Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The Complexity We Underestimate About Burnout
- Why I Can't Stop Reading About Navy SEALs
- The Darkest Days of My Burnout
- Then What's The Main Cause of Burnout?
- And This Is Where the Navy SEALs Reference Comes Into Play
- Why Burnout Hits Software Engineers Differently
- The Method That Keeps Me Running and Avoids Burnout
- Summary and Exercise for You
Introduction
I usually write code-heavy articles filled with snippets and concepts meant for a very specific crowd, the "chosen ones".
This one is different.
It's still about software engineering, but instead of code, it's a "let's talk about it" kind of article. Even if you're not a software engineer, this will likely feel familiar. Burnout exists in every career. No matter what you do at a professional level, the work is demanding and harsh.
You're constantly operating near your limits, juggling multiple responsibilities, trying to do everything as well as you can, because performance is expected, on top of that, you have high standards for yourself. And sometimes, even that isn't enough, leaving you feeling like you need to push even harder, you don't trust your perception of your limits, you think that there's much more to give.
If this sounds familiar, keep reading. You may find perspectives you haven't considered before, ones that could help break the friction loop that causes your burnout.
I'll share the time when my burnout reached its absolute peak, and at the end of the article, I'll give you a small exercise you can try, one that might just help you break free from burnout.
The Complexity We Underestimate About Burnout
It Takes Experience and Time to Handle It
I'm no different, I've struggled with the same condition for a while in the past and sometimes it still stops by to say hello. But now, with experience, I can handle it more calmly and easily. It's never actually easy, and it can still jab me in the face, but understanding what causes it and why it hits so hard makes it more manageable. It might still hurt, but at least it won't knock me down.
Why Most Burnout Advice Misses the Point
I've read plenty of articles regarding this topic, but very few really delivered a message I could relate to. Most felt like they were written to make me feel better about myself, a temporary shelter where I could justify not working on my skills or personal projects because I was burned out. Sure, sometimes we need a little comfort and a reminder that we're still awesome, but in the long run, that doesn't actually help, does it?
No One's Coming to Fix You
When I spend my own time reading about mindset, discipline, or work ethic, I'm looking for long-term benefit. The best way to get that is by being honest with yourself, figuring out what's really holding you back from becoming a better software engineer, leader, or professional in your career. I'm not interested in fake "you're awesome!", "you're a winner!" "you can do anything!" type of nonsense. I'm looking for something, that'll point out where I'm an absolute loser at. So I can address it.
In today's world, very few people will be that brutally honest with you. The ones who do, are the people who truly care. But nobody can study you full-time, so it's up to you to do the work: reflect on your career, run experiments, and debug your own system. Identify your flaws, confront them, and use that insight to grow.
Why I Can't Stop Reading About Navy SEALs
Before we dive into burnout itself, let's set the stage. This topic is complex and touches on many different areas, so establishing a clear reference point will help explain the core concept more effectively.
If I were to recommend a book to someone trying to improve their life or start a new career with the right mindset, I'd advise staying away from the commonly hyped titles that everyone talks about but rarely deliver real value. The reason is simple: they teach the techniques, but they don't tell the story, and without the story, it just doesn't stick.
Instead, look for books written about real stories. Storytelling is one of the most underrated tools in almost everything. A good story captures attention, draws you in, and makes you want to learn more. That's why I recommend reading books that share real experiences, you'll gain lessons you can actually apply.
As a software engineer, you wouldn't expect me to relate to Navy SEALs in any way. Does it sound strange? Absolutely. But reading their stories has been incredibly valuable, it actually helped me uncover why I was constantly feeling burned out.
Navy SEALs are an elite special operations force. The name "SEAL" comes from Sea, Air, and Land, meaning they are trained to be excellent in any environment imaginable. They are basically the toughest humans on the planet, which is why their selection and training process is brutally demanding, almost impossible to pass.
What's most fascinating is that the training isn't designed to lead to comfort or ease afterward. In fact, the challenges they face in real-life missions are far tougher and exponentially more dangerous than anything in training.
