Today we had the opportunity to conduct an interview with our technical mentor Marco Matos, a bright student from IST.
Have you ever experienced an episode of acute stress or burnout in the context of your work? If so, how long did it take to feel a full recovery?
Yes, I’ve felt the “weight of the world” on my shoulders. In my case, the acute stress showed up as a deep cognitive exhaustion, where simple tasks felt like mountains. Full recovery wasn’t immediate; I’d say it took me around 6 months to regain my enthusiasm and mental clarity.
When you feel you’re at risk of burnout, what resources (internal or external) do you usually turn to?
I usually get some support from my family and friends, but beyond that, I never thought about seeing a psychologist.
Would you feel comfortable having your biomedical data collected in real time to warn you about your psychological state?
It’s no different to me from the Apple Watch I’ve used before, so no, it wouldn’t be a problem. What I’d really like is some kind of feedback on the data, whether it’s good or bad, and I’d maybe even consider some form of gamification built from that data, whether in how it’s laid out or expressed, and so on.
Would you be willing to be challenged once or twice a day with a short task on your phone, if that task meant you’d get more factual data?
Yes.