Slide 1

Slide 1 text

BUILDING A NEW LIFE
 AFTER BURNOUT Non Binary in Tech • London • July 29th, 2017

Slide 2

Slide 2 text

Damien Senger • hiwelo. UX / UI Designer
 Accessibility advocate hiwelo.co • @iamhiwelo Raccoon my own web studio raccoon.studio

Slide 3

Slide 3 text

BUILDING A NEW LIFE AFTER BURNOUT

Slide 4

Slide 4 text

28 years old, 2 burnouts.

Slide 5

Slide 5 text

So I will tell you two stories.

Slide 6

Slide 6 text

Two different experiences in two really different environments.

Slide 7

Slide 7 text

Working as a campaign manager
 for a political electoral campaign 1.

Slide 8

Slide 8 text

No content

Slide 9

Slide 9 text

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.

Slide 10

Slide 10 text

Working as a campaign manager
 for a political electoral campaign 1.

Slide 11

Slide 11 text

Working as a front end developer 
 in a small French web agency 2.

Slide 12

Slide 12 text

3? I hope this slide will stay empty.

Slide 13

Slide 13 text

Two different experiences…
 but one unique pattern.

Slide 14

Slide 14 text

How can we
 detect these situations?

Slide 15

Slide 15 text

Listen to yourself! Your body can give you 
 a lot of clues.

Slide 16

Slide 16 text

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

Slide 17

Slide 17 text

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

Slide 18

Slide 18 text

Burnout is hell.

Slide 19

Slide 19 text

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

Slide 20

Slide 20 text

Burnout is hell. You must do something against it.

Slide 21

Slide 21 text

Burnout is hell. It will not resolve itself.

Slide 22

Slide 22 text

No content

Slide 23

Slide 23 text

How can we
 recover from a burnout?

Slide 24

Slide 24 text

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

Slide 25

Slide 25 text

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

Slide 26

Slide 26 text

You need to 
 adjust your environment. 3.

Slide 27

Slide 27 text

Reduce stress.

Slide 28

Slide 28 text

There is no good stress.

Slide 29

Slide 29 text

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

Slide 30

Slide 30 text

Stress over time
 turns into exhaustion.

Slide 31

Slide 31 text

Three main things to watch: Resignation, exhaustion, 
 inefficiency. Fighting stress is the best solution against exhaustion.

Slide 32

Slide 32 text

I moved to a more peaceful city: Amsterdam.

Slide 33

Slide 33 text

Reduce fear.

Slide 34

Slide 34 text

At work, we have fear…
 of everything.

Slide 35

Slide 35 text

Judgement, failure, ratings, errors…
 Is our work this much scary?

Slide 36

Slide 36 text

“ Nobody has ever been fired at Valve 
 for making a mistake. 
 It wouldn’t make sense for us 
 to operate that way. VALVE

Slide 37

Slide 37 text

Failure is part of 
 the human process.

Slide 38

Slide 38 text

We can learn more from our failures than our success.

Slide 39

Slide 39 text

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

Slide 40

Slide 40 text

Trust and independence are needed to increase self-confidence.

Slide 41

Slide 41 text

Three main things to watch: Resignation, exhaustion, 
 inefficiency. Reducing fear is the best solution against resignation.

Slide 42

Slide 42 text

I chose to focus my job on my main interests: 
 accessibility and improving users’ web experience.

Slide 43

Slide 43 text

Find help.

Slide 44

Slide 44 text

Burnout involves one person. This person is not responsible.

Slide 45

Slide 45 text

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

Slide 46

Slide 46 text

We need to find a better work-life balance.

Slide 47

Slide 47 text

Don’t hesitate to take sick leave when needed.

Slide 48

Slide 48 text

Ask for more breaks. Ask for more research time.

Slide 49

Slide 49 text

After a sprint, you need a break.
 For your brain, it’s the same!

Slide 50

Slide 50 text

Say thank you.

Slide 51

Slide 51 text

If needed, ask for a new team.

Slide 52

Slide 52 text

Look for new opportunities.

Slide 53

Slide 53 text

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

Slide 54

Slide 54 text

Fight for yourself, and for everyone else!

Slide 55

Slide 55 text

Three main things to watch: Resignation, exhaustion, 
 inefficiency. Asking for help is the best solution against inefficiency.

Slide 56

Slide 56 text

Feeling over-whelmed, few days ago I asked for a 
 new planning and different tasks: it worked well!

Slide 57

Slide 57 text

How can we avoid these situations?

Slide 58

Slide 58 text

We have 
 no super power.

Slide 59

Slide 59 text

We are no ninjas, gurus, 
 unicorns, rockstars or whatever.

Slide 60

Slide 60 text

We are professionals. We deserve respect.

Slide 61

Slide 61 text

We must say no.

Slide 62

Slide 62 text

No.

Slide 63

Slide 63 text

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

Slide 64

Slide 64 text

Nope.

Slide 65

Slide 65 text

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

Slide 66

Slide 66 text

“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.

Slide 67

Slide 67 text

Nope, nope & nope.

Slide 68

Slide 68 text

No content

Slide 69

Slide 69 text

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

Slide 70

Slide 70 text

We must control our plannings.

Slide 71

Slide 71 text

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

Slide 72

Slide 72 text

Switching often between tasks is highly exhausting for our brain.

Slide 73

Slide 73 text

And no, I mean, NO task ever takes
 only five minutes!

Slide 74

Slide 74 text

We are not our work. We are more.

Slide 75

Slide 75 text

Thank you!
 (and please pardon my French!) [email protected] • @iamhiwelo