A new beginning after burnout is a delicate matter. As I said there and as I will say often, I am afraid of secondary burnout and need to find ways to manage work in a healthy way. I’ve collected a lot of my thoughts on this topic, but they’re currently still a jumble of notes that I’m slowly structuring. A series of posts will follow over time.
I was particularly impressed by many of the notes I received from my friends and colleagues, as well as the readings in response Life after burnout. I’m encouraged by the support, but I’m also disappointed in the state of the industry that so many people are struggling in similar ways. I’m thinking about forming a community of practice around this topic, as we clearly need to work to transform the way we work as people, businesses and society as a whole.
As for why it’s hard to start over – I still have all this work left that isn’t done yet. I made commitments in 2023 that I hoped to fulfill in the first and second quarters of 2024, but are still unfinished. I have a huge development delay. I have so many half-written posts and updates that need to be made to the site. Hello, my old friend, the mountain of unfinished work! I feel the fear in my body as I watch all this, and I understand the impulse of so many burnt-out people to give up everything and start over somewhere else.
But this is all internal. The best place to start is where I’ve received specific requests from others, namely around abstractions and interfaces.
Abstractions and interfaces work
I’m proud of it Designing embedded software for changebut over time I see that it probably would have been better structured as smaller, distinct courses. On the one hand, this would reduce production and maintenance effort, as smaller, different components help isolate changes. Which, e.g DFCis a real challenge – it is in a semi-updated state and some updates are completed but are blocked by unfinished updates in other lessons.
I also think smaller courses are more accessible. You may actually feel like it’s something you can fit into your work schedule. You can make meaningful progress with little available time. You can choose exactly what you need.
So instead of having a single, comprehensive “Abstractions and Interfaces” course, I plan to create a series of related, smaller courses:
- Basics of abstraction
- Design and document interfaces
- Common challenges in interface design
- Interface and abstraction design for drivers and BSPs
These are still working titles, and the actual structure may change as I continue to redesign the material, but that seems to be the trend at the moment.
I’m currently organizing the huge mess of notes and references I’ve collected into working outlines for each course. When I feel like this organizational step is complete, I will begin the first steps of setting up the courses and putting together the first outlines and structures for each one.
If you’ve already purchased the course, don’t worry – you’ll get access to the entire course package.
Elimination of residues
When I’m done writing for the day, I spend time clearing out my backlog to relieve the feeling of pressure. I deleted entire projects and hundreds of individual tasks from my to-do list. I deleted the emails that I had marked as reply for the last two years (I’m really sorry, I really wanted to get back to you and life didn’t cooperate. You can email me again!). I’ve been going through Readwise Reader and sorting out hundreds of articles and articles that I don’t need to read.
Wow, I’m telling you, this is so liberating. I can feel the change in my body. Of course, I initially had a guilty conscience and felt the tendency to hoard increasing – me Really I wanted all that stuff! It still matters!
However, I have to be realistic about what I can achieve with the energy and time I actually have. My desires clearly don’t fit within the boundaries of my life, and that’s one aspect of burnout.
Back to development
I enjoy writing code and solving problems. This is something that brings me joy and exercises my brain. That’s actually why I do this work. But as my career progressed, it seemed like I was getting less and less fulfilled by the part that I actually enjoyed. I also notice the industry’s push for this further automate this fun part of the job.
To practice doing what I really love, I tried to invest time in writing code every day. I started with a few small tool projects – namely Obsidian plugins to support my workflows – and that was quite rewarding. Certainly a good hit of dopamine to program something and then feel the benefits spread to other parts of my work!
What I’ve read
I really, really, REALLY enjoyed reading through the papers again James Mickens. They are evergreen and always fun. If anything, they get better with age as we seem to move further and further into the ridiculousness he often highlights.
Improvements in the baking processby Jason Sachs gave a great overview of process improvements (using cookie baking as an example), the importance of working in small batches and making improvements, and the importance of capturing process notes and other issues. Amusing and insightful.
I’ve always enjoyed reading Ken Shirriff’s articles and he has a new one out: Unusual circuitry in the Intel 386’s standard cell logic.
Most of my reading was admittedly unrelated to engineering.
We recently finished reading it Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson for our evening family reading time and moved on to The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. Both classic and very entertaining.
I enjoyed reading Buffalo hunter hunter by Stephen Graham Jones – a mix of Western, Native American horror that was also thought-provoking and touched on the intergenerational nature of trauma.
Learn true loveby Sister Chan Khong, has been on my list for a year since I accepted this Who is Thich Nhat Hanh? Course offered by Deer Park Monastery. This is my second time taking the course, which prompted me to read it. A deep bow to this woman who must truly be considered a saint. I would be content if I had even a fraction of the bravery and compassion she showed in her life.
I’m enjoying right now Tomorrow nighta collection of poems by the recently deceased Reverend Dr. Larry Ward.
Sit with me
Where are you running to?
to my friend
Your mind becomes dizzy
with the things of the world
and your stomach is bloated
of too much?Please stop, come home,
Sit with me
the cool night air
Listen to the audio
of the garden trees
in the silence of the night.See the miracle of
the spider web inside
in front of your face
with its luminous lines
connect heaven and
Earth. Relax and enjoy
Your breath.One day everything we
see, touch, feel and imagine
everything will disappear.
Smile while you
are in here and
Now.Let go of all your worries
and fears float
down the river
of tears. No reason to hold on.
Fluttering in the wind like
Prayer flags.