I'm currently experiencing severe burnout. I started a new job at Meta and I'm chasing a promotion: there wasn't many interesting opportunities for growth in my team so I picked the only one available, a very challenging project that I realized I'm not particularly interested in it, which makes it even harder. On top I'm also involved in many other smaller initiatives, so I'm experiencing high context switch, which is kinda expected at my level (IC5). Symptoms I'm facing: 1- I don't want to work anymore, not just in this company, but in the industry (although I don't know what I want to do in my life in general) 2- I'm no longer enjoying my free time: I used to do music, sport, going out 3- I feel overwhelmed by every single message I get in chat, because I feel I have no time to think about a new problem, I'm saturated 4- Bad sleep - waking up in the middle of the night ruminating about work 5- Constantly tired and low mood 6- digestion/bowel issues 7- PTO: going on PTO does NOT help. I tried that multiple times, whenever I'm back it's the same old story I know others have been there and I'm reading through various posts, listening to podcasts, reading articles, other than seeing my therapist. Any advice is welcome, thanks in advance. #burnout #depression #stress
Stop chasing promo?
thanks that's probably the way to go, my prob is that I've already initiated this project involving several other people. It would be really disappointing to give up at this stage + I will lose everyone's trust in my org.
Talk to your manager about how you're feeling. Your mental health takes precedence over everything else.
Talkspace or Betterhelp
I am already seeing a therapist, thanks
Same boat but I did get promoted. However my problem was mainly due to the company culture. I chose to quit given that I hinted my boss so many times but still no change.
Start eating pickled cucumbers after each meal this will fix your point 6. Your gut is your second brain, once that's fixed you'll be back in business. Let me know how this goes. Good luck
Meditate 🧘
Did you get tested for thyroid issues and some bowel stuff
Wrong thyroid and vit b effects mood, are you vegan?
no never tested for that and I'm not vegan
Don’t give too much time for your thoughts. Go for workouts/intense cardio activities minimum of 30mins daily.. talk to friends/people whom like to.. staying alone can worsen this feeling
I'm staying alone A LOT, thanks for the advice
This. Just try to find a friend who may move in with you. Make friends out of your. Colleagues if you're comfortable. Start activities. And tell your manager that you're not focussing on promo for 2-3 months.
Correct . Start taking vit B complex supplements
Big symptom of your company or manager sucks. Consider moving to a different company or team.
Yeah I had several managers in a short amount of time, due to reorgs and people changing teams. But again I was the one picking this massive project, so a lot of the blame is def on me.
Yeah having a manager you can trust and looks out for you matters a lot. Let alone a manager who sticks around.
Dam I went through the same thing. I also had cold sweat 5 am in the morning and every slack message reminds me of on call. Seek a therapist like $180 per session and do 6 to 7 of them. They will work with you to undo the damage and define boundary. It takes time and you have to forcefully take a step back even say no to your manager or projects. Also it is hard to find a good therapist, like software engineers if you find a good one it is gold. Advise to others is to improve you awareness and be able to step back before you burn out. Once you are burn out it takes like fucking 2 years to get out of that shit hole.
My dilemma is that I've already initiated this project, cross teams, I feel like abandon it would be a big failure and people will (rightly) lose trust in me. I shouldn't have picked it in the first place, but I feel it's too late now.
OP, many factors are out of your control. If you sacrifice so much and meta doesn’t appreciate, you should really write down your thoughts and decision process, set a timeout and leave. A nice thing about being SW engineer is you can leave a lot of shit behind and start a fresh life.