I’ve noticed (with the help of family members and my SO) that I’ve become very negative, cynical and drained lately. Reading about burnout, I find all of the symptoms to be true for myself.
My job requires me to work on a single project full-time, and a couple of small side-projects. The management of the project is very chaotic and I feel more and more inadequate for my position. Priorities constantly change and just looking at the week’s schedule in Monday, I can tell the we’re not going meet the set goal by Friday. It has been like that for more than a year. It doesn’t help that I’ve become very pessimistic about the main project’s future.
Outside of work, I don’t have much free time. The little I have, I try to spend with my loved ones. Hobbies and other interests are on the back burner.
As the title implies, I don’t have the option of quitting or taking a sabbatical at the moment.
I know kbin is not a replacement for therapy but I was just wondering if anyone has been through this and found anything helpful other that distancing from their current workplace.
As someone who has worked for numerous chaotic software companies over the years and had a couple rounds of burnout:
You can try the quiet quitting thing, combined with things like meditation and distancing yourself from outcomes (e.g. stoic thinking around realizing what you control and don’t control). That might keep you going for a while.
But I’ve personally found that ultimately there is no substitute for quitting a toxic job and taking real time off (at least 3 weeks). Your body and mind have experienced trauma and need rest.
Best of luck, friendo