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Has anyone managed to recover from а serious burnout without taking a sabbatical? How? (kbin.social)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I know it's not easy, but something that has helped me in a similar but not identical situation is to refuse to think about work outside of work. I was up last night worrying about work. So I know it's not a perfect strategy, but trying to lock your mind against it is helpful. Or has been to me. I try the "yes, this is a 'problem' but not a problem for right now. I deserve to only have to try and figure it out on the clock."

My subsidiary strategy is to try and have a fun mental game to play with myself. I'm a Star Wars guy so I try: If x was different how would Episode Y play out. Or what would my ideal zombie videogame look like. Essentially something that is "unimportant," that I like, that has a lot of factors to consider. #1 to enjoy thinking about, and #2 that is complex enough and detailed enough to supply me with an "endless" well of stuff to prevent the scaries from sneaking in.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thank you for sharing!

I like your mental game! I've been doing something similar but maybe not as in-depth.