Hi everyone, my name is Chloe Mastaggi and I'm so excited to talk about burnout with you.
So welcome, welcome to Recon Village and let's dive into my talk. So hold on for one second while
I pull up my slides. All right, I hope you all can see it. I'm just gonna guess that you can.
So welcome to the burnout talk. I'm looking forward to sharing this. I know that right
now we're dealing with a lot of issues when it comes to COVID-19. We're dealing with a
massive pandemic and then also on top of that many of us may have been burned out right before
the pandemic or now it's making it worse. Or maybe you're experiencing burnout for the first time
ever now because let's be real, there's no... we're stuck inside and we don't know what's
gonna happen next. Humans, we like to have this feeling as if we have control. For example,
we like to know that we have this ability to predict what to expect the next day or be able
to plan out a trip in a couple of months or weeks. Even though, let's be real, we never really can
predict everything every single day but we have this feeling that we have some sort of control
of our life. At this time, it's very hard to have control of your life because with everything
happening all at once, you're stuck inside and all the things that you used to do to reduce your
stress or to see people be around others is now taken away. And this leaves you in a situation
where your work and your personal life is now off balance. And when our personal life and work life
is off balance, that's when we start facing burnout. So I'm excited to share this talk with
you and please note I'm there to answer any questions that you may have. So let's first
dive into, in case you don't know who I am, my name is Chloe Masayi. I'm the VP of Strategy over
at Point3 Security and I'm not that an ethical hacker advocate, meaning I'm trying to fight
for rights for the hacker community. I definitely am one of those people that I am tired of the
public perception that hackers are terrible people and are criminals when in reality those are
malicious actors and cyber criminals. So trying to change the narrative of that and trying to
update the public perception of what a hacker really is. When I'm not doing that, I'm also
the President and Co-Founder of WOSIC, Women of Security. We have chapters all over the world.
Founder of We Are Hackers, formerly known as Women Hackers. And we basically are a private
online community of hackers that have been our marginalized genders pretty much. And we
hack at all different levels. We have workshops, events, and so on. And by the way, WOSIC and We
Are Hackers are completely free, so feel free to join. I'm also a Hacker Book Club organizer, meaning I
created this Hacker Book Club, which we basically read a new book written by a hacker member or
someone who wrote about the hacker community every month. And we meet every week at 5 p.m.
Pacific time on Tuesdays. Next week we're going to start up, I believe, the Red Team edition of
Tribe of Hackers. And yes, we hope to have people that are mentioned in the book come and attend.
Usually we do, and also the author. And last but not least, I also have a podcast with ITSP
Magazine, The Uncommon Journey, with Phil Wiley and Alyssa Miller. And basically we
interview people that you usually follow on Twitter to find out how they got into infosec,
what are the things that they've learned along the way, and also ask them random questions,
such as what's their favorite drink or what book changed their life. That is my website below.
Feel free to learn anything you want about me. It's probably on there. And also I am on
Twitter and Instagram, so feel free to follow if you like. So I want to start painting some scenarios
to get you understanding what burnout is like. And so I'm going to give you different scenarios to
know of. These are usually signs of knowing you have it, and also signs of others having it. So
keep an eye on it, just in case if you may not be experiencing it, but your friend or family
or colleague is, that you'll be there to support them and give them guidance.
And also let them know that therapists are also there for you. So I want you to do is picture
that you're driving, okay? And while you're driving, you're about to merge into the left lane.
