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Surprisingly - my burnout.

It came one day, out of the blue and broke me in two pieces. Thanks to the great human empathy in my company (and their support) I went through it without too much problems.

It taught me that I am not invincible and that I should listen to my body more. I am not 20 anymore.

I voluntarily scale down my professional scope and my title, to concentrate on the things I have an actual influence on. I am documented all the points that fell in the gray area (= I was "responsible" for, without any possibility to change things) and I will stubbornly go that way.

It will ultimately be a win for the company as well, forcing it to sort out loose ends (at least in my area).

I live in France so it was made easier by the socialist regulations (socialist as in "enhanced social protections"), as well as the real, human empathy of my management - beyond what is expected from a company.



Quite interesting. I believe a lot of us in the Software Industry are suffering from this but without acknowledging it and/or forced to ignore it due to circumstances/social factors/rat race. I am quite fascinated by the psychology behind "burnout" (maybe suffering from it myself) because it not natural for us to be in a constant state of stress arising from problem solving as is demanded by the industry. The lack of physical activity exacerbates the problem and you are caught in a vicious cycle leading to mental/physical breakdown.

Would you mind sharing some details? What exactly happened to push you over the threshold? How was/is your physical health? How exactly is your mood/emotions affecting behaviour? How do you feel before/after?


Those specific questions may be triggering - better to focus on what helped to improve then resolve your feelings




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