Sherry Walling Avoiding Burnout in Software
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
2 likes•1,039 views
The document discusses strategies for avoiding burnout as presented by Sherry Walling, a psychologist, yoga teacher, and speaker. It outlines signs of burnout including physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and lack of accomplishment. It then provides nine strategies for preventing burnout such as fighting isolation, focusing on meaningful work, encouraging saying no, celebrating successes, and paying attention to signs of burnout. Recovery strategies are also mentioned.
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to Sherry Walling Avoiding Burnout in Software
Similar to Sherry Walling Avoiding Burnout in Software (20)
More from Business of Software Conference
More from Business of Software Conference (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Sherry Walling Avoiding Burnout in Software
- 1. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. How to Stay at the Top of Your Game Without burning out, Becoming boring, Or going to live in your mom’s basement Sherry Walling, PhD ZenFounder.com
- 2. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 3. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 4. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 5. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 6. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 7. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Burnout isn’t a problem of the weak or the whiny. It can happen to any of us.
- 8. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 9. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Your work depends on YOU
- 10. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 11. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 12. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 13. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 13 1. Identify burnout in yourself and your team 2. Prevent burnout in yourself and your team 3. Recover if you’re already fried
- 14. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Burnout is: • Physical & emotional exhaustion • Cynicism & detachment • Ineffectiveness & lack of accomplishmen
- 15. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 16. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Yes. I’m talking to you.
- 17. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Burnout makes us suck at our work
- 18. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Burnout is common
- 19. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Burnout has the power to change the function, structure and chemistry of our brains
- 20. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 21. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 22. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Overactive Amygdala Impaired Modulation in the mPFC Further stimulation of the amygdala Neural “wear and tear” Impaired modulation of the mPFC Savic, I. (2015). Structural changes of the brain in relation to occupational stress. Cerebral Cortex, 25, 1554–1564.
- 23. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Burnout is associated with significant reductions in gray-matter volume in the: Hippocampus (memory) Caudate (reward & control) Putamen (learning) Blix, E., Perski, A., Berglund, H., & Savic, I. (2013). Long-term occupational stress is associated with regional reductions in brain tissue volumes. PLOS ONE 8: e64065.
- 24. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Employees who scored in the top 20% on the burnout scale at baseline had a 79% increase in risk coronary heart disease Source: Toker, S., Melamed, S., Berliner, S., Zeltser, D., & Shapira, I. (2012). Burnout and risk of coronary heart disease: A prospective study of 8838 employees. Psychosomatic Medicine, 74, 840–847.
- 25. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 25
- 26. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. The recipe for burnout: 1. Not enough social support 2. No clear or meaningful goals 3. Too much work 4. Few observable or rewarded successes 5. Limited control over work 6. A mismatch between what we think is important and the demands of our work day
- 27. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 9 Ways to Prevent Burnout (in yourself AND your team)
- 28. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Fight Isolation
- 29. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Value Time & Focus
- 30. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Meaningful Work
- 31. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Encourage No. and Later. and Help.
- 32. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Breathe
- 33. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Take Control. Give Control.
- 34. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Articulate Clear Goals
- 35. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Celebrate Success
- 36. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. Pay Attention
- 37. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 03
- 38. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.38 If you’re already fried… rest is helpful but not enough
- 39. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 03
- 40. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 41. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. – Jean-Paul Sartre “Everything Has Been Figured Out, Except How To Live.”
- 42. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. THANK YOU Sherry@SherryWalling.com @ZenFounder
- 43. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 44. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 45. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 45
- 46. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 46 Wecolme Message! The activities of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service that includes advertising, social media, selling products Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction marketing differs from selling because in the words of the best university of the world.
- 47. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 47 AWESOME PHOTOS LAYOUTS
- 48. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 49. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 49 Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction. from selling Do Marketing Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction. from selling Have More Batteries Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction. from selling Do GPS Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction. from selling Do Cloud Services OUR MISSION MARKETOFY LAYOUTS
- 50. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 50 BUSINESS MODEL
- 51. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 51 The activities of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service. It includes advertising, selling and delivering products to people. People who work in marketing departments of companies. Marketing to get the attention of target audiences by using slogans, packaging design, celebrity endorsements and general media exposure. The four 'Ps' of marketing are product, place, price and promotion. More about Tom 43% $43,430 Germany 89% $45,640 Spain 13% $32,631 USA BUSINESS MODEL MARKETOFY LAYOUTS
- 52. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 52 SERVICESCustomers are the source of real growth with practical expertise.
- 53. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 53 Phrase Of The Day Each day is an opportunity It's one thing to say this phrase each day, another to actually apply it. When you're standing in line at Starbucks, remember that this day has never existed before.
