Denise Yu facilitated an open session on Burnout. Most of the groups focussed on their own experiences in burning out at work, the indicators of upcoming burnout, and possible ways to avoid it in the future. It seemed like everyone in the room had burned out in the past.

Much of the wider room discussion seemed to assume that we should try and maximise work performance just to the point of avoiding burnout. (i.e. How can I spend more time at work and not burn out?) However, I’d rather we tried to maximise the value that we could add in 10, 20 or 30 hour work weeks and spend the rest of your time with loved ones, friends or hobbies and burn out will probably not be an issue for you in the future.

Here are some of the resources that came up in the various discussions:

1. Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency.
2. The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us.
3. The Upward Spiral.
4. The Code of the Extraordinary Mind: 10 Unconventional Laws to Redefine Your Life and Succeed On Your Own Terms . I think the checklist provided in this summary here are worth running through regularly and would help me avoid burn out in the past.
5. Codurance Youtube Channel This is unrelated to the discussion, but was recommended as an excellent resource of advanced TDD screen casts.