Alli Peck recounts severe burnout she experienced in 2013 while working at a startup (14-hour days, seven days a week, including holidays), describing nightmares, anxiety, and depression. She explains that reaching that limit taught her her personal tolerance for stress and then lists practical strategies she uses now to prevent burnout: (1) regularly communicating stress levels with her manager, (2) saying no or negotiating deprioritization using constructive language, and (3) working fully remote which she credits for maintaining good mental health. She closes by advising viewers to ask which parts of their stressful situation they can control and change today.
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I experienced insane amounts of burnout in 2013. I worked for a startup. I was working 14 hour days, seven days a week, even holidays. I was having nightmares about work. I had anxiety, I had depression. It was really bad. That was me reaching my limit. And now I know where my limit is and I'm glad it happened. Now I know for myself at least what I can tolerate in terms of stress and workload. The point of this video is to tell you that different people have a different tolerance for stress and workload. Not everybody has kids, not everybody has a hobby outside of work. Not everybody has a supportive community that they can rely on when they're feeling stressed and overworked. So how do I Prevent burnout now, 10 years later? Number one thing I do is I talk to my manager about my stress level all the time. He always knows where I'm at and it's a regular part of our conversations in our one on one meetings. The next thing I do is I say no when I can't take on any more work. But I phrase it in a productive way like this. I'd like to say yes, but my plate is really full right now. What can we take off my plate or deprioritize so I can fit this new task in? And lastly, I work fully remote. If I'm being perfectly honest, that is what really allows me to have good mental health. If you are stressed or feeling overworked or burnt out, ask yourself this. Which part of that situation is in my control and can I change today?