It's hard for the regular, common people to understand this, because the common mindset always seeks comfort and convenience. SEALs think differently, they embrace the struggle completely. I remember one of them saying something like:
"Those moments when everything feels heavy, quiet, and painful, that's where self-respect is built."
And the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced how true it is.
You're probably wondering what all of this has to do with burnout, especially in software engineering. Stick with me, we'll uncover it all.
The Darkest Days of My Burnout
As I mentioned in the previous section, sharing knowledge or giving advice without proper storytelling is pretty dull. It's like eating a burger without sauce, sure, it fills you up, but the experience is nothing alike. The richer the experience, the more unforgettable it becomes and the more it can positively affect you. With that in mind, I'll share as much as I can about what the best (or worst) version of burnout has meant personally for me.
Bit Off More Than I Could Chew
This was a long time ago, when I was still a beginner software engineer. I decided to learn multiple completely different things at once while staying extremely productive at work, because I wanted to reach the senior level as fast as possible and keep up with seasoned developers, some of them with five times more experience than me.
Not only that, I wanted to be self-sufficient right away, meaning I decided to learn every part of the software engineering at the same time.
Back then, I didn't have much experience and didn't really know the most effective ways to work or learn. I bought a bunch of video courses and tried to go through them all in parallel to "save time" - BIG MISTAKE.
Multitasking, A.K.A: Screwing Up Multiple Things at Once
Let's be honest here, who ever learned anything in tech just by watching someone else do it? Nobody. I'm no exception.
Back then, I hadn't realized that a 30-hour video course doesn't mean you'll master the topic in 30 hours. You need to multiply that time by at least 15 just to grasp the basics, the foundation on which you can build real knowledge and experience. Unless you write code yourself, you don't really know anything, all you're doing is memorizing, and memorization alone never works.
Trapped in a Vicious Cycle
I was miserable. My plan was failing and I felt completely unlike the person I was when I started. I watched the tutorials and did exactly the same as they did, sometimes not even that. I made no progress, life felt boring, and I definitely couldn't keep up with the seniors around me.
I forced myself to work overtime, going home at 10 PM or later, and then spent almost the entire night/morning watching tutorials or building meaningless, goalless apps. I had no discipline, I was doing everything without a plan or real commitment.
Sometimes, out of boredom, I'd stop a tutorial halfway through and play video games late into the night to "unwind". But it didn't even feel fun, I was just pretending to have fun. Then I'd wake up after three hours of sleep and drag myself to work, clueless about how I was supposed to function. Somehow, I still did, probably coffee? I don't really know.
I was completely stuck in a vicious circle that looked something like this:
That almost broke me.
I was visibly overwhelmed, not enjoying life, and making no real progress. The worst part was that I wasn't even trying to change anything, I was too stubbornly persistent to step back and rethink what I was doing.
Escaping the Cycle
This peak period of burnout and stress lasted about 3 to 4 months. Luckily, at some point, I decided to reflect on the road I had traveled so far and realized that all the struggle, sleepless nights, and mental and physical strain hadn't brought any real progress whatsoever. Quite the opposite, in fact.
It was alarming. I knew I had to change my approach because continuing like that wasn't doing me any favors. Burnout can easily turn into depression, and we all know that's a place you don't want to be at. Looking back, admittedly, I was there without even realizing.
Checking Your Rearview Mirror is Important
I'm a true believer of always moving and looking forward, but occasionally you need to check your rearview mirror to make sure there's no danger behind you. I know people who say, "Never look back, doesn't matter if it's bad or good" - WRONG!
Ignoring the past means missing out on valuable lessons, especially when you view them with a fresh, current perspective.
I don't play chess, but I've watched professional players, both the winner and the loser review their moves immediately after the game. It doesn't matter where past actions got you, reflecting on them is still incredibly valuable. It teaches you what to do better in the future.
If I hadn't taken the time to evaluate my progress and the road I'd traveled so far, I'd have stayed stuck in that burnout loop much longer, causing even more damage to myself and my career.
The Main Reasons in My Personal Case
In hindsight, the main reasons I burned out were:
Lack of specific goals: I was doing everything just for the sake of doing it.
