Burnout. We’ve all been there. There’s a point where your dedication can cost you a piece of your sanity--creating emotional barriers to the creative and analytical thinking that we need to do in order to solve problems. Whatever is wreaking havoc on your work life, you can learn how to let go enough, without losing focus. We talk a lot about how to do things right and AVOID problems, but how do you recover when the storm is raging? This interactive session will walk participants through methods for coping with burnout. Improve your OWN work life user experience by arming yourself with techniques to deal with the current crisis and be prepared for what may come. Session Takeaways Maintain your UX integrity when feeling under attack. Recognize the root of the problem—including personal hang-ups, unhealthy team dynamics, organizational culture, motivation clash, and myopic strategy decisions. Assess what you can and can’t do to change the situation. Press the reset button and redirect your anger and frustration into healthy project passion. Form healthy barriers about what you will and won’t do for a project.

1. Giving
The Right
Amount
of Shits #uxburnout

2. how burnout happens
#uxburnout
the unburnout
happiness is...
what’s your shitfrustration is shitty
the shit funnel don’t lose your shit
give a shit againshit happens
joy checkup

3. How Burnout Happens
This Shit Is Shitty
#uxburnout

4. It starts...

5. So Happy Together
YOU
Lets make
awesome
things!
YOUR ORGANIZATION
Great!
#uxburnout

6. But Then...
Make awesome
things!
This sucks.
#uxburnout

7. Why?
We have a strong desire
to belong
Self-esteem acts as a measuring stick for how we
think we are fitting in
#uxburnout

8. Self-Esteem
Belonging
Correlation
#uxburnout

9. Workplace effectiveness
Workplace effectiveness increases our self-esteem by
making us feel like we are contributing within this
system

10. We give too many shits.
#uxburnout

11. burn·out
A syndrome of emotional exhaustion and decreased
engagement in the workplace
This typically occurs when our needs aren’t being
fulfilled in some way
#uxburnout

12. SUPERNOVA: Losing your shit.
APATHY: Arms in the air – you just don’t care.
ISOLATION: Disconnecting from peers.
DEPRESSION: Sad kitten.
The SHIT this leads to.
#uxburnout

13. Types Of Burnout
I’m not happy I’m mad as hell
#uxburnout

14. The Unburnout
Why To Prioritize Enjoying Your Job
#uxburnout

15. Work to PLAY vs. Play at WORK
57% of your waking adult life is spent at work
don’t settle for work suckiness #uxburnout

16. You (probably) don’t need a new job.
Instead, learn to give the right amount of shits.
work happiness has some specific triggers...
Workplace Happiness
#uxburnout

17. Compensation/pay, overall (01)
Job security (02)
Opportunities to use your skills/abilities (02)
Relationship with immediate supervisor (03)
Benefits, the overall package (04)
Organization’s financial stability (04)
The work itself (05)
Communication between employees and senior management (06)
Management’s recognition of employee job performance (06)
Feeling safe in the work environment (07)
Autonomy and independence (08)
Overall corporate culture (09)
Meaningfulness of job (10)
Relationships with co-workers (10)
Career advancement opportunities (11)
Job specific training (11)
Organization’s commitment to professional development (12)
Contribution of work to organization’s business goals (13)
Career development opportunities (14)
Variety of work (14)
Organization’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (15)
Organization’s commitment to a diverse and inclusive workforce (16)
Paid general training and tuition reimbursement programs (17)
Networking (18)
Organization’s commitment to a ‘green’ workplace (19)
60%
59%
59%
54%
53%
53%
51%
50%
50%
49%
47%
45%
41%
41%
40%
40%
36%
35%
33%
33%
31%
28%
27%
26%
22%
pay & benefits
job security & stability
feel safe
Job Joy: the Baseline
#uxburnout

18. Compensation/pay, overall (01)
Job security (02)
Opportunities to use your skills/abilities (02)
Relationship with immediate supervisor (03)
Benefits, the overall package (04)
Organization’s financial stability (04)
The work itself (05)
Communication between employees and senior management (06)
Management’s recognition of employee job performance (06)
Feeling safe in the work environment (07)
Autonomy and independence (08)
Overall corporate culture (09)
Meaningfulness of job (10)
Relationships with co-workers (10)
Career advancement opportunities (11)
Job specific training (11)
Organization’s commitment to professional development (12)
Contribution of work to organization’s business goals (13)
Career development opportunities (14)
Variety of work (14)
Organization’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (15)
Organization’s commitment to a diverse and inclusive workforce (16)
Paid general training and tuition reimbursement programs (17)
Networking (18)
Organization’s commitment to a ‘green’ workplace (19)
60%
59%
59%
54%
53%
53%
51%
50%
50%
49%
47%
45%
41%
41%
40%
40%
36%
35%
33%
33%
31%
28%
27%
26%
22%
use your abilities
relationships at work
enjoy what you do
autonomy
company culture
meaningfulness
skill development
variety
Job Joy: the Grind
#uxburnout

