Been talking with a lot of people who are burned out at work right now. I got quite burned out at the end of college and in the middle of my PhD. Today, I work way more than I did back then and am able to feel really fulfilled. Here are some lessons that helped me get here. 🧵 1/
First and foremost, it's helpful to recognize that you're burned out. Are you feeling less creative? More irritable? Over the years, I've learned to recognize micro-burnouts (from "I need lunch" to "I need a vacation") and I like to believe that's kept me from macro-burnout. 2/
Working sustainably is key to preventing burnout. For me, i's not about limiting hours but about building in recovery. The recovery needed depends on the intensity and duration of the work. If I go for longer without recovery, the recovery will need to be longer/more involved. 3/
Here's a surprising lesson I learned about work recovery: it's not about doing nothing, but about clearing your head. For me, yoga, running, and cycling are decently good. Active mind recovery like writing or producing Zoom shows is not for everyone, but works well for me. 4/
What do if you're badly burned out? The feeling you can't ever get excited about anything again is just a feeling. Often it's not time you need, but a change of scene or different, more meaningful work. New work may be last on your list of wants, but it could be the way out. 5/
Of course, this thread only applies to people lucky enough to be able to do fulfilling work. I've also been fortunate enough never to have gotten into an extremely deep burnout funk. I suspect there are many people similar to me though! I hope this thread can help. 6/
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
