about me: Brief History, Career
This is quite a personal take on Burnout, there are other perspectives
I have not been diagnosed with burnout, or sought medical help
Lots of reasons NOT to do this talk. - CV
This is important.
I was surprised by how little I knew, wrong impressions
Tech Books, Target Audience
Coders, Team Mates, Team Leads, Managers, Family
Objectivity: Decisions/Actions based on emotion
Personal Experience, not clinical, not academic
This is the end result, clinical description of the endgame
The further we are along the road, the greater the risk of full collapse
Burnout manifests itself in 3 ways (the components of burnout)
How many have you got?
Stories
NOW who things they have burnout?
Good day - Change Job, Bad Day - Change Career
Insidious - Isn’t this just part of the job?
Causes can differ, we each respond differently
Internal/External element to all of the causes, can be imposed from outside, but often we impose them on ourselves.
Job ambiguity
Is the sustained pressure of Agile a recipe for burnout?
Agile seems to deliver much that it claims to eliminate
The Burnout Paradox, the best immunisation is not caring about your work.
The Burnout Paradox, the best immunisation is not caring about your work. Good Programmers Leave (Here’s Why)
Should this have implications for hiring?
Best company I ever worked for in terms of Work/Life balance, was one of the most frustrating in terms of Burnout
Life is tough enough for older developers, without burnout
Take with a pinch of salt
The biggest difference between a 20 year old and a 40 year old is responsibilities
Finding the time to reboot
frustration, procrastination => Databases
procrastination => Act into a feeling, every day is a struggle
Burnout magnifies tasks,
arguing => estimates
bad luck => memory on new machine
I want to read Dickens.
Why don’t I?
Read less Uncle Bob, more Charles Dickens
Putting people on a Pedestal
Grace Hopper, Colleagues, Open Source Heroes
Eureka moment, talking to Sandra
The last time you were happy at work
Excellent, but be careful.
Have a reason
Would you be better served working on something close to work?
Or getting away from tech entirely?
What is the real motivation?
Seeking the fulfilment that work doesn’t provide?
Not wanting to work on something that won’t be used.
Everything worthwhile has been done (not by you)
Should be an escape, a distraction. Something else to focus on.