And in that moment, you're thinking, should I not look in my mirror? By not looking in my mirror,
that means if I get in a car accident, I don't have to do that task, or that assignment, or that
project. I can actually get away from work, or I could get away from family. I can get a break for
once, so I don't feel as trapped. Another scenario. It used to take you maybe a few minutes to respond
to an email. Now it's taking you 10 minutes, maybe hours, maybe days, and then weeks. And then next
thing you know, your inbox is so overwhelming that just going to it starts causing some tense
and anxiety, and anxious, and thoughts that go through your head, because you're overwhelmed
and feel stuck. And you don't know where that energy is, that passion, that drive to be able to
respond to all those emails on time. Another scenario, for those of us that deal with burnout,
is remember what I said at the beginning, which is burnout usually occurs when your personal and
your work life is not balanced? Well, think about it in this way. You have friends and family. They
always reach out to you at times, and especially during a pandemic, they might be reaching out a
little bit more than usual. Even people you've never heard from for years are now checking in
on you. But for some reason, you keep declining calls, or you don't respond to messages, or you
just kind of see your friends and family members or colleagues as a task. That each person is another
project that you have to take on top of this already overwhelming amount of projects and
assignments that you have. And granted, yes, you could be busy, and that's why you don't pick up
your friends' calls or respond to text messages. That is true. Busy is due. But when you're burnout,
you also do it because you start seeing them as a task, and it's overwhelming.
With burnout, it can also cause these sudden emotions such as sadness or anger over little
tiny things where basically you used to be able to be calm and collective, but now you're starting
to find yourself struggling to do that. You'll read a tweet, and then you just kind of want to
throw your devices or, I don't know, flip over a desk. I see just a tweet. Or you could be watching
some commercials, and you see a puppy, and then you start wanting to cry. So the thing to know
about burnout is that your emotions are not technically all over the place. The thing is
is that you can easily get agitated, sad, and angry because you're feeling like you're stuck
somewhere. You feel maybe lonely, but the feeling usually that people get when they're burnout is
this feeling of being trapped and overwhelmed, feeling like you don't know how to get away from
it, where you're just sitting there, and no matter what you do, you just feel overwhelmed, exhausted,
and you just feel like, what is going on with my life?
And of course, when you're burned out, there are times where you'll procrastinate a lot. I mean,
granted, I procrastinated definitely around assignments or studying for a test,
and I'm sure you did too, but the thing is is that due dates are there, and we'll find ways to
procrastinate or push them out if necessary. And this is common, and this could be anything
from family events, or it could be your work events and whatnot. Due dates being pushed out
is something that people that are burned out just are like, you know what, I can't deal with it for
the next week. I'm going to do it the next week, and then the next week, and then the next week.
But overall, when we talk about burnout, usually we have this situation where we just feel so,
so tired. No matter how many hours of sleep that we get, we just feel so tired and exhausted.
That feels like, say, for example, you slept nine or ten hours, but you still feel
so tired, and you know, it's kind of like this image where you feel that tired.
Or better yet, maybe this image rings a bell for you, where you're just like, I just, I can't focus
on anything. I think I'm going to listen to music. Maybe that will help. Or you're just like, I just
need a break. I need something, but you're still stuck in that chair. So we're going to talk about
burnout, and a good descriptive way of saying what is burnout is basically, imagine you are your phone,
and you're on the red part of your battery. It's basically, you're at very low battery,
and you feel like you need to be charged and everything like that, but it's hard to get there.
And I just want to remind you guys, I'm not a therapist at all, but I have gone through
burnouts, ups and downs, but I know how to fix it and prevent them before it gets worse. I did
take a break for the first time in two and a half years in July for one week to recharge my
batteries finally. It was long and overdue, but I just want to let you guys know that it is very
possible to prevent burnout and also to get out of burnout. And it's most important is to be able
to know and recognize that, so then you can get back to normal. But I do want to let you guys know
that I do recommend seeing a doctor, and it's not just because they're on burnout and emotional
stuff, but the other thing is sometimes people feel burned out because they're lacking certain
vitamins in their body. So it's really important to get your vitals checked. For example, last year,
I felt very tired and I didn't know why, and I thought, oh, maybe it's burnout, but then I didn't
feel like it was burnout. But I went and I got checked, and my iron levels were a little bit low,
so I had to take some iron to get back to normal with energy. I got like within a few days
afterwards. So the thing is, it's really important to get your blood checked, make sure that your
vitamins are all good, especially many of us are depleted on vitamin D. So it's really important
for us to make sure that we're hitting all our vitamins, especially when we're stuck inside and
during a pandemic. It's important. You gotta take care of your body. But what is burnout? This is
the actual term, which is burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused
by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and
unable to meet constant demands. Below there is a quiz that you can take to see whether or not
you're burned out. Now, I just want to let you know, if you enjoy the work that you do and where
you work, chances are that quiz is not going to be as helpful for you. That is the one thing that I've
realized. So if you love your job, I think the best way how to know whether or not you're dealing
with burnout were those scenarios that I painted for you a little bit earlier. And so this quiz is
really good to know because it can let you know if you're already in that burnout phase.
