Episode 128 – Dealing with Burnout - a podcast by The 6 Figure Developer

 

What causes burnout?





Too much work?



Possibly, but not necessarily

Many people work crazy hours and do not suffer from burnout.





Work/life balance?



Again, this is possible

The feeling of work/life unbalance is more of a symptom than a reason.





Compound Stress



This seems to be the real cause.

Work asking for tight deadlines

Spouse wanting more help around the house

Kids needing help with homework or skills they are struggling with.

Internal stress



Putting unrealistic expectations on yourself

Failing to complete projects

Finances





Basically Burnout is you not being able to keep up with the expectaions of your work, your family, and yourself.







How does burnout affect you as a developer?





Prevents you from working productively



Unable to focus at work

inability to make yourself work

general loss of productivity at work

a strong wanting to quit and find another job





Harms family interactions



Loss of affection to your spouse which leads to loss of affection from your spouse

Lack of positive interations with your kids



getting upset at them when you normally wouldn’t be





General malaise at home



not doing normal chores that you should

basically sit on couch, watch tv, and ignore the world





Could lead to divorce and/or missing important milestones in your families life.





Spiraling descent into unhappiness



Basically all the symptoms of depression

Burnout affects every aspect of your life and prevents you from managing work, family, finances, exercise and eating habits, and everything else that is part of a healthy life.







How do we prevent burnout from happening in the first place?





It’s not real easy

Ignore stress conditions or find a good coping mechanism for them.



Deadlines at work of most often not as urgent or important as they are made to be seen.



Relax and do the best you can, but don’t cave under the weight of a deadline

Don’t rush to meet the deadline



causes bugs

causes bad code

leads to more stress





Assume that everyone is doing the best they can under the circumstances



Even if you could do a better job

Even if it’s not even your job

The belief they someone else is slacking off



leads to more stress

leads to tension within the team

doesn’t help anyone





If you have a question, ask it.





Ask for help



This one might be difficult

you are not an island

you can’t do this on your own









Personal projects and hobbys



Don’t require the utmost professionalism



You don’t have to TDD or Clean Code all the time.

You can relax and write some bad code sometimes

These projects are for practicing or learn a specific thing. Focus on that





Are great for releiving stress when not taken seriously



If the project or hobby stresses you out, it can wait.









Family



Your spouse doesn’t know or understand your work



If you are stressed, talk to your spouse about it.

If you have had a bad day, talk to your spouse about it.





Children don’t know or understand your work

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