19. Being happy leads to success because your positive
brain is better than your neutral brain.
● More productive, resilient, creative, intelligent, more
adaptive
● Less susceptible to burnout
Happiness Advantage
#uxburnout

20. Predicting Job Success
25% IQ
● knowledge
● intellect
75% Gumption
● optimism
● social support
● see stress as a challenge (not a threat)
#uxburnout

21. Predicting Long Term Happiness
10% 90%
#uxburnout

22. Happiness is...
I Do Not Think That Word Means
What You Think It Means
#uxburnout

23. Happiness Is...
...not what most people think
NOT A RESULT YOU ATTAIN
● promotion
● bigger apartment
● more money
result in short-lived bumps that don’t last
#uxburnout

24. Happiness occurs when...
Experience exceeds expectation
EXPERIENCE > EXPECTATION =
EXPERIENCE < EXPECTATION =
but there’s a catch... #uxburnout

25. Happiness is...
subject to hedonic adaptation ~
your expectations adjust to your circumstances
+ =
status changes eventually become the “norm”
which means...
I’m so
happy!
I’m fine
#uxburnout

26. Happiness is...
aspirational and elusive...
which is good because you don’t live in a cave.
This is WAY better than not
having shelter. Innovation DONE!
Happiness achieved! That’s all I
need!
#uxburnout

27. The desire for happiness...
+ hedonic adaptation =
drives the pursuit to make life better.
This is WAY better than not
having shelter. Innovation DONE!
Happiness achieved!
Life in this cave is boring. I’d be
SO happy if it was just warm & I
could see. And that’s all I need.
And a paddle game. And a remote control.
Not one other thing. And a chair. That’s all I need. And a dog. And that’s all.
#uxburnout

28. Happiness Is...
…fleeting.
So fleet the shit out of life
with intentional activity.
● episodic
● in the moment
● requires regular attention
#uxburnout

29. How to Be Happy
Strategy 1 of 3
#uxburnout

30. Engineer Your Happiness
KEEP SCORE of what makes you happy
know your own USER NEEDS
#uxburnout

32. Hug a Puppy
#uxburnout

33. Find Your Happy Place
#uxburnout

34. Add Happy To Your Routine

35. How to Be Happy
Strategy 2 of 3
#uxburnout

36. Another Approach: Reset Neutral
Adjust your normal (aka your level between “happy”
bumps).
I’m fine
I’m
good.
#uxburnout

37. What Gets Focus Naturally
upcoming tasks
worries, stresses, complaints
What To Focus On To Be Happy
accomplishments
what’s going right
#uxburnout

38. Training Happiness
● start your day with (e-)kindness
● 3 weeks of 3 things: every day write down 3 new
things you are grateful for
● daily journal about a positive experience
#uxburnout

39. Fake It Till You Make It
#uxburnout

40. How to Be Happy
Strategy 3 of 3
#uxburnout

41. You are a Giant 2-Year-Old
● get enough sleep & nap if you’re tired
● eat healthy snacks & balanced meals
● exercise, run around, get fresh air
● don’t power through discomfort
If your two-year-old self would be crying, fix it.
#uxburnout

42. Job Joy
What Is Impacting Your Happy
#uxburnout

43. How is this shit for you?
use your abilities
relationships at work
enjoy what you do
autonomy
company culture
meaningfulness
skill development
variety
#uxburnout

44. What Shit Even Matters?
what’s important to you?
tell me what you want. what you really really want.
set goals so you have a gauge
aim high. or at least aim.
check yo self
how are you doing? what needs correcting? what priorities have changed?
#uxburnout

45. use your abilities
work relationships
enjoy what you do
autonomy
company culture
meaningfulness
skill development
variety
WHY?FACTOR RATING CARING

46. #1 Use Your Abilities
#uxburnout
Are you doing what you are good at?
Are you doing what you were trained to do?

