>>Philpa+(OP)
> the best way to help the project is to keep contributing for it for years. to do that, you have to avoid burning out, which means you have to treat yourself well.
When I was a schoolteacher, the way I expressed this is that you have to do the job in such a way today that you're capable of doing it again tomorrow. This did not go down well and I am no longer a teacher.
>>cjs_ac+J4
Unfortunately some professions work like meat grinders. If you're not tough enough to take the grinder's teeth you get chewed out and spat out the other end, and replaced by someone else, of which there is an inexhaustible supply. Suggesting to use softer teeth just gets you replaced before you're ground out.