Burned out and addicted to my phone
I think I'm burned out. I find it incredibly hard to focus on work for any amount of time. I use the pomodoro technique to try to focus; I use 25 minute focus sessions followed by 5 minute breaks. Right now I struggle to even hit 3 hours total focus time throughout the day at work. Most times during my "5 minute" break, I end up picking up my phone and wasting a ton of time on social media before I finally start another 25 minute working session. I've tried increasing the length of my focus sessions to 1 hour with a 12 minute break and found that I was even less productive than when I stick to 25 minute focus sessions with a 5 minute break. I've tried uninstalling apps, I've tried putting my phone in focus mode/DND, I've tried putting my phone in the other room. None of it works long-term. It's only 8PM and I've spent 9 hours and 7 minutes on my phone today so far. Lately I've been spending anywhere from 5 to 11 hours on my phone every day, which is absolutely sickening to me. I started working at Meta in June. I am an Accenture contractor working as a DE. I have no idea whether my work performance lives up to my manager's expectations or not. My only work experience prior to this job was at a F500 power company, where I was the only data engineer and productivity expectations weren't nearly what they are at Meta. So I don't really have much to compare this job to in terms of expectations and whether I'm performing well enough or not. When I first got the job, I became very stressed due to the high expectations and began clenching my teeth both at night and during the day. This, in turn, caused migraines on a near-daily basis, which destroyed my productivity even more. I've gotten a mouthguard to wear at night and have somewhat gained control of my stress levels, so I only have migraines less than once a month now. But this is another indicator I am burned out. I haven't gone on vacation in over a year because I didn't have enough PTO accrued yet. At my last job, I also struggled with being productive (could barely work for 2 hours over the course of an 8 hour day), but I think that was because I was just bored. At Meta, I started out being able to work for 5+ hours because I was so worried about being good enough, but now I'm back to barely being able to work for 3 productive hours over the course of the 8 hour day. I exercise pretty often, going to jiu jitsu 3-4 times a week. I haven't been weightlifting recently, but I'm going to force myself back into that as well. I want to be a top performer at work, but I keep wasting time like this. Does anyone have any advice on how to stop wasting so much time on their phone and to actually focus on work? TC 156K YOE 4 #burnout #phoneaddiction #productivity #performance
I have the same issue, I burned out at AWS and I'm finding it hard to give a fuck about work. It's like the passion is just gone and I'm looking for something more interesting on my phone like sex or a new career that pays just as well. Maybe we need to volunteer more?
Focus on your mental health. The addiction and lack of focus are typically expressions of deeper underlying anxieties or uncomfortable emotions. Find a therapist, learn about CBT, meditate, clean up your diet and this will get better over time. My focus is much better now after a few years of this work, though it’s certainly not perfect. I suspect it will always be a challenge but grateful for progress.
What’s CBT?
CBT: Cognitive Behavioral therapy
TL;DR - in my opinion, a long term goal that you can feel like you're making progress towards is a great way to stay focused I have this problem myself. I'm at over double your YOE and still face it. While I'm still struggling with it I think I've found my personal answer: a goal. Not just any goal, but one that you really believe in. When I started at Google, I was knocking everything out, being so thrilled to be there and suffering from imposter syndrome. My goal was to get promoted to senior asap as I thought I had been underleveled and was a decent amount older than my peers. Did I get to where I wanted to go? Yes, but not without burning myself after being "always on" for so long at a time, only to find that my progression was going to be metered by blanket policies and politics. That made me realize that my work in and of itself didn't really mean much. When I finally got to where I wanted to be, the question instantly became, "what next?" At this point, I no longer had this organic goal in my head but instead was searching for what I wanted out of my career next. Management? Bigger scope? More money? Nothing really seemed that appealing, and definitely not worth the kind of effort I was putting out there for so long. Anyway, this answer is mostly my empathizing but I hope it can help out in some way. Maybe think ahead to the next year, 2, 5, whatever. See if anything pops out at you.
Thank you for taking the time to write this out. Have you found a goal you really believe in? What is it; how did you find it?
To be honest, not really. It's kinda like life is more on autopilot now. I think I'll give it another 6 months to a year before I make anymore serious pushes cause it does kinda feel like I am still burnt out.
Only difference between you and my situation iam laid off and feel even more loser sitting at home no ambitions no life no friends and yes gained weight on top of everything no motivation I am hoping I can pull myself out of this phase , I absolutely hate this question why you looking for a job and why you applied for this position some questions from interviews need to be left on 2022
Reach out to your connections for work. Update the hell out of your LinkedIn profile
Yeah man same boat. Productivity is totally in the dumps and it’s affecting my work as well. Unable to motivate myself to hit the gym and the stress is leading to health issues as well. I’ve taken short breaks now and then but it doesn’t seem to help. I feel the need to be constantly on the lookout for the next thing. Spent 6 years at AWS and maybe that monotony is getting to me. Was planning to change teams by end of last year and had even spoken to a couple of HMs but the hiring freeze kicked in and that’s frustrating me all the more. I seriously need to know how to be able to focus on work and stop doomscrolling on my phone in search of some distraction.
Not sure if this helpful but try keeping your cell phone for charging in another room every night. Use an alarm clock ⏰ instead in your room. Assuming you are spending 2-3 hours on bed before sleeping every night like me.
Would not recommend above if you're oncall 🤐
Agreed. It was just an idea. :)
Setting time limits for apps is one option. You still get to use your apps but you tend to be more focused about your time spent on them.
For your pomodoro breaks, try doing nothing. Not listening to music, not reading a book. Just rest with your eyes closed or something. It's much more energizing and makes them feel longer, the latter which makes me less want to procrastinate returning to work. Also, check if you can completely disable your phone. The app timers never worked for me. My OnePlus has a zen mode which completely disabled it except for emergency calls for a set amount of time. E.g. I disable it for 2 hr before bed.
Also, for me, enjoying and just trying to do best in the moment 1 step at a time has helped with procrastination. Before I was always upset and ashamed with how little I got done. Even when I'd get progress done, I'd be thinking "if only I did x optimally I'd have gotten more done", which is bad cause I should have been giving myself positive feedback for making progress. Aiming only for perfection fueled my procrastination so much.
Anybody who has experienced genuine “flow” does not believe in the Pomodoro technique.
In the same boat and looking for advise