47. #2 Work Relationships
#uxburnout
How’s your relationship with your project team?
With your supervisor? With management?
Your UX peers? With your mentor or mentees?

48. #3 Enjoy What You Do
#uxburnout
What do you spend your day doing?
Do you like doing that?

49. #4 Autonomy
#uxburnout
Do you have control of your schedule?
Do you have ownership of what you work on?
Do you make decisions about what’s in or not?

50. #5 Company Culture
What is it? What would you change?
What do you like about it?
#uxburnout

51. #6 Meaningfulness
#uxburnout
How is your job important to what gets done?
How does your work make the world better?

52. #7 Skill Development
#uxburnout
What resources and opportunities do you have?
Mentoring? Conferences?
Tasks outside your comfort zone?
What do you want to improve?
What would help your work to improve?

53. #8 Variety
What variety do you get? Projects? People?
What variety would be ideal? What’s realistic?
#uxburnout

54. Frustration is Shitty
Understanding What Happens
When The Shit Hits The Fan
#uxburnout

55. Sources of Frustration
1) You work with people
2) You work in a place
3) You work with yourself
#uxburnout

56. Working with People
● Combative
● Lack of trust
● No positive feedback
● Competition
● Overly siloed
YOUR COLLEAGUES
#uxburnout

57. Working in a Place
● Work overload
● No control
● Management pressure
● Insufficient rewards
● Unestablished company culture
YOUR ORGANIZATION
#uxburnout

58. Working with Yourself
● Anxious
● Unassertive [or overly assertive]
● Insecure
● Eager to please
● Too motivated at work
YOU
#uxburnout

59. “Work is a necessary evil
to be avoided.”
-Mark Twain
#uxburnout

60. Can You Avoid The Shit?
Of the things that piss you off, identify those you
can’t change
AND LET THEM GO
#uxburnout

61. #uxburnout

62. Its The Principle
Often we feel like things go wrong specifically to hurt
our feelings
THEY DON’T
#uxburnout

63. Everyone is Dealing with Shit
Don’t take it personal when
someone gives you shit.
Chances are it’s not about you
#uxburnout

64. Mea Culpa / Sua Culpa
Don’t look for is to blame
#uxburnout
WHO

65. Mea Culpa / Sua Culpa
Look for is to blame
CONTEXT
#uxburnout
WHAT

66. Adjusting Expectations
Why did this water turn brown?
#uxburnout

67. Adjusting Expectations
Its not water at all
(its bourbon… now I want bourbon)
#uxburnout

68. The Devil is in the Details
#uxburnout
Take context at face value.
Resist the urge to expect similar
outcomes from contexts that
seem similar

69. What’s Your Shit
Identify The Problem
#uxburnout

70. So What’s Your Barrel?
Narrow down the real problem by asking:
○ Is it more than one person?
○ Is it more than one project?
○ Is it more than one task?
○ Is it outside of work?
#uxburnout

71. What do they have in common? What are they doing that’s so annoying?
Is it just one bad project, or does is go beyond that?
Is there one task that is particularly stressful, or are there multiple tasks? What are they and why?
Are there things outside of work that are making it harder for you to deal with normal work stressors?

72. The Shit Funnel
How To Know What To Give A Shit About
#uxburnout

73. This Is A Story About Control
What among your problems can you change?
(We’ll give you a hint)
CAN CONTROL CAN’T CONTROL
YOUR BEHAVIOR EVERYONE ELSE’S BEHAVIOR
#uxburnout

74. The Shit Funnel
#uxburnout
ALL THE SHIT
SHIT I CAN CONTROL
SHIT I CARE ABOUT
SHITS I
GIVE

75. What things can I do to change the way I handle the shit?
What areas do I want to improve in to increase my happiness?
What am I actually going to focus my time and energy on?
What are my actual problems?

77. Don’t Lose Your Shit
How To Not Lose Your Shit When Shit is Going Down
#uxburnout

78. the Supernova
#uxburnout

79. What are We Fighting About?
Pause for alignment
● Goals & Objectives
● Priorities
● Constraints
#uxburnout
Are you using the same lens?

