Dealing with Burnout in Tech
May 22, 2023
Tech is a rapidly growing industry with a lot of opportunities for growth and success. However, with long hours, tight deadlines, and high pressure, burnout is a common problem. According to a survey by Blind in 2020, around 57% of tech workers reported feeling burned out.
Burnout can lead to a decline in productivity, motivation, and mental health. You can take steps to prepare and try avoiding it but that doesn’t mean you won’t face it, since most of the causes are external and usually out of our control.
In this blog post, I will discuss three ways to deal with burnout in tech.
Time Management 🕰️
When we are feeling burnt out we are significantly less productive. Simple tasks take longer, feel harder and overall it feels like a drag to get anything done. A good way to address this is to time manage our workday.
Introduce different techniques like Pomodoro or Flowtime into you workflow to help you focus during smaller time periods. I personally like Pomodoro since I can control the length of the time blocks I deem will fit better with the task I have to perform.
Pomodoro consists of breaking up your workday into blocks of time, usually 25 minutes long, followed by a short break. The idea is to work intensely during the 25-minute block and then take a short break to recharge before starting the next block.
Flowtime consists of selecting a single task that you intend to focus on during a dedicated session. Once you have identified your task, note the time when you begin working on it, and continue until you sense the need for a break. Unlike adhering to a predetermined time frame or relying on a timer, your focus and thoughts serve as the indicators. As soon as you feel fatigued or distracted, record the end time and proceed to take a break.
Forcing yourself to focus during a finite time block helps with distractions, specially when we don’t feel like doing the work that needs to be done. The finite time block helps ease the feeling of drag and puts a finish line on the focus time, allowing you to take regular breaks, which are crucial to avoid overworking. Can’t emphasize taking short breaks enough, stepping away can lead to a fresh perspective on how to tackle following tasks.
Some apps to help with these workflows:
Pomodoro
Flowtime
Keeping track of accomplishments 🗒️
One of the most anxiety inducing factors of burnout is the feeling of not getting anything done. All tasks feel incredibly long and hard to accomplish, so what can we do to ease off the load of completing them?
Separate the task at hand into small increments and keep track of them. It feels simple but realizing you are making progress, and being able to share that with the team can help increase the motivation and focus.
This also helps when stepping out of work or continuing the next day, since we can clearly go back into work without much overheard, which promotes distractions and slow starts.
Visual tools are super useful to gain that sense of progress of completing tasks. Here’s a small recommendation of apps that could help in this process:
Setting Work Boundaries ⛔
The tech industry is known for its demanding work hours. Burnout can move past work and start trickling into our personal life, specially if we are overworking ourselves.
Set work boundaries, strict boundaries if necessary. Plan your workday with a starting and finish time, don’t work past that defined time, get up and continue the next day. Working past the set time is unlikely to contribute significantly to your productivity while it can have a negative impact on your mental health.
Once you are done with work for the day, turn notifications off, don’t read emails, stop thinking about work, because thinking about it is still working and when the end of the day comes you’ll feel like you’ve been working all day even though the computer has been turned off for hours. Go out for a drink, exercise, meditate, play video games or read. Do anything that gets your mind off of the grind of work.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while burnout is a prevalent issue in the tech industry, it's important to remember that there are strategies to mitigate its impact.
By implementing effective time management techniques such as Pomodoro or Flowtime, we can enhance our focus and productivity during designated work periods while allowing for rejuvenating breaks. Separating tasks into smaller increments and keeping track of our progress not only provides a sense of accomplishment but also boosts motivation and facilitates smoother transitions between work sessions. Additionally, establishing clear work boundaries and disconnecting from work-related activities outside of designated hours helps protect our mental well-being and prevent burnout from seeping into our personal lives.
By incorporating these approaches, we can effectively address burnout and reduce its adverse effects, fostering a healthier and more sustainable work-life balance in the tech industry. Remember, with dedication and conscious effort, you have the power to overcome burnout and thrive in your tech career.
You've got this!