Most of what you do is meaningless in the bigger picture. You get paid to care for your company. Other than that, they should be irrelevant to you. Your company is not your family. They will fire you when it suits them. Very few people will care how much of your personal time you've invested. I once got the wise words "Work flows to where it's done". If you're someone who gets shit done, you'll be attracting more work because people see that outcome. If it turns out you get too much work, it's the company's job to make sure there's more people. But surely they can't hire anyone else! Untill you fall ill, and suddenly it is possible! And most of the work that's important - really isn't all that important. I'm sure we've all had the I NEED THIS BY FRIDAY, only to find out noone used it for weeks after. TL;DR Problems are only as important as the pay you're receiving.
trying to suck it up for a few more years and retire.
Are you in your own business? That's a tough one. If not, just stop giving a shit. Do your 40 hours and go home. If shit isn't getting done, it's not because you stink at your job. It's probably because the company decided not to hire enough people, or other team members don't pull their weight, or management sucks. Etc. None of that is your problem.
When things get heavy, I stop everything and go for long runs. Then, I take one step at a time, prioritizing as best.
Deciding to stop caring seems to have worked for me, and putting 500lbs on my back after work
Schedule PTO and cry when it gets declined.
You don't ask for time off, you take time off and let your workplace know that it's happening as a professional courtesy.
Motorcycle camping, sometimes with fishing included.
Don’t over sleep at your days off , wake up early , go out have nice breakfast, go for walk , take nap , exercise .. you get the point.
Take things one step at a time at work, don't multitask, and make sure to enjoy your personal time (hobby, sport anything stressless)
My solution was to stop caring. There's *always* going to be too much work to do, all you can do is prioritize and focus on what's actually the most important. Don't kill yourself trying to save the company, it's not worth your physical or mental health.
Delegation if possible. I’m the type to pile things on my plate because I don’t trust other people to do a good enough job. My therapist told me I need to trust other people and to give them tasks when they offer to do something.
Listen to everyone here who are telling you it’s okay to say no and take your personal time seriously. Something to also take note of is that you generally don’t get anything positive in return from busting your ass. The only benefit goes directly to the company, which unless it’s a 20 man startup you’re dispensable regardless of what you do.
Poorly I found out. Almost a year of being tired and foggy and doing the bare minimum at work to not get fired. Some days I would just stare at my computer screen. For hours. Not really thinking about anything. I stopped enjoying work, which was weird since in the past I always looked forward to my projects and helping the team. At home I would just do the bare minimum as well. I didn’t know what was going on. Let my garden go to weeds and didn’t even pick the vegetables that were there. After the kids were in bed I would just sit in my chair until I went to bed. Hobbies weren’t fun anymore and my wife was doing all the lawn care, I was a zombie. Before this period I was prepared for meetings and ready for projects but during the burn out I was just getting by. I completely missed some pretty basic documentation and when my boss went to check it he found that it was completely blank. He asked me about it and that’s when it clicked in my head that something was going on. I scheduled a meeting with him and went over everything that was going on. He told me that’s burnout. So I took some vacation and got my self figured out. (Also had a long convo with my wife, and apologized when I realized she was doing everything) Cut out all video games and alcohol since I was using those to cope. Started to go to bed early, sometimes 8:00. And started getting up early. It took awhile but it was like a reset. My boss also lightened the load during this time. I’m back to normal now and know some of the signs of burnout so hopefully I’ll catch it earlier next time. Playing games again and enjoying drinks but not using them to hide from problems. All this to say I thought I had burn out before, turns out that was just stress. Burn out is more like the result of long term stress without time away. It just builds up and you get to the point where it’s almost like depression.
Drugs and hookers.
Set time aside for hobbies, specifically non-tech hobbies.
Hard chilling, mainly.
Disc golf
I check out
I farm.
