Building a new life after burnout – Non Binary in Tech 2017 – London

28 years old, 2 burnout. Today, all tech jobs offer a good working environment, a competitive salary and… beers! Great, isn’t it? But everyday I hear new stories of people recovering from burnout or severe depression. What is going wrong in our life? It’s time to find a better work-life balance.

This are slides from my presentation for the Non Binary in Tech event 2017, in London. That was a really great event promoting non binary people in the tech industry.

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Transcript

1. BUILDING A NEW LIFE

   AFTER BURNOUT
   Non Binary in Tech • London • July 29th, 2017
   

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2. Damien Senger • hiwelo.
   UX / UI Designer

   Accessibility advocate
   hiwelo.co • @iamhiwelo
   Raccoon
   my own web studio
   raccoon.studio
   

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3. BUILDING A NEW LIFE
   AFTER BURNOUT
   

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4. 28 years old,
   2 burnouts.
   

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5. So I will tell you
   two stories.
   

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6. Two different experiences
   in two really different
   environments.
   

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7. Working as a campaign manager

   for a political electoral campaign
   1.
   

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9. A quick overview of a 

   campaign manager job
   A final deadline you can’t change.
   A lot of responsibilities:

   I was babysitting in charge of 12 candidates.
   A lot of skills involved in a workday:

   strategy, communication, administrative and legal
   stuff, PR, human resources management, etc.
   Work hours: 9am – 10pm the good days,

   7am – 2am the bad days.
   

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10. Working as a campaign manager

    for a political electoral campaign
    1.
    

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11. Working as a front end developer 

    in a small French web agency
    2.
    

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12. 3?
    I hope this slide will stay empty.
    

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13. Two different experiences…

    but one unique pattern.
    

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14. How can we

    detect these situations?
    

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15. Listen to yourself!
    Your body can give you 

    a lot of clues.
    

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16. Less performant
    Less focused, lack of memory
    Working more than the regular hours
    Fatigue, useless holidays
    Unstable mood, irritability
    Loneliness and exclusion
    Musculoskeletal disorders
    Risk behaviours
    

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17. Three main things to watch:
    Resignation, exhaustion, 

    inefficiency.
    

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18. Burnout is hell.
    

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19. Burnout is hell.
    But it’s not your fault.
    

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20. Burnout is hell.
    You must do something against it.
    

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21. Burnout is hell.
    It will not resolve itself.
    

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23. How can we

    recover from a burnout?
    

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24. You need to accept your condition:
    this is a real disease, ask for help.
    1.
    

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25. You need to take your time,
    and sometimes to make choices.
    2.
    

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26. You need to 

    adjust your environment.
    3.
    

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27. Reduce stress.
    

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28. There is no good stress.
    

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29. Stress is a natural body reaction,
    designed to be temporary.
    

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30. Stress over time

    turns into exhaustion.
    

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31. Three main things to watch:
    Resignation, exhaustion, 

    inefficiency.
    Fighting stress is the best solution against exhaustion.
    

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32. I moved to a more peaceful city: Amsterdam.
    

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33. Reduce fear.
    

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34. At work, we have fear…

    of everything.
    

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35. Judgement, failure, ratings, errors…

    Is our work this much scary?
    

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36. “
    Nobody has ever been fired at Valve 

    for making a mistake. 

    It wouldn’t make sense for us 

    to operate that way.
    VALVE
    

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37. Failure is part of 

    the human process.
    

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38. We can learn more from our
    failures than our success.
    

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39. To fight fear, we need more trust
    and more independence.
    

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40. Trust and independence are
    needed to increase
    self-confidence.
    

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41. Three main things to watch:
    Resignation, exhaustion, 

    inefficiency.
    Reducing fear is the best solution against resignation.
    

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42. I chose to focus my job on my main interests: 

    accessibility and improving users’ web experience.
    

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43. Find help.
    

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44. Burnout involves one person.
    This person is not responsible.
    

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45. Burnout involves one person.
    But it’s a collective responsibility.
    

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46. We need to find a better
    work-life balance.
    

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47. Don’t hesitate to take
    sick leave when needed.
    

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48. Ask for more breaks.
    Ask for more research time.
    

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49. After a sprint, you need a break.

    For your brain, it’s the same!
    

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50. Say thank you.
    

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51. If needed, ask for a new team.
    

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52. Look for new opportunities.
    

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53. A more inclusive workplace
    is needed for a good mental health.
    

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54. Fight for yourself,
    and for everyone else!
    

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55. Three main things to watch:
    Resignation, exhaustion, 

    inefficiency.
    Asking for help is the best solution against inefficiency.
    

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56. Feeling over-whelmed, few days ago I asked for a 

    new planning and different tasks: it worked well!
    

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57. How can we
    avoid these situations?
    

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58. We have 

    no super power.
    

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59. We are no ninjas, gurus, 

    unicorns, rockstars or whatever.
    

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60. We are professionals.
    We deserve respect.
    

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61. We must say no.
    

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62. No.
    

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63. Say it.
    Say it over and over.
    Never stop saying it.
    

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64. Nope.
    

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65. Listen to yourself.
    Learn from yourself.
    Watch for your limits.
    

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66. “I just talked with William, 

    I know you are no backend developer but
    we have this emergency.

    Can you fix it for tomorrow morning?
    Your project/product manager at 5pm.
    

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67. Nope, nope & nope.
    

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69. If you work on unknown things,
    you need time. Ask for it.
    

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70. We must control
    our plannings.
    

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71. Tasks, deadlines, schedules:
    tell your limits and ask for help!
    

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72. Switching often between tasks
    is highly exhausting for our brain.
    

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73. And no, I mean, NO task ever takes

    only five minutes!
    

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74. We are not our work.
    We are more.
    

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75. Thank you!

    (and please pardon my French!)
    damien@raccoon.studio • @iamhiwelo
    

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