pull down to refresh
do you feel guilty if you don’t push yourself so hard? or are you engrossed enough in your projects such that you don’t really notice the burnout till it hits too close to your limits?
Between security must-do-work and bread-on-the-table must-do-work, I can often fill 15-18h a day. The main issue is I don't want to deliver inferior work and I definitely don't want to mess up my private security. Right now, it's tough times. I hope that one day I'll be able to build back the margins I have been used to for most of my life and can relax a bit more.
I sometimes force myself to back away from laptop for an hour or worst case just browse SN for a bit, so that I can look at what I am doing fresh again when I get back to it, or like right now, when I have a little break while I have code assessments running and I get a 20 minute break to have a smoke, get a fresh espresso, check notifications & phone.
it sounds like you are used to the adrenaline from doing such high-intensity work that it would seem criminal for you to take longer breaks. it’s curious to me that you have the headspace to browse through SN - no matter what. on particularly hectic days, I have to mentally steel myself to do the necessary so as to keep my cowboy hat haha. definitely no bandwidth for typing messages
My wife seems to prefer to run her life between burned up candles and is convinced that she cannot operate any other way, and as a very proximate observer it often does not look as effective as she thinks.
There have been times in my life where operating between burnouts has felt most effective.
There are other times when a more balanced lifestyle leads to better outcomes. Especially when considering thought work, or creative endeavors.
I'm not convinced any of us can meaningfully change the way we operate, though.
I've ran both structured and unstructured - depends on the job I'm running.
I have had years of waking up before everyone else, use my best time of the day to do strategically important work, then do 10-12h of meetings, process emails in breaks, then go to bed. And in the weekends do only the first item and have the rest off because no meetings. This works efficiently if you have wide responsibility and you get to recharge on the weekends.
Currently though, I have zero meetings. All my comms with clients/colleagues/3rd parties are at most chat, often async though, like email or GitHub issues/PRs. Worse, where I formerly had teams of hydrocarbon, I now have silicon, which never sleeps, so I have to intrinsically manage it from my own cycle, rather than what I am used to: adapt to other people's cycles. So I think it is mostly a discipline issue.
Big fat no. But my schedule sucks right now because I mostly just follow a pattern of:
It's no bueno because technically I'm suffering micro burnouts at random moments. Also the only way for me to recognize it is weekend is the amount of traffic on the streets. Which is probably telling on its own.