But you also need to be aware of it. So I'm going to teach you some ways how to prevent
burnout. And then from there, we'll go into if you're already burned out, what to do next. So
let's first dive into how to prevent burnout. Now, usually they say to you, oh, you need exercise,
you need to eat a balanced diet, practice good sleep habits, ask for help. Well, that's just
great. However, I'm in the middle of a pandemic. So where am I going to go exercise? Gyms are closed.
Eat a balanced diet. I can't go to the grocery store all the time because every time it puts
myself and my family or friends at risk. Practice good sleep habits. Yeah, that would be nice to do,
except that I have insomnia that I'm going to get this or someone's going to get it or something and
I'm going to lose someone. How can I sleep? Also, the world just seems like it's on fire,
especially in the U.S. It seems like everything is on fire. But the good news is you can still
ask for help, right? And I just want to touch on those things. Exercise, yes, that'd be great. And
you can do some workouts at home. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there and it's
important for you to try. Eat a balanced diet and just be cognizant of what you're putting into your
body. For example, usually when we're stressed out, we crave salty, sugary foods. So just be
aware if you're taking in more salty, sugary foods. That might be one of those things you
want to try to avoid, especially before bed, because that's not going to help you sleep.
So I do recommend eating a balanced diet. You know, be healthy, treat your body well because
your body will reward you in return. Practice good sleep habits. I understand insomnia is a
big deal right now. And I know the first few months of the pandemic, when it started becoming
a real situation, I was struggling to sleep because all I was thinking about was,
am I going to give this to my parents? And I'm going to be responsible for their death.
And that was really hard to try to sleep through the night. So I do understand that.
And there are some examples that I will provide for you. Not examples, but things that you can
practice to try to get better sleep. And lastly, ask for help. That's never been a problem,
especially in our community. All you have to basically do is tweet and tag and people will
respond. We're pretty good on that. But let's first dive into how to prevent. So self-awareness.
Remember, you have to be aware that you're in burnout. And many of us, if it's our first time,
we don't know that we're burned out until maybe after this talk you realize, oh my god, I've been
burned out for such a long time. I had no idea. This makes so much sense. And that is a
possibility. I didn't really know about burnout until like a year or two ago, but I definitely
dealt with it in the past. So being aware that you're going through it is going to be really
important for you. So how do you know whether or not you're burned out? Remember those examples I
gave you? Those would be good guides. For example, no matter how much sleep you get, you just still feel
tired. You feel like you have no passion or drive at work. You feel overwhelmed. You can easily get
angry or sad and agitated. The general feeling of feeling like you're stuck. These are all those
signs. Being very anxious about every day when it comes to work and logging in. That's another sign
where it used to take you like a few minutes to respond to an email. Now it takes you much longer
or you just don't want to respond. That's a sign. So these are signs to recall those. Now it's also
important that when you're dealing with burnout is to remind yourself of things that are positive.
Even if you're going through a terrible time, there should be at least three things that you're
thankful for every single day. So I do recommend that when you wake up, think of three things that
make you happy, that you're thankful for. And then before going to sleep, give three things again
that you're thankful for and change it up the list. And if you don't want to do it like twice,
it is still cool. You could just do it once a day. But it's there to remind you that there
are some things to be happy about in the middle of an extremely stressful time.
