I had no idea what I was doing, and I was afraid that other people would see that I had no idea what I was doing, so I set about doing as much as I could as loudly and visibly as I could (hence, my journey from wide-eyed newbie to Overachiever to Product Martyr). Not only was this approach disastrous for my mental health, it was also profoundly harmful to my team, who were left wondering if they should still be in the office at 8 p.m. while I was still there loudly sighing and clacking away at my keyboard.
