A presentation at All events by Jenny Truong
The unexpected states of burnout Jenny Truong @jen_ayy_
Hackathon January 2023 The term “state machine” is way of using visual diagrams to model your logic throughout an application, that can be used in any programming language. Any process can be mapped out
Stress v • Naturally produced chemical • Over-engagement from sense of urgency or hyperactivity • Physical toll • Can lead to anxiety or depression @jen_ayy_ Guaranteed to burn out if you treat every day like a hackathon. s Burnout
Stress v s Burnout • Naturally produced chemical • Over-engagement from sense of urgency or hyperactivity • Physical toll • Can lead to anxiety or depression @jen_ayy_ Change your outlook on stress to a more positive one. Stress is essential to us because it’s your brain using it as a survival mechanism.
Stress v s Burnout • Naturally produced chemical Accumulation of unchecked stress over long periods • Over-engagement from sense of urgency or hyperactivity • Physical toll • Can lead to anxiety or depression You can have stress without burnout, but you can not have burnout with out stress. @jen_ayy_ Burnout is work related stress over long periods of time where you don’t see your end goal insight. Key takeaway (quote)
How to recognize burn out @jen_ayy_
Initial State @jen_ayy_ Represented with dot and arrow extended. A machine or process can only have one initial state; if there were multiple, we wouldn’t know where to start!
Finite State @jen_ayy_ fi You can only be in one state at a time. Think of nite states as how a machine behaves like a status or mode.
Events and Transitions @jen_ayy_ Events are things that happen and represented by the text in between the arrows. Transitions are represented by the arrows from one state to the next.
Actions @jen_ayy_ ff Actions are side e ects/ external things that happen because of the transition. Represented by the forward slash and text after the event.
Guarded Transitions @jen_ayy_ Transitions are taken, only if the condition is true. Represented with square brackets after the event. Think of them like if else statements.
Parent and Child States @jen_ayy_ States can contain more states, AKA child states. These child states are only active when the parents state is active. Child states are nested inside their parent states.
Parent and Child States @jen_ayy_ Stage 1 breathing rate is reg but in stage 2 your heart and temp begin to drop (progresses after each cycle) but by time you get to stage 3 your organs slow down and it’s a deep sleep to help feel refreshed. REM is where dreams occur and your brain simulates being awake with irreg breathing.
Parallel States @jen_ayy_ ff fl Represent a combination of active states. A dashed line borders each region of those parallel states. -Yeast, cake, our, croissant dough Think of parallel states in your brain as the di erent lobes working simultaneously.
History State @jen_ayy_ The box with an H inside represents the history state - which returns the parent state to its most recently active child state. Think of history states in your brain as a reminder to self what you were doing
Final State @jen_ayy_ fi fi fi fi fi When a machine reaches its nal state, it can no longer receive any events. The box surrounding border icon represents the nal state. We can think of the nal states as completing a task, so usually when you’re done with your todo list, you’re in the nal state. But sometimes we keep working and our de nition of done is missing, so with overworking ourselves, we could unintentionally push ourselves into burnout.
How to recognize burn out @jen_ayy_ My Goal is to help you identify how you transition to the burnt out state.
How to recognize burn out “I“Iwish I could get wish I could o 5pm” notwork feel at guilty” eat sleep” lunch” ff @jen_ayy_
How to recognize burn out “I wish I could eat lunch” “I wish I could go home at 5pm” “I wish I could not feel guilty” “I wish I could sleep” @jen_ayy_
Self Awareness When you recognize how you’re feeling, you’re allowing yourself to be vulnerable and honest to you. @jen_ayy_
States of burnout The term “burnout” was coined in the 1970s by the American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger. He used it to describe the consequences of severe stress and high ideals in “helping” professions. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279286/ @jen_ayy_ ff Source from National Library of Medicine you can also check out the di erences between exhaustion, depression, other terms and it lists other sources.
Five states of burnout @jen_ayy_
Five states of burnout @jen_ayy_
Five states of burnout @jen_ayy_
Five states of burnout @jen_ayy_
Five states of burnout @jen_ayy_
Five states of burnout @jen_ayy_
In order to build recovery framework, you need to understand what burnout is. Burnout is not just stress, it’s what that stress costs you @jen_ayy_
4 Happy Chemicals DOSE @jen_ayy_
4 Happy Chemicals Dopamine Oxytocin Serotonin Endorphins @jen_ayy_
Recovery Framework Reorganize @jen_ayy_ Reframe Rebalance https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1780 ff fi MDPI is the largest publisher in the world with open access articles and scienti c journals. Check out all the di erence approaches for your recovery.