But also having self-awareness, it's really good is to journal it. So I have a journal or diary,
whatever you want to call it. I write in it. I try to do it at least once a week. And what I do is
that I write by hand. And I do recommend if you can, write by hand. There's something about it
that's really... I don't know the quite good word for it, but it's very therapeutic. There's something
about releasing your hand and being able to write whatever that's coming into your head and like
deep down inside. So the thing is, journaling is really good because after you write in your journal,
go back to other times that you wrote in there and try to see if there's any patterns.
So patterns such as like using a term trapped multiple times or
feeling overwhelmed or whatnot. You want to keep track of the patterns that you're seeing
because once you see the pattern, recognize the pattern, then you're able to start working
at fixing it. So it's really important to journal, write it down. It helps bring that
self-awareness also to know what's going deep down inside that you are not aware of because
we're constantly distracted, right? So it's very hard to like basically know what's going on with
you sometimes. And so you guys also know that I'm one of those people that I hate my devices
at the end of the day. I don't recommend throwing it on the ground. There are definitely times where
I read something on Twitter and I'm just like, are you kidding me? And yes, there are times where I'm
like, I'm going to throw my phone on the ground. But at the same time, I'm like, yeah, that's going
to cost me some money that I don't want to use. But what I mean by, you know, you're breaking from
your phones, your devices in general, let me take a break. I do this thing called a device
detox. And I know that sounds very goop or goopish, I guess. But the thing is to know is to
turn off your devices, get off of social media at least once a week. That means pick one day of
a week that you take at least, I would say, four hours and beyond to just be unplugged.
Meaning you're far away, your phones are off, your computer's off, basically take the time to do
something new or learn something new. But the thing is, it's really important is to get one day per
week where you don't do anything InfoSec related. I know, but Chloe, InfoSec is a lifestyle. I agree.
It definitely is, but it will get you burned out. So it's really important to take one day off
so you can readjust and be there more in your personal life because you have a life outside
of InfoSec too, believe it or not. So do the things that make you happy and you enjoy. But it's really
important is to take a break from your devices, take a day away. Now, if you do, make sure that
you message your loved ones letting them know you're going to be offline during these hours
so they don't worry and stress out. But I do recommend doing this for preventative reasons.
I do take one day per week off from all devices and social media. And if I can't do a full day,
at least try six hours for one of the days. So just know that it's really good because you get
to have that get really in touch with your self-awareness and sense.
Write it down. So the other thing that I do is I keep a to-do list. So this to-do list goes
everywhere with me. And yes, everywhere in my apartment. But the thing is that what you want to do
is have it near you in your bed. That's going to be really important for you. And also to take it
everywhere with you. So the reason I say take it to by your bed, have next to your bed is because
in the middle of night or right when you're closing your eyes, going into nice sleep, suddenly this
thing goes popping up. And you're like, I forgot to send that email. Oh god, I forgot to do that
thing. Oh, I need to send that email. Wish I had written that email. And you keep thinking about it.
And then you're not going to fall asleep because now you're thinking of all these things. And you
might wake up early in the morning thinking you have to do all these things. The thing is,
if you want better sleep, write it down. For some reason, it feels like as if you're taking
whatever amount of space that's now clogged by all the tasks that you have to do and pulling it
right out. Kind of like a Harry Potter situation in a sense. With Dumbledore, you know when he
takes his wand and he takes his memories out. Anyway, it's like that. It's where you free up
your mind and you have more space to think and do other things. So having a to-do list is really
good. It'll help you get better sleep. And if you're wondering, well, Chloe, I'm going to feel
really anxious putting together this list because it's going to remind me of all the things I need
to do and it's going to stress me out. I'm going to have an anxiety or a panic attack. I'm pretty
sure of it. Let me just let you know one thing. When I first did it, I had the exact same belief.
I'm someone who deals with anxiety. But what I did was that when I filled it up, it was five
pages long. Now it's one page long. But it was five pages long. It made me realize how many things
that I am doing and made me take a step back to realize I need to start telling people no.
