Weekly Journal 38 - Burnout, Injury

Synopsis

It’s going to be another short post this week. I’m not sure if the burnout is returning with a vengeance, or if I’m just really tired. I am also trying to figure out how to deal with persistent tendonitis in my elbow.

Burnout

I have been in overdrive at work these past several months and it’s beginning to take its toll. The good news is we have a lot of new customers, including a few names most people would recognize. The bad news is we’re working a fair bit of extra hours to make sure our systems can handle the amount of traffic volume they’ll be sending us. Between that and family obligations now that school is back in full swing, I mostly feel tired all the time.

Being tired like this makes it more difficult for me to get motivated to work on my hobby projects, so I haven’t done anything this week with my personal knowledge base or any of other projects. In some ways it feels like burnout, but it’s different in that I still have interest in my projects. Sadly, I just don’t have the energy to work on them.

Injury

I have recurring issues with tendonitis in my right elbow. I don’t play tennis, so I’m about 99% confident it’s a repetitive strain injury (RSI) from years and years of working on computers. Usually I take some ibuprofen and ice it for a few days and it goes away, but this time I think I have suffered a more significant injury. It flared up again a couple weeks ago, which was normal, but while I was at the gym lifting weights I felt a strange new pain and it’s been giving me trouble ever since.

The worst part is I really can’t afford to immobilize my arm and rest it properly. It’s not preventing me from doing my job or most of my daily tasks, but I would like for it to actually heal up.

What’s Next?

Trying to take it easy for a bit. Both to better manage my energy levels, and to give my elbow time to heal.