Signs you might be in "Survival Mode"

Ever seen those web adverts that list a few generic health problems and ask you to &#x27;click here&#x27;, or read a horoscope that makes claims almost anyone can relate to?<p>So how is this different? Why so many upvotes...really, this is just more spam - is it not?

There&#x27;s a quicker method of identifying &quot;survival mode&quot;: just ask your accounting&#x2F;finance officer about your cash flow for the last quarter and the projection for the next.<p>If your company isn&#x27;t able to cover its burn rate and keep some cash for these two things:<p>1. Setting up a growth plan (more revenue), or 2. Continuing pivoting until you find something that allows you to do 1 ...<p>... you&#x27;re in survival mode.<p>In survival mode, the only move is to lower your metabolic rate or burn rate. Much like a body would shut down non-critical functions just to &quot;survive&quot; so too will the company need to eliminate non-critical expenses. All this simply to buy more time for a eureka moment that will answer your growth question.<p>Tough as hell.

Equally valid symptoms for having dysfunctional leadership.

This could also be read as - &quot;Signs you might be in a startup&quot;

I&#x27;m a father with two young children. I matched all of those 8 points.<p>I think I&#x27;ve been in survival mode since the first child was born!

All of these sound like symptoms of a total loss of control. Whether through poorly negotiated contract or necessity, you&#x27;re in a position where decisions of any importance are taken out of your hands.<p>Not being the master of your own fate (edit: insomuch as you can choose what to work on and when to work) can be brutal for some people. I&#x27;m not at all suited for it.

Since plenty of people here seem to have experience with this sort of thing ... I&#x27;m currently in a place where I can at least see 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 for me and 1 and 7 for others as well. Would it be wise to stay there or are those signs rather a sign that I should be looking somewhere else?

Well said, describes where I&#x27;m at now. Many people associate these signs exclusively with &quot;burnout&quot; but my problem with that term and thought is that it feels &quot;terminal&quot;-- meaning there is no fixing it apart from quitting and taking time off, finding a new idea&#x2F;company you are passionate about and trying again.<p>I think it&#x27;s common to be in this state without being what I&#x27;d call &quot;burned out.&quot; If your management doesn&#x27;t understand or support your team, and have undue expectations, that could easily put you in &quot;survival mode.&quot;

Living in survival mode past couple of years. It&#x27;s beyond painful.

Awesome, short and sweet. I read this as &quot;do the opposite of these if you want to be a good leader running a great organization.&quot;

Okay. That&#x27;s me right now. How to leave the survival mode in the long term? I involuntary slip into it again and it again...

So, let me pick everything negative that can be said about a working environment, put it in a post and then come up with a term for it. How about... survival mode! Great, post finished.

I feel exactly like this but regarding my studies at university

I confirm almost all of the signs.<p>The state of urgency hasn&#x27;t stopped my productivity completely but it certainly has slowed it down.<p>My fix for now is this:<p>STOP MULTITASKING, ONLY ONE TASK AT A TIME! (seriously!)

I thought learning by isolation would be a way to enforce deep understanding, it turned exactly into what&#x27;s described there. Time for a change.