RE: Burnout

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RE: Burnout

I recently read Drew DeVault's post on burnout around the same time I was pulling out of a burnout rut myself earlier this month. Finally, seeing the light at the end of my burnout tunnel made me want to write my first post back on this topic.

Busy Seasons on Busy Seasons

My career deals with busy seasons, generally driven by client demand. This last year, I dealt with a harsh busy season from Aug to Oct 2022 to issue a few SOC reports for the period ending 2022-09-30. Immediately following that, I had to pivot and found another busy season from Oct to Jan for financial statement audits ending on 2022-12-31. Then again, supporting other clients from Jan to Mar 2023, followed by my current client workload aiming for SOC reports due on 2023-06-30.

The result? A busy season that has lasted from August 2022 through today. I will likely be rushing throughout the next month or two before I have a brief break and need to focus on the 2023-09-30 SOC reports again. While auditing and consulting always involve a busy season, this is the first time I've had one last 9+ months without a break.

While it's been tough, I have a handful of breaks pre-planned throughout this next cycle and should be able to moderate the level of commitment required for each client.

Refocusing

Outside of work, I finally have time to work on hobbies such as this website, programming, athletics, games, etc.

You may have noticed my absence if you're in the same channels, forums, and rooms that I am, but I should finally be active again.

I'm hoping to break an item out of my backlog soon and start working on building a new project or hack around with a stale one.