Tech Burnout Suggestions

https://gist.github.com/toomuchtech/5737051

by toomuchtech • 13 years ago

9 9 13 years ago

gist.github.com

toomuchtech4• 13 years ago

I'm looking to find people to help me. Please read my post.

Can you find non-tech people who you gel with in SF? Maybe go somewhere welcoming to new people like a burning man party, or something sports related or whatever you're into.

Do you have many non-tech acquaintances you can re-kindle a relationship with?

marshray• 13 years ago

The problem is that I'm bordering on clinical depression (so my doctor tells me). The reason is that I'm hyper-focused on tech: I'm glued to my iPhone, read HN all day, read books on programming, hack on nights and weekends.

I'm not telling you not to trust your instincts, but be aware that it's really really common for people your age to be diagnosed with clinical depression due to biological/hereditary reasons.

mrhrzr• 13 years ago

I got burned out at my second tech job at a start up when I was 20. I've been clinically depressed since 16 and it gets worse as I age, however I've been physically active which seems to help by measure of 5%. I do see myself committing suicide down the road. I just wanted to comment that I understand how you feel. I live in east bay area if you want a friend but it can be quite a distance from SF.

toomuchtech4• 13 years ago

email me

Stranger2013• 13 years ago

News, economics and (especially) politics do not matter in your life. You have no control over those things anyway (lets be realistic).

toomuchtech4• 13 years ago

well neither does a javascript/rails/go/node/closure library that will fall out of fashion in a couple of years only to be replaced by something that does the same thing with a "fresh, new and more fun" syntax.

The point being; it's valid to think through and create articulations on all of these things that we have no control over anyways.

I'm just tired of doing it exclusively for tech things that ultimately don't matter.

toomuchtech4• 13 years ago

Woah, thought nobody was going to catch this, glad to see some people did, thanks for the replies!

throwaway1979• 13 years ago

Hey friend,

You're not alone. I want to bump suggestions for going offline - vacation to Hawaii for a week, hike, bike ride, whatever. Just don't be online for a little bit.

Some other suggestions that have helped me:

1) Read! Have you read Good Omens? How about Ender's Game? Sci fi is great for tuning off.

2) Get a hobby involving something physical ... gardening, carpentry, flying an RC plane.

3) If you want to stay techy but do something physical, consider getting an Arduino. Build blinking LEDs or something else that's cool!

Tech Burnout Suggestions

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