Ahh yes that old chestnut, huh. Everyone deals with it at one point or another, and usually more than once in their lifetime. I felt a huge wave of burnout/senioritis/whatever you want to call it this week, so I thought I’d write a post about what I usually do to combat it. First a bit about me, I tend to go all in on whatever I’m doing professionally (work or school, I consider school part of my professional sphere and take it very seriously), and as a result have a tendency to work/study long hours. With this behavior comes an increased likelihood of becoming burnt out, and I’d say I experience it about 1-3 times a year, varying in intensity, and it usually lasts a few weeks then I get my second wind.
That second wind doesn’t just come on its own though. I can’t just sit around waiting for it to come, I have to work at it to get through to it. So ,what do I do? First, I make sure to keep my fitness routine up. It can be easy to start cutting things out of your life when you feel stressed or overwhelmed, etc, and maybe some things can be cut out, but working out is not one of them. Even if I have to dial back my normal routine, as long as I do something––even just a walk– forcing my body to be anerobic and shifting up my internal chemistry seems to help me progress forward. Second, I start taking more small breaks during the day and go sit outside in the sun for a few minutes, walk and get a coffee from the shop by my place, generally something to just remove myself from my work environment. I find the small change of gears to be helpful at pushing through rough days, as it removes focus from the thing(s) that’re bothering me.
The last, and most important thing I do is reframe my current position mentally. If I start feeling that “oh I don’t care about this anymore and don’t want to do it…” or “ … I actually can’t do this anymore for my physical/mental health”, or “…#$%^% this #&$#*% … @#(**@…”, any of these sort of sentiments are a sign that I’m too invested in whatever is currently burning me out, so I have to make a judgement call. That call is usually, what’s worse? Letting yourself come to a grinding halt because you burnt yourself out? Or sprinkling in a little more me time and caring a little bit less to keep going? I’m pathologically type – A and a perfectionist so, for me caring a little less is getting out of my own way and giving myself permission to not be so neurotic/give up control.
But that’s just me, everyone will have their own reasons for burning out and will most likely need to come up with their own solutions. This post is not meant to be a guide, or anything patronizing, but rather just an expression of me dealing with the motions as they happen––and taking a break from coding by writing this outside 😉