80. Active Empathy
Before you ARGUE, take their side.
What is their intention? What are they trying to do?
What are they trying to protect? What perspective do
they have that you don’t?
Verbalize the sames AND the differences.
#uxburnout

81. Do
Stay calm
Use facts, logic, data
Ask & listen
Concede points
Advocate for the user
Respect project tension
Look for win-win
Get personal
Get distracted
Water it down
Provoke
Exaggerate
Don’t
#uxburnout

82. Life is Comedy
Improv style: ROLL WITH BAD IDEAS.
Good for brainstorming & problem solving.
THE RULES:
● Don’t negate
● Accept & add on
● Make it work
#uxburnout

83. Simmer Down
Meditate through the urge to explode
● observe your thoughts, feelings, reaction
● don’t judge, don’t fix it, don’t act
● focus on your breathing
● postpone responding
#uxburnout

84. Recognize Your Triggers
Learn yourself.
What sets you off?
How do you avoid it?
How do you quell it early on?
#uxburnout

85. Shit Happens
Tips For Handling The Shit
#uxburnout

86. The Shit Is In There
And it needs to be dealt with.
#uxburnout

87. Guilt-Free Breaks
Don’t waste your breaks
Facebooking.
Get away from your desk
and do something that
makes you happy.
#uxburnout

88. I’m Going To Pump You Up

89. Just Say No!
And accept that some
people might be angry
with you
(its going to be ok)
#uxburnout

90. Work Smarter
Potential efficiency opportunities:
● Cut out a detailed func spec
● Skip [unnecessary] meetings (or call in)
● Wear headphones
#uxburnout
Not harder.

91. I AM Here to Make Friends!
#uxburnout

92. You Can’t Do It Alone
“Asking for help with gratitude says: We have the
power to help each other”
- Amanda Palmer
#uxburnout

93. You Have Nothing To Prove
Let go of the notion that you have all the answers
Its ok if someone has a better idea, it doesn’t mean you
suck
(We still think you’re awesome)
#uxburnout

94. Stop Complaining
Keep venting sessions brief and only to trusted
colleagues, friends and family
#uxburnout

95. Stay Positive
Don’t let a bad situation turn you into a different person
Your attitude has the power to change your
environment
#uxburnout

96. Elements of Organizational Culture
Schein
Unconscious mental modelsAssumptions
Beliefs and IdeologiesValues
Processes and behaviorsActions
Attitudes Feelings and emotions
#uxburnout

97. What Your Momma Gave You
own your strengths & accentuate
them
find workarounds for your
weaknesses
#uxburnout

98. Give A Shit [Again]
Hitting The Reset Button
#uxburnout

99. Its Time To Start Over
#uxburnout

100. Go Back to the Basics
Talk to your users
(guerilla this shit if you can’t get funding for research)
Read new UX books and reread the classics
Attend conferences
(like this one. Good job!)
#uxburnout

101. Time For a New Challenge
Implement a new design or research technique
(maybe some you’ve learned at the IA Summit??)
Try a new deliverable
● Sick of wireframes? Try a different tool or for less
complex projects, just sketch on a white board
#uxburnout

102. Make Shit Happen
Decide what you want
ASK, create proposals & requests, or JUST DO IT
Stretch outside your comfort zone
#uxburnout

103. Get A Life
Don’t rely on your job alone to satisfy your need to
create, analyze or just be part of something
awesome
#uxburnout

104. Talk Shop
Schedule regular check-ins
with UX colleagues
Join a meetup in your area
Can’t find one? Start one!
#uxburnout

105. Make Good UX
“The biggest problem of success is that the world
conspires to stop you doing the thing that you do,
because you are successful.”
- Neil Gaiman
#uxburnout

106. No More Shits
When Enough is Enough
#uxburnout

107. Ummm...
use your abilities
relationships at work
enjoy what you do
autonomy
company culture
meaningfulness
skill development
variety
#uxburnout

108. Nothing Is Working
There may come a time to leave your job,
client or project
Just beware...
#uxburnout

109. The Grass Is
Always Greener...
#uxburnout

110. Focus On Changing Yourself
If you don’t change how you handle your stressors, then
things won’t change.
Because...
#uxburnout

111. Shit Is Everywhere
#uxburnout

112. make happy a priority
#uxburnout
engineer joy
see the good
have a focus
it’s not personal
find the real whys
see their side breath through it
REBOOTsay no & ask for help

113. More About How Much to Care
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Anchor
Burnout: The Cost of Caring by Christina Maslach & Philip Zimbardo
The Person and The Situation by Lee Ross & Richard Nisbett
The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It
by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter
#uxburnout
resources

114. Thank You!
@uxmarti
@megan_schwarz
#uxburnout