thank you very much for calling out an important issue and providing awesome solutions.
Burnout is real and it applies to all of us including children. I loved the stressor and solution models. Alas, as you have pointed there are no solutions to some problems and in these situations just realizing you are not alone and constantly reminding yourself that help is just around the corner can calm things down.
Identifying de-stressors for people in the family has helped us look beyond the pandemic and its consequences.
Son - 7-Yr - Get him to the local park so he can play with kids his age and not have to wait for a play date. This has given him great looking forward to every evening. we found this during a vacation. we took him to the city park and literally all the kids in the town were there playing and my son got so excited and played for 3 hours straight. my wife and I were able to get a good stroll while he was lost in the sea of kids having total fun. that made us realize that this is what he wants. so we found the local park in our neighborhood (there are many parks in our neighborhood but only one has kids playing all the time) and bam he instantly found kids his age and now it's a routine he really looks forward to.
for me and my wife -
Simplify meal preparation - we discovered a great faster way to cook Indian meal and boy that has not only helped us eat healthily but also has considerably reduced time in the kitchen
Off-the-grid vacation - we find remote beaches where there's no cellphone signal so we can spend a vacation truly off the grid. this definitely helps set expectation at work and also remind us that we don't have to be on phone replying to messages and emails ALL the time
Reading and listening to audiobooks - This has been a great stress buster. I have increased reading time especially before going to bed which really helps clear things up and listening to a good audiobook has been a great aide when doing mundane chores like cleaning, doing the dishes, shopping.
I learned to make many meals in the Instant Pot (including our family favorite, Butter Chicken) or in bulk (I make 6x the naan recipe on the weekend and freeze it for up to a month), and it has made our lives a lot easier.
Thanks for sharing Deb! I don’t know if you remember but I had recently reached out to you for advice and after listening to my story patiently, you said, “It sounds like you are running away from your current situation rather than moving towards something positive”. That stuck with me and I realized what I was running from
was burnout and the burnout prevented me from looking at anything positively. This article along with the book, “Burnout: Unlock your Stress Cycle” helped me and things seem to be taking a positive turn. Thank you!
thank you very much for calling out an important issue and providing awesome solutions.
Burnout is real and it applies to all of us including children. I loved the stressor and solution models. Alas, as you have pointed there are no solutions to some problems and in these situations just realizing you are not alone and constantly reminding yourself that help is just around the corner can calm things down.
Identifying de-stressors for people in the family has helped us look beyond the pandemic and its consequences.
Son - 7-Yr - Get him to the local park so he can play with kids his age and not have to wait for a play date. This has given him great looking forward to every evening. we found this during a vacation. we took him to the city park and literally all the kids in the town were there playing and my son got so excited and played for 3 hours straight. my wife and I were able to get a good stroll while he was lost in the sea of kids having total fun. that made us realize that this is what he wants. so we found the local park in our neighborhood (there are many parks in our neighborhood but only one has kids playing all the time) and bam he instantly found kids his age and now it's a routine he really looks forward to.
for me and my wife -
Simplify meal preparation - we discovered a great faster way to cook Indian meal and boy that has not only helped us eat healthily but also has considerably reduced time in the kitchen
Off-the-grid vacation - we find remote beaches where there's no cellphone signal so we can spend a vacation truly off the grid. this definitely helps set expectation at work and also remind us that we don't have to be on phone replying to messages and emails ALL the time
Reading and listening to audiobooks - This has been a great stress buster. I have increased reading time especially before going to bed which really helps clear things up and listening to a good audiobook has been a great aide when doing mundane chores like cleaning, doing the dishes, shopping.
I love your tips! Thanks for sharing.
I learned to make many meals in the Instant Pot (including our family favorite, Butter Chicken) or in bulk (I make 6x the naan recipe on the weekend and freeze it for up to a month), and it has made our lives a lot easier.
Thanks for sharing Deb! I don’t know if you remember but I had recently reached out to you for advice and after listening to my story patiently, you said, “It sounds like you are running away from your current situation rather than moving towards something positive”. That stuck with me and I realized what I was running from
was burnout and the burnout prevented me from looking at anything positively. This article along with the book, “Burnout: Unlock your Stress Cycle” helped me and things seem to be taking a positive turn. Thank you!
Thank you so much for writing this! Your experience and insights seem to be in line with what I also talk about in a 4 part series on burnout. If you're curious, you can find it here: https://thecaringtechie.substack.com/p/burnout-in-tech-part-1-declaring
Appreciate you sharing your experience and tips, Deb.
Thanks for this Deb. I just love reading your articles
Thanks for this Deb, love that you are still writing and publishing!
Really good article. Thanks!