So knowing how much weight you're carrying will also help you address why you're feeling burned
out. And then try to think of ways how to reduce that amount of work and also to get those projects
off your plate. If that means having a conversation with a manager, that means having a conversation
with a manager. But it's important to do that. Now talking about managers. Now, if you are a manager,
we need to talk. You need to be there for your team members. You need to invest in your team
members. That means you need to give them time off. I highly recommend doing a mental health day.
For example, every month you give a day off to your employees and please pick a Friday or Monday
because we love three-day weekends. And basically use that time for them to do whatever they want.
If it means going through old projects, if that means doing any of those things, do it. Give it to
them. They deserve it. Especially right now. We all could use a break and an extra holiday every month,
right? So I do recommend that. The other thing is to have make sure you have something in place
where every week your entire security team gets one day heads down. I know it sounds really weird,
but it basically means no meetings day. So have one day per week where no one can give or set any
meetings for any of your members. And just have that week every week where it is blocked for them
to be able to catch up on emails or to be able to do anything that they need to do to catch up.
This will help them be able to breathe and relax. Now the other thing that you should also do is
make sure you schedule one-on-ones with your employees. And there's a reason for that. It
could be anywhere from like 15 minutes to 20 minutes or whatnot. But making sure that you're
both going through what projects are that person's working on and what to prioritize is going to help
them too. They need to know what to prioritize and you are there to help coach them through that.
So I really do recommend that because then it allows them to be able to reduce the amount of
stress and pressure that is on them. Also if any of your team members go to you saying I need to
take time off, give it to them. They need it. Chances are we could all use a vacation and to
recharge our batteries. So if someone comes up to you and saying hey I really need to take some
time off to get back to my normalcy, you should allow that. And also because a good manager invests
in their people and see them go beyond them. So do whatever you can to do that too. All right,
next one. How to bounce back. So we went over how to prevent burnout, right? So those are all
those things that you can do. Now we're going to talk about what to do if you're already burned
out. Congratulations, it sucks, doesn't it? So we're going to talk about how to bounce back.
So first thing first, you need to take a break. I'm sorry to tell you, but there is no way you're
going to recover unless you take time off. You need at least three business days off. And if you're like
okay, so three-day weekend. No, that's not three business days. What I mean is five days off in
return, right? So have the full weekend and three business days. That's five days. You need to take
at least that amount. Now depending how bad your burnout is and how long it's been since you took a
break, I highly recommend you taking up to a week or two off if you can. If not two weeks, that's okay.
Just do one week. Now if you're stressed out about taking a break like I did, that's why I didn't
take a break for two and a half years. I was worried that I was going to basically push all
my team members more work on their plate and I didn't feel like that was fair to them. Now the
important thing to note is that when you're burned out, chances are you are going to be missing
deadlines. You're not going to be up to par with your team. Your team members are already carrying
extra weight that you may not even know about because you're burned out. Because you're not
100% there or present because you can't because you're burned out. So it's really important for
you to take the time off and have that conversation with your manager. Now if you're wondering how do
I have that conversation with a manager, what you do is you schedule your one-on-one or hopefully
you have a good manager who does one-on-ones with you and tell them I need to take some days
off to recharge my batteries. I'm feeling burned out and overwhelmed and I just these are the
the weeks that I have in mind and I need to do it probably sooner the better.
And after you have that conversation with your manager, what you want to do is send an email to
them after your conversation basically reminding them that you had that conversation and that
you're burned out and all that stuff. Send it to them. Keep a paper trail. That paper trail is going
to help you in your life most likely if it's needed. I've learned one thing in my career which
is always keep a paper trail because the thing is is that you need to protect yourself and it also
reduces the stress of am I going to lose my job for trying to take some time off. You shouldn't worry
about that. Now you have a record of it. So keep that. Also forward that email to your personal
email as well so you have a copy of it as well in a personal account in case if you don't have
your work account anymore. This is just really good practice overall and I hate that we have to
do that in this world but we do. Just be safe. Now when you take your time off, it's really important
is that for your out of office message for it to be two days later than the date that you return.
