Thought hustle culture was overblown. Then I tracked my actual hours.

Used to roll my eyes at people talking about burnout. Thought they just couldn't handle stress. Last month I actually logged my day job hours vs my side gig hours. Day job was 47 hours. Side gig was 22 hours. Plus I was losing weekends to it. Nothing dramatic happened. Just woke up one Tuesday feeling hollow. Realized I hadn't cracked a book for fun in like 3 months. That got me. Not the numbers but the no free time. Now I'm trying to cut the side gig to just Saturdays. Has anyone here actually pulled off a real work-life boundary without quitting? I'm curious how.

4 comments

4 Comments

skyler_jackson2721d agoTop Commenter

The "hollow" feeling you're describing isn't burnout exactly, it's more like your brain forgot how to rest. I did something similar. I kept one hobby completely off limits from turning into work. Forced myself to play bass guitar for 20 minutes every night even if I felt guilty about not doing something productive. That little thing helped more than any schedule change because it reminded my brain that free time is supposed to feel empty sometimes. Just cutting the side gig to weekends might not fix the hollow part if you still fill every Saturday with work mode.

diana61721d ago

Agree hard, the bass thing saved me too.

charlescraig21d ago

Man I just read this article about how your brain actually treats constant availability like a threat response. It said when you never stop switching between tasks your amygdala basically stays lit up all the time like you're being chased by something. That hollow feeling makes so much sense now. I tried the hard boundary thing myself. Told my buddy I was done checking emails after 7pm and he laughed at me but I stuck with it for two weeks. My sleep got better but I still felt that weird empty thing you're talking about. Honestly the hobby thing the other person mentioned sounds smarter than just cutting hours. Might try that myself with my guitar.

gibson.avery21d ago

Nodding along to the guitar idea. Hobbies that stay just hobbies are weirdly hard to keep but they fix that hollow bit more than just cutting hours ever did.