Ask HN: How not to burn out while working 9 to 5 job?
Hi HN, I graduated last year and has been working in the banking industry for a year. The pay is okay, but still in the bottom 40% income bracket in my country. The job itself is fairly technical, involving data management and data analysis. I find myself feeling lethargic and not having any energy after work. Although the job has a decent work life balance as my boss does not contact me after work hours, the stress and anxiety of the job remain. How do I sustain myself working in this job and avoid burning out? How do I maximize my learning and deliver good results while working here? Thank you. Develop a life away from work. Why is this important? If your life is all work, you’ll lose perspective. Small work issues cause outsized emotional responses. You work extra hours to squeeze marginal improvements because work is your only activity and sole source of self worth. With other activities (social, physical, intellectual) that engage you, you can deal with the many imperfections of your job more gracefully. You’ll laugh them off. You’ll be able to let go and not obsess over every little thing. It won’t stress you as much. > Small work issues cause outsized emotional responses Yeah, I'm going to have to get out more. I work remote in a city where I don't know anyone, so I spend a lot of time at home. Couple that with programming being my sense of self worth from a young age and having a PR get a handful of comments makes me anxious. Bad habit - I know. Wise words. It took me a while to realize this myself but yes, don't put 100% of your self worth into the job. It will make you emotionally unstable. How did you go about finding these other activities that truly engage you, if you don’t mind me asking. If you don't get 8 hours of sleep, drop whatever you're doing that prevents you from sleeping enough, as a matter of urgency! YouTube was my vice, and I cut it out. I still struggle to keep to my sleep times, but it's one less obstacle on the way. Seek therapy for anxiety. I say this as someone who "didn't need a therapist" until finally reaching a breakdown point. I would say that for me sleep is the number one most important thing; and it did take me a while to figure this out, but the difference is very noticeable relative to when I don't sleep as proper as I should. Again, sleep is the NUMBER ONE most important thing, especially for an engineer. >If you don't get 8 hours of sleep, drop whatever you're doing that prevents you from sleeping enough, as a matter of urgency! Not sure my wife or kids would appreciate that one... There's nothing unnatural about what you're feeling. Sometimes it will be better and sadly, sometimes it will be worse. I think the first step is to realize that it's natural and there is nothing wrong with you. Second, I'm going to be real blunt here and this isn't going to help me in any interviews but it needs to be said. Ask yourself a serious question, "Is this job worth my suffering?". If you need time away to go on a walk, learn how to paint, read a book, hiking, or just working on a side project, you need to ask for it. If you're lucky enough to be a job that will understand that then take advantage of it. If your job makes it more difficult then don't stress but it might be time to try to find another job. If a company asked me to work 60+hrs a week I would laugh. If I wanted to work 60 hours, they wouldn't need to ask. Also it's very freeing to take your job less serious and in all honesty, I see improved performance when I'm in that mood. Some people say pick up a non-related hobby... I think it's simpler than that, really. Just think of what you want to do at any given time and go do that in your time off. My problem in the past has always been making excuses to not do the things I actually wanted to do in my spare time. There's a bunch more I could speak on this but I think this is fine for now. Go do something fun. Do what you want to do. Exercise, maintain a good diet. Find a good hobby that consumes your attention and distracts you from work and phone notifications, +1. Also known in a somewhat disparaging tone as “have a life”. Friends that you can hang out with, discover things with. Best friends later in life are the ones you explored new stuff with earlier. Learn an instrument, take cooking classes. Do stuff that isn’t work, watching TV or scrolling Hacker News, after you exercise. Relevant video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc3c3OrpKSI It's called ruminating. You do have to train yourself to stop thinking of work past a certain point. It's unhealthy and doesn't make you more productive. The 9-5 actually makes it worse, because you're helpless outside office hours. The proposed solution is to acknowledge that it's anti-productive. And if you really have to think about work, do it in a productive manner - plan out a schedule, read a book, don't feel helpless. In my experience, time boxing helps to manage stressful work. By this I mean to keep strict hours, for example 9-12 with an hour lunch, then 13-18:00, and getting off exactly on time. Use lunch time to break up your day so that you mentally have progress rather than a uniform slog that you get if you eat at your desk. It also forces you to get stuff done asap and manage your work better. Outside of work, side projects helped me stay mentally fit and overall happy, energized. Combined with exercise that will help you perform at work over time. Side projects are great they bring the fun of coding out. Trying to have fun is important It would be good to know what is stressing you about the job. For example, I find grandstanding by higher ups stressful. “Just get it done” “this needs to be done in 3 days (ignoring any estimates)” I also create my own stress by perfectionism. Depending on the cause that would determine the solution. You might be helped by a psychologist, by changing teams/roles, assertiveness training or just having hobbies to switch off after work. You are beating yourself up too much. Work hard, enjoy the money you make. That may mean going out for a nice dinner or buying an expensive pair of hiking boots. It's the little things that get us through the month. And family if you have one.
Assuming you are in your 20s there are people here twice your age still griping about work. You have a good headstart. Identity diversification. Don't be your job. Invest time and effort in people and activities outside of work. Having spent a lot of time working for financial institution I must also add, that they might be the least rewarding workplaces. Perhaps look for a job in a product-oriented company instead. In my experience, there is a difference. With experience hopefully you’ll be less stressed as you’ll have seen different situations before and have more confidence.. I’m not sure I understand how you can be in banking and in the bottom 40% salary of your country though.. isn’t banking well paid (comparatively to other industries) everywhere? Keep the job absolutely to 9 to 5. Don't even let it encroach on your not work time. Stress and anxiety are the issues here. If you can afford it find a therapist that can help you navigate your way through this. Let HR know you're dealing with this. They will be more understanding if they know what is going on. Ask for a raise and in the mean-time keep eyes open for the next opportunity - time to make some cash :) Just gotta keep livin man. Don't make more of your job than it is. Give your effort, but not your heart. Show up, do the job, and get paid. Don't get any more involved than you have to be. The job won't love you back, aandyou are not your job.