For example, if you're coming back on the 14th, say you're coming back on the 16th and the reason
for that it gives you two days of responding to any emails in your inbox and to get through your
flooded inbox. When I returned I had over a thousand emails and I'm so glad that I blocked those two
days off just to respond to all those emails, which is my other point. Also make sure that you
block one to two days when you get back or before you get back that is. Just block the entire day
for no meeting so then you're able to be on top of everything that you're able to know what's
happening and you can respond to all your emails so you can get back to your zero inbox when you
start. This is going to help you right away. Now the other thing to note about it is make sure that
you tell your colleagues that if they need anything from you to keep you cc'd and keep you updated via
emails not through slack or or any other communication channels because this is a
way for you know one place to look and one place to learn everything. When you have multiple
different channels of communication this could be really hard on you when you get back and it
can be very stressful and chances are things are going to get lost. So please remind them by
contacting you via email and to seeing you during the time that you're gone so you're aware when you
get back. Also having a project management type of platform is going to be really good so then
you're also knowing what tasks that you're assigned to. Now the one thing that I do recommend also is
if you're a manager and you're taking your time off when you do come back it's really important
to also message all your the people that report to you and let them know like you're back and
is there anything that is highly important that you need to prioritize within the first 24 or 48
hours of returning from work. Let them know see what they say and then you know find the time to
do so. Just remember that and also yes right before you take your vacation chances are you
are definitely gonna need you're gonna be very busy the week before so expect to be pulling in
more hours that week because of taking time off. I hope that answers all your questions about taking
off because chances are I know many of you were like I'm kind of stressed out about doing that
but I need to do it probably so there you go. Remember three business days is the minimum
for taking time off to recharge your batteries. Now remember that to-do list I was telling you
about it's so important for you also to be able to learn how to say no. Chances are you've taken
on a little too much than you can chew. I'm one of those people that's like oh another project oh
I need to do that that'd be so cool that's a great idea go running with it and the next thing I know
is I didn't really think of all the hours it's going to take. So the thing is it's okay but we
learn right we learn from our mistakes so it's it's good to learn when to say no when and that's
the hardest thing to do is especially when there's these great opportunities that come your way
but it takes a lot of your hours and you just don't have it in you and you really need to find
that work and personalized balance I really recommend trying to learn to say no. Now if
you're someone who's underrepresented on your team I hate to break this to you chances are you're
gonna feel a little bit more burned out a little bit faster than maybe your peers and the reason
for that is because chances are you're constantly having to prove over and over and over you deserve
and you belong where you are and that's going to be hard on you because chances are they also
will give you extra work. I know by being a woman myself I kept getting work that would be like an
assistant or secretary and it would annoy me so much but I would take it on anyway just to prove
that I belong to be there and that's not my current job this is at a previous one and so it's
really hard is to learn how to say no and I know it's scary to say no because you're worried your
job is online especially in the middle of an economic situation too at this time but just
please note that you also need to care about yourself and you should be working at a company
and have a manager that supports you and invests in you and wants to you know basically do whatever
they can to be there for you and if you don't have that I think it's time for you to look elsewhere
There's plenty of companies out there that do that.
Also, even if you're not someone who's underrepresented on your team,
if you are one of those people that basically gets your work done a lot faster than most of your
peers, or you're one of the top performers on the team, chances are you're going to be given
more assignments, more tasks. You're going to wear multiple hats. So you're going to be feeling
burned out a lot faster, too. So just keep that in mind on that front. So it's really important
for you in particular to also learn how to say no. If it's not part of your job, you don't need
to do it. I hate to remind you. And of course, yes, if other people on your team need the work
and you're not burned out, yes, you should help them. You should support them. That is how team
works. So teamwork, you got to have it. You got to work together. And helping each other out while
you're all going through burnout at some point is going to be really important. But learn to say no
if you're burned out and they're assigning tasks to you that has nothing to do with your job.
