How I handled burnout
Hey guys, I’m 24 now, and when I was around 22–23, I suffered a burnout that eventually led to panic attacks.It was mainly because of my job — I was working as a train driver, doing 50–60 hour shifts. I had no time for my private life or my health. For a social person, it was pure hell. Whenever I got home, I was so exhausted that I would just go straight to bed.
Long story short: for me, the solution was simply finding a regular 9-to-5 job without shift work. Yeah, you earn less money, but in return you get more lifetime for yourself.
But it didn’t stop there. Even at the new job, my stress levels started rising again and I felt drained.
After thinking about it for a long time, I eventually reached a point where I developed a mindset that completely removed my stress, burnout, and anxiety.
That mindset is basically: “I don’t give a f anymore.”
I stopped attaching so much importance to work. I genuinely didn’t care whether I still had the job the next day or not. Once I detached myself emotionally from work, I became stress-free and was finally able to work normally again.
Another important thing: at work, I also work slowly on purpose. Working too fast increases cortisol, kind of like jogging turns into endurance training. So I take things slowly, even if it could theoretically cost me the job.
Of course, this only works if you don’t have high expenses.
Don’t take life so seriously..
Find humor in the absurdity.
Most stress comes from acting like every little thing is life or death. It’s not. The moment I stopped worshipping work, status, and other people’s expectations, life became lighter.
I still work, I still live responsibly — but internally, I stopped carrying the world on my shoulders.
A jester survives because he can laugh in the middle of madness and does not give a f