Much of the burnout I felt at Amazon was not due to an overwhelming amount of work. Rather, an overwhelming amount of frustration.
When I got the job, my wife, my family, people around me were telling me I had made it. Financially I had made it. But inside I was struggling.
My first day at Amazon I remember feeling very isolated. I had a call with my manager but it was very cold, right down to business. I was assigned something like 70 training and onboarding tasks. Right off the bat I felt like my performance was being graded.
I remember having conversations with my manager and being so frustrated because I felt completely voiceless and had very little autonomy in how I operated. There was a feeling of "work harder, not smarter".
I think burnout is inevitable. Itâs a feeling that tells us when we need to slow down. When we need to reassess what we are doing on a day-to-day basis and if it aligns with our long-term goals and vision.
Burnout can surface from too much of a good thing too. When you get excited to start a new project and dive head first into it, itâs easy to push too hard too fast and then burnout and want nothing to do with it.
So the remedy for burnout, regardless of where it stems from, is to slow down and pace yourself.
Meditate.
Find balance.