Learn to say no. Now remember when I said, you know, you need to take care of yourself.
The reason you're burned out is because you're not also investing in yourself. And I hate to
bring that forward to you, but it is one of those things that you need to know about. Now stress is
one thing. Stress is like, oh, I'll feel better if I drink that glass of wine or I'll feel better
if I take a bubble bath or any of those kind of things. But burnout is I can drink all the wine
and I can take all the baths, but I would still not feel back to normal or feel like I'm 100%
balanced. And so that in itself is letting you know that you've taken on too many things. And
this might be in your personal life. This might be in your work life. It might be a mix of the two.
But it's really important to note is that even though we're trying to be there for one another,
it's very hard to do that if us, we're not doing well ourselves. So that's why it's important to
know that you need to invest in yourself, love yourself and take care of yourself, treat yourself
right. And that's the important thing is that if you're working somewhere where they don't
appreciate you, they don't want to invest in you. That's not good for you. At the end of the day,
you shouldn't feel like that. And I'm so sorry that you're going through that if you are. I have
been there and it's terrible. Because all you think about is do am I worthy? And that's the
part because you feel trapped and you feel like you're worthless. And I just want to let you guys
know that you are totally worthy. And you shouldn't feel trapped. And if you're looking for something,
like a new gig, a place where they'll treat you better. Heck, DEF CON is here. And there are
people here that work at companies and they're hiring right now. So let it be known. So start
looking for work elsewhere. Keep the job that you have and just keep looking. And because
don't be compliant when it comes to you and your well-being. You have to take care of yourself
because who's going to take care of you at the end of the day? And that's the hardest thing.
So remember, when you feel overwhelmed, do a device detox. When you feel overwhelmed,
invest in yourself. When you feel overwhelmed, ask for help. Please ask for help. We're here for you.
The community is here for you. I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for the community. So please
remember that. When you feel overwhelmed, write it down. Do journaling. Do diary writing. Whatever
you want to call it. Do a to-do list. Write it down. When you feel overwhelmed, take a break.
Remember, take one day per week away from your devices and also from InfoSec. And that could be,
you know, four hours plus, or it could be a whole complete day. Or if you're already burnout,
please make sure that you take off at least three business days. When you feel overwhelmed, put
yourself first. Remember, you have to put yourself first because you cannot be there for another
person if you're not a hundred percent there. It's unfair to the person and it's unfair to you.
When you feel overwhelmed, know you're not alone. We've, you, I understand being overwhelmed is a
huge deal for you and I know that it can feel very isolating and you feel trapped and alone,
but I want you to know you are not alone. There are people in this community that have your back.
They're the ones that are going to be there to push you forward when you're feeling
like you can't keep moving. All you have to do is ask and seek it. And if you don't know where
to go first, my DMs are open. And honestly, there's also this group called Mental Health Hackers
and they're a great group too. There's so many great organizations out there that support people
in the InfoSec community. So you should never feel alone or isolated because we're all here for you.
So most importantly, I hope you get from this talk, which is always ask the question,
am I balancing my work and personal life? If not, take the steps to fix it now. And now you know how
to do that because you know how to prevent and you know how to get back to normal. And like I said,
I took one week off and I got way better and it felt way better. So just note that. Oh, and by the
way, I forgot to mention this. If you are taking time off, don't be on your devices. Don't be on
social media. Take time off from InfoSec because that's also part of taking the break and recharging
your batteries. Okay. And lastly, thank you guys over at Recon Village for having me and thank you
guys for existing and I hope you enjoy the rest of your DEF CON. And if you need anything, have
any questions, feel free to ask me. Also, if you feel like you want to ask more privately, feel
free to DM me. I am on Discord and I hope you guys have a wonderful DEF CON and please stay safe.
I know that you got this and I believe in you and please don't ever feel alone while you're
dealing with burnout. So that's all I want to say. Thank you guys again and stay safe and I'll
catch you guys, I hope, later and hopefully in person next year. But yeah, take care now. Bye-bye everyone!