Every other Thursday is usually paid-subscriber post day where I write a bit more off-the-cuff about stuff that’s on my mind. Since this post is probably broadly relevant, it’s free for everyone.
This week I’ve been happily binging on games, specifically Persona 5 Royal. It’s been a while since I’ve picked up a JRPG, and by my recent calculations, my 90-hour save file represents over 15% of the available hours since I bought the game a couple of weeks ago. Buying the game itself was pretty much an impulse purchase while the thing was on sale, so the whole situation right now is essentially just one of relatively poor impulse control and sleep deprivation.
But I’m still indulging myself on this… because I recognize that this sort of behavior is usually a sign of just being stressed enough that I’m one step closer to some kinda burnout. While there’s still miles and miles of runway left before I’m even in any sort of danger of actual burnout, I know myself well enough now to know I need the break and rest that comes from some impulsive escapism. Work has been going well, but a lot of long-running projects are coming to a peak within a tight period and making things extra hectic.
Much earlier in my career, I had the misfortune of being at a crappy workplace with abusive bosses, so I grew familiar enough with high-stress situations to learn what my personal signs of impending mental unhealth are — insomnia, a persistent feeling of being short of breath, impulsive purchasing of goods, among other things.
Back then, I luckily took some advice to take a vacation for a week to see some friends when things were going poorly. I have a very clear memory of the moment where I boarded the plane, the doors closed, and the crew told everyone to shut their phones off in preparation for takeoff. In that moment, I was given permission to completely disconnect from work. The ad systems I was responsible monitoring and retargeting regularly could catch on fire that moment and there was nothing I can, nor should, do. The instant I realized I was free, I could suddenly breathe again.
What surprised me at the time was how, in the moment, I hadn’t even realized I had been breathing shallowly from all the tension. Stress is extremely insidious and creeps up on you when you’re too busy to even notice.
Ever since that epiphany on the runway at JFK, I’ve paid more attention to what I tend to do as I work up the various levels of stress that come with life. I’ll take breaks where possible, and have slowly learned the signs of when I need to just take a day or two off to reset.
On a personal level, that’s all well and good for me. But as of late, as I’ve slowly mentored more and more folk, I’ve been fumbling my way to towards making sure that the people around me know when to take breaks. Especially those who had just started working, or just haven’t figured out what their own personal stress signs are yet.
My observation is that people seem to learn these things in hindsight. For example, they don’t realize how stressed they are until a source of stress like a manager or stakeholder goes on vacation and suddenly they realize just how much better they feel. Since everyone is different, it’s almost impossible outside of the most extreme cases to even identify whether someone is over-stressed.
Thus far I’ve just relied on telling stories like the ones here, and encouraging people to go and take breaks where they fully disconnect for a couple of days. Maybe it helps someone out there, maybe it doesn’t.
But hey, if you’re reading this and think you might need a couple of days off. You’re probably right about that.
Randy thanks for this one especially. It felt very real. Seconded on all points.
One tell even when one has no consciousness of being stressed at work is having a sweet tooth that vanishes on weekends. Because stress isn’t all in the head. The human body is a tightly integrated system.
Chronic low-level stress can lead to the secretion of high levels of glucocorticoids. Glucocorticoids promote gluconeogenesis in the liver, decrease glucose uptake and utilization in skeletal muscle and white adipose tissue, and cause hyperglycemia and insulin resistance, eventually leading to diabetes 2.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the resulting decrease in cellular uptake of glucose can induce hunger, commonly including cravings for carbohydrates, especially sweets. Clinical manifestations include high frequency and volume of urination and decreased sensitivity in the soles of the feet. Pinpricks are less noticeable. Fatigue and/or sleep disturbances are also signs.
It may be helpful to self-monitor glucose levels with over-the-counter test strips and readers. The require making a break in the skin of a finger with a very sharp fine needle and squeezing out a drop. The accuracy is not very important but even uncalibrated readings can show trends that may provide evidence of the health impact of work related chronic low-level stress.