- 54. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 54 THE BEST MARKETING COMPANY OF THE AMERICA The activities of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service that includes advertising, social media, selling products
- 55. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 55 AWESOME PHOTOS LAYOUTS
- 56. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 56 TEAMCustomers are the source of real growth with practical expertise.
- 57. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 57 AWESOME PHOTOS LAYOUTS
- 58. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker.
- 59. ZenFounder.com @ZenFounder Sherry Walling, PhD psychologist. yoga teacher. speaker. 5 ONLY GREAT FEATURES IN ALL OUR APPS The activities of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service that includes advertising, social media, selling products MESSAGES: of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service. CALENDAR: of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service. TUNDERBOLT: of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service. SUPPORT: of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service.
Editor's Notes
- When I was 19, I emptied my entire savings account to buy a plane ticket to Ghana. I’d never left the country before. It was an amazing adventure. Eating new foods, making new friends, travelling to places where people had never seen a ghostly blue-eyed person. I learned to carry a five-gallon bucket of water on my head. I camped out next to waterfalls. I danced in village drum circles, dined with an Ashanti queen mother, travelled around west Africa by hitchhike and trotro (these crazy little minibus things). The photo is bad because it was taken before iphones. Yep. There was life before instgram This was before facebook and instrgram- if I’d had access to those- the photos would have been amazing. I would’ve gotten so many likes. This was an incredible adventure.
- Here I am the day before Christmas in 1998 a few miles from the border of Ghana and Burkina Faso. Two minutes after this photo was taken- that monkey- that little fucker right there bit me on the hand.
- I spent the next few nights laying awake wondering where I could get rabies shots in the middle of the is very remote place and anticipating that at any moment I’d be the cause of some terrible flesh-eating outbreak that would become a b-grade movie.
- But I have to tell you the truth- It was a really hard year. I became tired- physically and emotionally. I was lonely. I became cynical- any of you who’ve spent time in an under-resourced country know the challenges of long lines, convoluted systems and bureaucrat’s promises of “tomorrow”. And the constant encounters of poverty, hunger, injustice and desperation I felt incapable of responding well to the challenges that I saw around me. Part of my time in Ghana was working with homeless kiddos living and working in the markets in Accra. I reached a point when I lost hope that anything meaningful could be done to serve these kids. I was in burnout- the complete exhaustion of my emotional, intellectual, creative and productive resources. Running on empty. I tell you about this time in my life because I want you to think that I am brave, and cultured, and interesting.
- But also because I think it is important to begin a conversation about burnout with the fact that sometimes we experience it in the middle of a grand adventure. When we are at our prime- killing it in our work.
- Everyone in this room, you, the people of the software world- make your living using your brain- the wellness of your mind, your self, is the hub around which all of our work rotates Your mind is the single greatest tool that you have available to you. And when you attempt hard things, when you choose a life’s work that pushes you and challenges you (and I think this is the most satisfying life)- burnout is the risk that you take. And burnout, if you don’t know how to recognize is and know what to do about it, can undo you and your business.
- The most significant threats to the well-being of your business do not come from competitors or market forces- they come from inside you. Inside your team. I might go so far to say that burnout is the threat that topple your empire and and cause you to lose your edge (hopefully not leading you to live in your mom’s basement)
- And when you attempt hard things, when you choose a life’s work that pushes you and challenges you (and I think this is the most satisfying life)- burnout is the risk that you take.
- And burnout, if you don’t know how to recognize is and know what to do about it, can undo you and your business.
- And I know you’ve heard this term. There is a ton of conversation in the tech world about the term burnout. Some of it’s good, some of it is fluffy. I want to try to give you the full story, based on social science research and my years as a clinical psychologist and being a 17-year-veteran of the start-up world as a spouse
- What is burnout? Burnout is a concept researched and popularized by Dr. Christina Maslach, a professor of social psychology at UC Berkeley. She talks about burnout as a state of chronic stress that leads to three problems: Physical and emotional exhaustion - starting the day tired, struggling with a lingering cough that your immune system just can’t kick, difficulty being present at work Cynicism and detachment: feeling alienated from colleagues, your team, your founder friends; not getting along with others, being short-tempered or irritated with your customers- having a short fuse, having a negative interpretation of other people’s actions and motives. Detachement also leads to more errrors, lack of full attention and investment in one’s work Feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment. Perhaps feeling hopeless that you can get your new product to succeed or build the mailing list required to effectively market to your audience. Burnout is no longer caring, no longer having energy, and no longer feeling like your effort matters. “Burnout was asphyxiating people’s ambitions, idealism, and sense of worth”.
