This resonated deeply with me, having experienced burnout while working for a homelessness charity before moving into EA.
On reflection, I came to realise that I had this assumption, something like "you only take a sick day if you are literally unable to work due to illness". While taking a sick day won't resolve the mounting issues of a march toward burnout, I do think this points at something significant in the attitude towards work that I held at the time. In the end, I didn't take any time off work until I literally could not make myself work.
The part of your piece that most closely describes my personal experience with burnout is the following: "And then one day I came into the office, tried to start working, and simply could not. The experience was like the strings of a puppet being cut, some connection between will and action had been severed. I could form the intention to work, but nothing happened. No movement. No engagement. Just stillness."
While I knew I was struggling, I continued to ignore the signals. I kept working, not taking time off and, more importantly, not doing any of the kinds of preventative work you describe in your article. I kept on going, head down, until I could not make myself open my emails one morning. I then had a lot more work to do as a result. They say that prevention is better than the cure and I believe that to be especially true in cases of burnout.
I'm devastated reading this. I'm so sorry you were put through this. Thank you for speaking out and thank you for writing this post with such grace and honesty.
(Disclosure: I work at CEA. This comment is personal, not on behalf of CEA.)
Thanks! I'm actually attending my first EA Manchester group next Monday. We'll be discussing the 80k episode in which Rob interviews Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla about the Shrimp welfare Project.
Hi all. I've been digging through EA ideas and content over the past two years and becoming increasingly involved over the past year. Attended EAGxVirtual, which was amazing, and am looking forward to attending my first in-person group event in Manchester, UK. I've been working for a homelessness charity for nearly 5 years now (having carried out a variety of roles) and am looking to make a move into a higher-impact role. I've got a few forum posts percolating so, hopefully, I'll be posting some of these soon. Glad to be here in the community!
First time attending EAGx. Really glad I read the guidance before, mostly for the advice to focus on booking 121 meetings with other attendees. I was hoping to gain a bit more insight into what it's like working in operations within EA and was also looking to get some practical advice on making a career move.
I sent 121 invites to a number of people with operations roles and was amazed at how many responses I got back (I was unable to offer much value to any of the people I'd asked to meet). I'm not exaggerating when I say I got more value from each individual meeting than I had expected to get out of all the meetings put together.
Some of the tips I was given by people currently in ops roles at EA orgs:
Sign up to Pineapple Operations (this is an online database where you can list yourself as interested in ops work) - I got an email a few days after signing up inviting me to apply for a closed recruitment round that I otherwise wouldn't have come across
Apply for career coaching from EA Pathfinder - they provide career coaching to people with 5+ years experience working who want to switch to an EA career or want more advice on career capital etc. (these words represent my summary of EA Pathfinder. I have no affiliation with them and if anyone with connection to them would like this blurb updated, please contact me and I will be happy to edit this section to be more accurate)
This list is by no means exhaustive of the advice and support I was given by a bunch of wonderful EAs over the conference, but it gives a few practical suggestions to others like me.
Thank you to the organisers and speakers, and thank you to all who agreed to meet with me!
Really enjoyed your post (and meeting you earlier). I've begun to see that this type of demonstrable evidence of your engagement is key in the job search within EA. I know this post was written as constructive criticism for EA orgs and their recruitment departments, but it can also be considered advice to job seekers!
This resonated deeply with me, having experienced burnout while working for a homelessness charity before moving into EA.
On reflection, I came to realise that I had this assumption, something like "you only take a sick day if you are literally unable to work due to illness". While taking a sick day won't resolve the mounting issues of a march toward burnout, I do think this points at something significant in the attitude towards work that I held at the time. In the end, I didn't take any time off work until I literally could not make myself work.
The part of your piece that most closely describes my personal experience with burnout is the following:
"And then one day I came into the office, tried to start working, and simply could not. The experience was like the strings of a puppet being cut, some connection between will and action had been severed. I could form the intention to work, but nothing happened. No movement. No engagement. Just stillness."
While I knew I was struggling, I continued to ignore the signals. I kept working, not taking time off and, more importantly, not doing any of the kinds of preventative work you describe in your article. I kept on going, head down, until I could not make myself open my emails one morning. I then had a lot more work to do as a result. They say that prevention is better than the cure and I believe that to be especially true in cases of burnout.
I'm devastated reading this. I'm so sorry you were put through this. Thank you for speaking out and thank you for writing this post with such grace and honesty.
(Disclosure: I work at CEA. This comment is personal, not on behalf of CEA.)
Hi Felix,
Thanks! I'm actually attending my first EA Manchester group next Monday. We'll be discussing the 80k episode in which Rob interviews Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla about the Shrimp welfare Project.
Thanks for the welcome!
Ander
Hi all. I've been digging through EA ideas and content over the past two years and becoming increasingly involved over the past year. Attended EAGxVirtual, which was amazing, and am looking forward to attending my first in-person group event in Manchester, UK. I've been working for a homelessness charity for nearly 5 years now (having carried out a variety of roles) and am looking to make a move into a higher-impact role. I've got a few forum posts percolating so, hopefully, I'll be posting some of these soon. Glad to be here in the community!
First time attending EAGx. Really glad I read the guidance before, mostly for the advice to focus on booking 121 meetings with other attendees. I was hoping to gain a bit more insight into what it's like working in operations within EA and was also looking to get some practical advice on making a career move.
I sent 121 invites to a number of people with operations roles and was amazed at how many responses I got back (I was unable to offer much value to any of the people I'd asked to meet). I'm not exaggerating when I say I got more value from each individual meeting than I had expected to get out of all the meetings put together.
Some of the tips I was given by people currently in ops roles at EA orgs:
This list is by no means exhaustive of the advice and support I was given by a bunch of wonderful EAs over the conference, but it gives a few practical suggestions to others like me.
Thank you to the organisers and speakers, and thank you to all who agreed to meet with me!
I had a grEAt time!
Ander Morgan
Really enjoyed your post (and meeting you earlier). I've begun to see that this type of demonstrable evidence of your engagement is key in the job search within EA. I know this post was written as constructive criticism for EA orgs and their recruitment departments, but it can also be considered advice to job seekers!
Thanks,
Ander