Ed Finkler, Founder of OSMIHELP.ORG, joins us for this episode to talk about what may be the most important bug we have to smash on a regular basis. Burnout is far more serious than we tend to think, until we're going through it ourselves! In fact, with the unique challenges that ecommerce developers face on a daily basis, it is almost guaranteed that each one of us will experience burnout at some point in our careers. The battle for your own mind is worth fighting.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS [coming soon: full show notes at SwiftOtter.com]

“Burnout” isn’t a technical diagnosis. Unfortunately, when people experience burnout, their mental condition may even worsen due to the perception that nobody else identifies with their situation or understands the personal challenges it presents every day.

Ed Finkler, a software developer by trade, is the founder of osmihelp.org. He is passionate about educating people and raising awareness about the seriousness of mental health issues among tech workers. His perspectives on burnout (and his alternative title for it) provide us with actionable advice for helping ourselves and our fellow developers to prevail against it.

Burnout is uniquely identified by the inability to manage stress levels properly, enjoy tasks that were once enjoyable, feel like progress is being made when tasks are completed, or even have a confident “sense of agency”, which is the conscious recognition that one has power over their own situation.

Programming is certainly a difficult job, but an ecommerce developer is the creator, ongoing maintenance provider and solution designer for online merchants who often demand a lot from them. The action really never dies down with how many different things developers have on their plates. Because of the way professionals must operate in this career, experiencing burnout is almost guaranteed to happen at some point.

Ed revealed to us the reality that “burnout” is really just a euphemism for “episodic depression” and that it’s important to understand that everyone goes through this in different ways and for different reasons.

Burnout cannot be remedied with more money, easier projects or the occasional pizza party. The sense that one’s peers truly care about them and desire to see them succeed is an incredible antidote.

One’s greatest asset is their mind, so how come it doesn’t seem important to take care of that thing?

Visit Ed's website at osmihelp.org and for additional resources, check out helpguide.org

Are you dealing with burnout or "episodic depression"? Do you feel that your coworkers and/or managers don't understand the importance of mental health? We'd love for you to post a comment here or drop us a line at Joseph@swiftotter.com. We're happy to be a listening ear and an encouragement to you! In addition to that, please feel encouraged to join our Slack community where over 1200 developers are collaborating and encouraging one another on a daily basis! Email us or connect with us on social media and we will happily share an invitation link with you.
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Do YOU have an incredible debugging story to share? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest!

This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!

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(Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

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