- Burnout is not clinical depression It isn’t a lack of sleep it isn’t just a result of long hours. And it isn’t a few days where you’ve lost your oomph. We all get tired. We all have off-days Burnout is sustained exhaustion, deflation,,,
- Okay let’s acknowledge that at this point you’re making a decision to stay engaged with what I’m saying or not.... Maybe you’re thinking: Why is this woman talking about feelings at a tech conference? We’re in the business of making cool shit- not hand-holding people who can’t keep up with the pace. Heads down and ship. Or maybe you’re thinking… I’m fine. I’m not burnt out and neither is my team. We’re killing it. So, here’s a little nudge to stop mentally making happy hour plans and hang with me for 20 minutes.
- Burnout makes us suck at our work. It is toxic to productivity, creativity, complex problem solving, interpersonal relationships and motivation. If you’re serious about shipping, you can’t really afford burnout in yourself or your team. But for most of us it creeps up slowly, in a way that I easy to miss and easy to ignore.
- Compared with a probability-based sample of 3442 working US adults symptoms of burnout: 27.8% In December 2010, we surveyed a probability-based sample of individuals from the general US population aged 22 to 65 years, with modest oversampling of those younger than 34 years. The survey was conducted using a probability-based panel (KnowledgePanel; Knowledge Networks), designed to be representative of the US population. Participants in the panel are initially chosen scientifically by a random selection of telephone numbers and residential addresses. Persons in selected households are then invited by telephone or by mail to participate in the panel. For those who agree to participate but do not already have Internet access, Knowledge Networks provides a laptop computer and Internet service provider connection at no cost. Additional technical information is available at http://www .knowledgenetworks.com/knpanel/index.html and http://www .knowledgenetworks.com/ganp/reviewer-info.html. Demographic information on population control subjects included age, sex, occupation, relationship status, current employment status, hours worked per week, and highest level of education completed. The Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board reviewed and approved the study.
- Neuroimaging allows us the power to look at the brains of burnt-out folks. When compared to matched controls-
- Neuroimaging allows us the power to look at the brains of burnt-out folks. When compared to matched controls- People experiencing burnout had an enlarged amygdalae – the part of the brain that modulates fear and negative emotion.
- Folks experiencing burnout also appeared to have significantly weaker connections between the amygdala and brain areas linked to regulation of emotional distress, specifically the anterior cingulate cortex (which connects the “emotional” limbic system and the “cognitive” prefrontal cortex) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC; a structure involved in executive function). Weaker connections between these brain structures often indicate difficulty controlling negative emotions The frontal cortex, a brain area essential to cognitive functioning, begins to thin as part of the normal aging process, but patients suffering from burnout showed more pronounced thinning in the mPFC compared with the controls.
- The theory behind these structural changes is that overactivation in the amygdala leads to impaired modulation of the mPFC regions (meaning the brain isn’t doing so well with calm in down negative emotion), which then triggers further stimulation of the amygdala — leading to even more activation of the mPFC. As this cycle spirals further out of control over time, neural structures begin to show signs of wear and tear, which lead to cortical thinning as well as memory, attentional, and emotional difficulties . Cite Savic
- Long-term occupational stress also was linked with significant reductions in gray-matter volumes in the hippocampus (memory), caudate ( procedural learning,[3] associative learning[citation needed] and inhibitory control of action, [4] among other functions. The caudate is also one of the brain structures which compose the reward system and functions as part of the cortico–basal ganglia–thalamic loop) and putamen (leanring) — structures known to be susceptible to neurotoxic changes arising from the excessive release of glutamate.
- And if the brain studies, don’t have you freaked out enough, burnout does not just wreak havoc on neurological systems associated with negative emotion- The team of researchers, at Tel Aviv University tracked the routine health screenings of 8,838 employees for an average of 3.4 years. They found that employees who scored in the top 20% on the burnout scale at baseline had a 79% increased risk of being diagnosed with coronary heart disease over the course of the study.
- I know, I know… It’s a lot. The good news is that burnout is preventable. And recoverable. How?
- So, if you want to create a team that is resilient to the potentially destructive consequences of burnout… If you want to be an individual who has taken the initiative to fire-proof your mind…
- And if the brain studies, don’t have you freaked out enough, burnout does not just wreak havoc on neurological systems associated with negative emotion- The team of researchers, at Tel Aviv University tracked the routine health screenings of 8,838 employees for an average of 3.4 years. They found that employees who scored in the top 20% on the burnout scale at baseline had a 79% increased risk of being diagnosed with coronary heart disease over the course of the study.
- Deep work - slack Time boundaries Fight the 24-hour work day It’s easy to fall into the trap of working harder, more hours, to get stuff done
- Also consider the title: say yes, say no
- Depression Substance abuse suicide WHen you go all in- sometimes you lose.
- 10 ways to become fireproof
- Add give away info and just let this slide stay during the open discussion