Recovery framework Reorganize Reset expectations because without us even knowing we tend to set rulebooks for others and ourselves. Reset priorities and include making ourselves a priority or else we get compassion fatigue. @jen_ayy_ fi -setting these unrealistic expectations we tend to be disappointed and if we layer and layer all that … it leads us to be cynical and negative towards others. -you can’t keep giving if you have nothing left to give.. This leads to you developing compassion fatigue - Tends to happen in helping professions (medicine, retail and even in tech where developers are building tools and the purpose of tech is to make things easier for everyone). Especially with open source, where you’re helping people and constantly xing other devs issues all the time, this is often a thankless job.
Recovery framework Reframe Start building internal validation → complimenting yourself, bragging about you, patting yourself on your back. Implement boundaries as in the more often you put these boundaries up, the more con idence builds back up. Let you build and invest in yourself. Speak kindly, you want others to treat you kindly so start with yourself. Being patient and compassionate is the irst step. @jen_ayy_ f There’s so much more but this is an amazing start, you gotta start somewhere.. so you don’t get overwhelmed while already feeling so burnt out.
Recovery framework Rebalance We need to rede ine being productive and learn 7 areas of rest Productivity usually is de ined as a todo list and achieving that goal, but we forget that rest is actually also being productive! Establish where the de icit is in REST by Dr. Saundra Dalton Smith. f https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGNN4EPJzGk f f @jen_ayy_
7 types of rest? Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith @jen_ayy_ https://goop.com/wellness/mindfulness/7-types-of-rest/ Recap with exploring 7 types of rest to help recover in times of feeling overwhelmed or stressed while working. https://goop.com/wellness/mindfulness/7-types-of-rest/
Did you know there’s 7 types of rest? Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith Physical: Two types are passive (sleep 7+ hrs at a time or naps to complete 1 rem cycle) or active (stretch, get massages, etc.) Mental: de icit is caused by overtaxing your thinking, so you can reference checklists like groceries or packing, create a shutdown routine to separate work and life, take a break from problem solving, or meditate. f @jen_ayy_
Did you know there’s 7 types of rest? Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith Social: evaluate your relationships by spending time with people who give you energy, spend less time with those soak up your energy, lastly introverts should block out time to be alone in silence. Spiritual: be a part of something bigger than yourself. You can volunteer, work a job that feels purpose-driven, participate in faith based activities that are aligned to your belief system. @jen_ayy_
Did you know there’s 7 types of rest? Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith Sensory: the modern individual is overstimulated so take a break from social media and turn o noti ications both sounds and visual alerts. Set time aside to relaxing ambiance (soothing music with candles or dim light and mint/lavender smells) Creative: appreciate beauty in any form, whether natural (sunrise/sunset watching or walk outside) or human created(museums or art festivals or engage in inspiring music, books, documentaries, etc). f ff @jen_ayy_
Did you know there’s 7 types of rest? Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith Emotional: de icit occurs when you feel you can’t be authentic. Ex I used to be a cosmetologist so we always had to make sure the customer was pleased when they left the salon. Try spending time with those you can be your complete honest self without ilters. Consider speaking to a therapist to release emotional labor. f f @jen_ayy_
7 types of rest? Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith @jen_ayy_ Recap with exploring 7 types of rest to help recover in times of feeling overwhelmed or stressed while working.
How can self awareness help you build better apps? Communication 🤝 Collaboration @jen_ayy_ fi Start with self awareness to con dence/recognition and leads to communicating those needs/ wants. Which will help you perform better on your team which leads to more collaboration.
Communication 🤝 Collaboration Think in terms of states and transitions so you can choose which state you’d like to be in. @jen_ayy_ With collaboration, you should be mindful to others as well as your rate of productivity. You pick which state you want to be in and essentially be your own boss.
notion.so gather.town stately.ai igma.com/ igjam tldraw.com @jen_ayy_ Collaboration helps you move up on the ladder if that’s you want or set a new tone for the generation after you to not work in silos. Being a 10x developer means being able to help out your team 10x as much. But also you don’t need to seek collaboration only when you need help. f f Visual tools we use to collaborate
Jenny Truong twitter.com/jen_ayy_ linkedin.com/in/jenny-tru/ @jennytru.bsky.social stately.ai You are not a machine, even though your brain can be modeled as one, doesn’t mean need to act like one. I encourage you to connect with me.
Thank you! Visit state.new to make your own state machine!
My goal is to normalize the way we discuss and view mental health, along with helping you learn about the benefits of using state machines as a visual way to collaborate.
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