Day Two Cloud 162: The Mental Health Of The 10x Samurai Ninja Engineer

In this episode, Ned and Ethan discuss the tradeoffs of mental health and professional achievement. Maybe you spend a lot of extra hours at work for your employer. Perhaps you focus on certifications after work and on the weekends. Maybe you say “yes” to more than you should, because you’re scared you’ll lose it all if you don’t. The tradeoffs are in your personal relationships. Your mental health. You suffer from burnout, anxiety, and stress. You do get ahead in your career, though. You make more money. The skills you’ve honed are in great demand, so you have some job security. Is it all worth it, though? What’s the correct balance between career pursuit and time to just exist as a human? Perhaps Ethan and Ned don’t have all the answers–after all, they’re not mental health professionals. But they’ve learned a thing or two about balance over their decades of work in IT and share stories of anxiety attacks, learning how to say no, and figuring out their motivations for doing what they do. We discuss: 1. Work environments * Unrealistic expectations * Inclusivity * Give all to us, that’s why we pay you the big bucks 2. Problems we make for ourselves… * Putting pressure on oneself * Being your own worst critic * Creating unnecessary stress with over-commitment * Anxiety or panic attacks 3. Finding the balance 4. But sometimes it’s worth it… Show Links: NedInTheCloud.com @ned1313 – Ned Bellavance on Twitter Manage Azure Kubernetes Service with Terraform @ecbanks – Ethan Banks on Twitter ethancbanks.com