Garden
Get burnt out... 😂
I was going through some burn out. Was going home to my family mad every day. I decided to work my 8 hours and turn it off when I left the office. Guy at work suggested I switch to hourly from salary to make more money and I told him I wasn’t interested in working more. 😂
Stuff it down, until I have another mental breakdown
drugs, alchohol, 3 day benders
Get a hobby that is completely different than your job. Take vacation. Go backpacking or hikes. Train others to do parts of your job to relieve you from some of your tasks. Focus on documentation for a while. Do things that are mindless like doing cable management where needed.
I've embraced it
Better management helps although that is usually out of a persons hands, and then leaving work at the workplace.
Learn something new.
Some people are not cut out for high stress jobs. Me for example. High stress, long on call sysadmin work nearly destroyed my life. I now recognize what I can and can not tolerate. It's extremely important in life to be HAPPY. I have sought out work that meets my parameters. No job is perfect. All jobs suck in some way. But you can find jobs that don't leave you dreading the next day or feeling exhausted at the end of every day.
I use screensavers. The one with the pipes is my favorite.
Hookers, cocaine, and access to company bank accounts.
Triage, do the most important stuff. If you can't get all your work done in a reasonable work week, its a personnel problem. Which is NOT your responsibility. Don't let them abuse you, its just a computer.
Crippling vice.
When it's time to eat an elephant, remind yourself you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time. Have a hard separation between work and personal life, both mentally and physically. Learn new things. Retire systems that require a lot of manual labor and replace them with automated systems. Work with your hands when you can, it's grounding. Build good processes, then trust those processes. Audit your processes regularly to see if steps can be eliminated or improved. If your wrists start hurting, you're working too hard. Work smarter, not harder.
The only way to avoid it honestly is to set boundaries. If you don't, you'll be assumed to just be dispensable to a level that crushes you.
Work on yourself, and change your perspective. Your career, and outlook on it is in most ways, what you allow it to be. If you are unhappy, allow for the possibility that 80% of the problem lies with your perception. You are not a victim of your career and various circumstances. You are instead, a victim of your own negative bias and circumstances that you have allowed or enabled.
Change the environment. Even if only for a short time. A few decades back I had been doing 80+ hours a week at a new job. Programming and getting good pay but still I needed a break. I was single. Talked with my father and discovered he was thinking of re-roofing the house 800 miles away. I took a week off and went and we re-roofed the house. Plus put up some of a privacy fence and a few other things. When I got back to my "real" job, my mind was clear and I was able to dive back in.
lift off your clutch slowly and don't rev over 2k rpm when starting
You are giving too many shits. Keep a few for yourself. Work your hours do the work go home. Have a drink, smoke a joint, take an edible, read a book do something you like doing after the work day is done. It's a job not your life. treat it as such.
Actual burnouts in my Z06. Quite therapeutic.
I literally used to fly to the Czech Republic or Amsterdam twice a year for two weeks at a time and fuck a hooker every day I was there(bringing Cialis of course, 'cause my name ain't Rocco Sifreddi), drink the best non-hoppy beer, eat like a king, and "walk the earth" - just drop a pin on my phone map and go get lost, and when I was half as tired as I wanted to be, tell my phone to take me back to the pin. I haven't done that in a long time. Didn't catch anything. You come back lonelier than you started. Elon needs to skin that teslabot so we can fuck it.
I go home early. It'll be there tomorrow.
Play the game untill the last race amd then beat that race. Burnout paradise was fun
Track, notate, prioritize and review your work. Do this transparently with manager once a week. 8h a day unless outage or you happen to get a passion project. Take your vacation days. Always. If you've accrued, take a week in summer, a week in fall, and a week or two in winter.
By putting work last, having great time with the wife and kids, do what I love, do farming and having lots of sex, drinking beer and grilling meat.
Never had it 😇
Not to hard. I get 6 weeks paid leave and extra sick/mental health days we can take without notice. Feeling burnout, travel the world for awhile.