This morning we had an interesting community round table session, and a key item that was raised was the worry of burnout for contributors. I myself have seen a few people burn out, and we discussed what we can do to (a) help prevent it and (b) help people through it.

When trying to improve different community structures it can often be tempting to produce systems, processes and procedures to fix problems and make things more efficient, but fundamentally some things require simple human interactions. I think this applies to burnout. The issue of burnout is something that can be caused by a range of different things such as stress, being over-worked, personal issues, work problems and more, and it can often be difficult to spot if you have never burned out before.

I think what is essential here is that if you are feeling stressed and over-worked and possibly feeling the symptoms of burnout, go and talk to someone about it – getting it off your chest and talking to someone can be hugely beneficial. My door is certainly always open.