Can More Work Cure Burnout?

Over at Ask a Manager, Alison Green elaborates on a time that she relieved burnout -- from her excellent and helpful writing! -- by taking on additional, but different work:

[T]hroughout all of this, I have loved my work, both here and for clients. I'm so happy to be doing it. It's rewarding on a ton of different levels. So it was hard to understand why I was so exhausted, other than the sheer volume.

Then, early this year, I took on a new volunteer project that used a completely different piece of my brain. I don't know why I thought this was a reasonable decision -- I was already stretched so thin and didn't think I had time for anything additional. But something in me really wanted to do it. (I can't discuss this fully without saying that as a Jew I had been in a very, very dark place since October 7 of last year -- very close to giving up on humanity in many ways -- and this new volunteer work made me feel joy again, so I didn't apply the "do I have time for this?" screen that almost certainly would have knocked it out of consideration otherwise.)

Image by the author. Copying permitted.

The volunteer work is weirdly perfect for me: I do it from home so I don't have to go anywhere. It can be done at all hours of the day and night; I don't have to commit to a specific schedule and can do it at 2 am if I want. It's in many ways an F-you to big pharma, which I enjoy. It saves cats' lives.

And it uses a completely different part of my brain than I've been using for years. I've had to learn a ton of new things, I have to do math, I have to think about science and medicine, I've had to learn to read bloodwork ... it's nothing like the rest of what I do. [bold added]

Aside from the mistaken animosity towards "big pharma," the above makes quite a bit of sense and comports with a similar experience of mine from way back in college.

Wanting to pursue a degree in literature, but also wanting to be able to earn a living after I graduated, I double majored in English and Mathematics. Over time, I noticed -- contrary to warnings I got about being overwhelmed -- that the very different kind of work each required served as a break from the other.

I agree with Green that this kind of solution isn't necessarily right for everyone, but it might be good for people who have very active minds. It reminds me a little by analogy of professional athletes who enjoy other sports on the side.

Do note that Green had, consonant with lots of trendy advice, tried doing less for a long time, to no avail. The good thing about trying the advice above is that if it doesn't work out, the chances are that one has already become well-practiced at saying No! and can always back out of any extra commitments.

-- CAV