I’ve never commented here, I’ve only ever tangentially read much of anything here. But awhile ago I suffered immense burnout devoting all my resources working on a thankless task that had zero payoff, and I might be projecting but I see that burnout in EY’s responses here.
Unsolicited advice rarely has any value, especially given the limited window I’m perceiving things through, but… there’s that line from the opening sentence of the Haunting of Hill House: “No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality”.
The human mind isn’t built for this kind of distress. We’re animals that were built to do animal things, to walk and absorb sunlight and eat and sleep— and incidentally to experience joy and beauty— and without those things we break down.
If the goal is to go out fighting with dignity, and you see yourself having little energy to fight, it’s likely worthwhile to focus on recovery. If it costs a few months of rest to be a little closer to peak performance, you can do the math out over however long you expect we have left and decide if that rest has utility.
Burnout recovery for me was a long process involving a lot of time in nature, months-long hiking trips, travel with no cell service, and moments of both camaraderie and solitude. At the other end of it, the me I am now feels that every moment was worthwhile; not just because I’m performing much better, though I am, but also because those moments of joy and beauty and rest enriched my life.
Proper maintenance can keep you from suffering catastrophic burnout, and rest and recovery afterwards can help you regain your prior performance— but continuing on while suffering is just doing more damage to yourself and delaying healing.
I could be completely projecting here. I’ve no idea what the life of EY is like, what anyone else’s life is like. I do know that there are a lot more stressors now than in the ancestral environment, plenty of reasons to wear ourselves out and feel down. My hope is that this brief message acts as a datapoint encouraging those who read it to consider self care.
I’ve seen so many contemporaries burn themselves to cinders, and suffered from burnout myself, such that I can’t help but shout self-care. It’s good to hear that EY’s doing stuff other than staring unflinchingly into the heart of despair. Thanks for the update :)