Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by freelanddev 1079 days ago
I would say that I felt this quite a bit during my career over the past 9 years.

It's beginning to change and I can say that the biggest factor that's triggered the change: me/my mindset.

I used to go all in, every day. I was super motivated and wanted to stand out and deliver super high quality and I wouldn't quit until the job was done. Part of it was imposter syndrome, but also a big part was that I held myself to high standards.

I still hold myself to high standards and am self-motivated, but I've realized that I don't always need to be operating at 100% to be effective. It's important to build up your reserves during times when there's relatively low pressure so that you have the energy available to tap into when a big delivery comes along.

Also, I can only speak from my own experience here, and different things work for different people. I can say that in the past year or so, I've been focused on: * increasing impact while reducing effort (because really, the impact is the most important thing) * taking time for myself every day, knowing when to call it quits if I notice I'm spinning my tires * remembering that not everything has to be done today

I really care about the work that I deliver, but I also am aware that the company I work for pays me for my cognitive function, and so I focus on optimizing this.

A car that's driving at full speed runs out of gas quicker than a car that's light on the throttle.

3 comments

I think this is the key. Remember you are a human, not a computer. You can't operate at 100% all the time, and that's ok. Pick a speed you can work at comfortably and long term, keep in mind there WILL be times where you really need to knuckle down and get things done, working too hard outside of those times means you won't be ready for them when they arrive.

I have been in the industry for 7 years and no burnout yet. I take breaks, I slow down, and I always go home on time. My output is still consistently higher than my coworkers who overwork themselves, because not being burnt out allows me to think clearly.

7 years & no burnout is impressive. Seems like you’ve had a good strategy from the foundation (I had some friends who were smarter than me and also avoided some of my mistakes). You definitely get more consistent, higher quality output this way.

I’m just focused on learning from where I’ve gone wrong & improving my self knowledge to ensure I don’t dig myself into that hole again!

This is really important. Thanks for writing this.
You’re welcome! It’s nice to read that others can relate, because I often felt there were very few suffering from something similar.
Thanks, needed to read this today.
You’re welcome, I’m glad this resonates with you!