It seems to be a common sentiment that burnout is largely driven by how many hours a day you work. Why is that?
From what I've been taught burnout is the result of continuous stress. Where stress is more or less defined as a continuous sensation of being threatened.
I've seen people with perfectly normal workours become burnt out. I've even seen people working ten hours a week getting burnt out. The common factor thus not being the objectively measurable amount of work.
My own formula for diagnosing a work environment is more like Risk of Burnout = perception of expectations / perceptions of means to deliver
It seems to me that hours worked relates to issue of burnout more like lack of sleep to the risk of catching a cold. Potentially a big factor, but only incidentally.
My happiest times were from a startup where we worked 80 hours a week.
Another startup we were in the process of selling, was such a hostile place it literally gave me work related PTSD and I was only working 40 hours per week.
From what I've been taught burnout is the result of continuous stress. Where stress is more or less defined as a continuous sensation of being threatened.
I've seen people with perfectly normal workours become burnt out. I've even seen people working ten hours a week getting burnt out. The common factor thus not being the objectively measurable amount of work.
My own formula for diagnosing a work environment is more like Risk of Burnout = perception of expectations / perceptions of means to deliver
But a more useful model might be the SCARF-model presented in this tech talk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeJSXfXep4M
It seems to me that hours worked relates to issue of burnout more like lack of sleep to the risk of catching a cold. Potentially a big factor, but only incidentally.