Lack of commitment: I wasn't motivated or excited to tackle tasks consistently.
Nonexistent discipline: I worked based on how I felt each day, with zero consistency.
Chasing quick dopamine hits: when coding or learning got boring, I'd switch to social media or video games. Even then, I wasn't truly enjoying myself, I was just pretending.
Making excuses for slow progress: I never questioned my approach and always found lame reasons for lack of results.
Fear of leaving my comfort zone: this actually translates to "fear of achieving a much better life and career".
False expectations: before I started working as a software engineer, I imagined it would be a nonstop process of exciting problems and constant feature development. The reality is different: at some point, you get stuck in a routine, and it can feel dull.
Wait, What About Working too Hard or Too Much?
Some of you might be wondering why "working too hard" or "working too much" isn't on my burnout list. Let's dive into that.
To be honest, what I was doing back then was far from true "hard work." As I mentioned earlier, I had no real discipline, and my bursts of intense work weren't consistent. Working hard for two or three hours a day while coasting the rest of the time doesn't make you a hardworking person. In my case, burnout had nothing to do with overworking.
As for working too much, it would be a lie to say I wasn't putting in long hours, sometimes I'd go to bed at 3 or 4 AM, or even later. But what's the point of working that much if it doesn't actually lead to anything? It's just convincing yourself that you're being productive.
Those long sessions contributed to my burnout, but not in the way you might think. It wasn't that I was putting in massive effort every minute and wearing myself down over time, it was that I was spending hours boring myself by accomplishing almost nothing. I was like a car idling with the engine on: burning fuel, going nowhere, and slowly getting rusty in the process.
When I said I didn't relate to most articles on this topic, this is what I meant. Most of them suggest things like "take it easy," "limit your coding time," or "do something else instead." For me, that NEVER, EVER worked.
Burnout isn't about how hard or how much you work, or about what other activities you do besides coding or learning. I've tried plenty of things like walking, running, working out, even meditating, but none of that gets rid of burnout on its own. Sure, they can help a little, but unless you identify the main, core reason behind it, burnout will always find a way back, no matter how many distractions or hobbies you add.
Then What's The Main Cause of Burnout?
There's no single cause, or set of causes for burnout. It can depend on many different factors, including your personality. But the bottom line is this:
If you genuinely enjoy what you do, burnout is unlikely to happen, no matter how much or how hard you work in a day. There's a huge difference between feeling tired and being burned out, and it's critical to recognize that distinction.
Have you ever felt tired but still completely happy? I have, and it's absolutely amazing. I remember working on projects so exciting that I'd skip sleep, sometimes going almost three nights without rest, let alone sleep, just because I just didn't want to stop coding. I was so exhausted that my eyes would close on their own, and I was barely holding on with a huge coffee mug by my side.
But I didn't care for a second. I coded not because of deadlines, and not because I couldn't do it later, I coded because I was in my flow state, which was way too precious to break.
Was I tired? Absolutely!
Was I Burned out or stressed? Not at all!
In fact, I felt incredible, because I was doing something meaningful and absorbing an enormous amount of knowledge that I knew would pay off massively in the future.
That's one of the many reasons why I keep coding and writing articles even when I don't have to - I'm addicted to that rewarding feeling of creating something new, whether it's a software or an article.
So before you label yourself as a burned-out developer, ask yourself: are you just tired, the kind of tired that goes away after a good night's sleep? To find out, try getting a solid 8 hours of sleep for 2-3 days and observe your mood and motivation. If you feel significantly better afterward, congratulations! You're not burned out, you're just tired. You just need a proper system and a good sleep schedule, and you'll be back on track.
⚠️ However, if you:
Feel stressed out all the time
Struggle to even tackle the simplest tasks at work, like adding a button, implementing a basic CRUD operation, or reviewing a simple code change properly
Feel sleepy during the day but can't fall asleep at night
Don't know what to chase or focus on when you wake up
Experience severe anxiety even during a short, easy 15-minute call
No longer feel excited about new features or enhancements
Lack discipline and just do things arbitrarily
Only do activities because they're labeled as "fun", without actually enjoying them
Feel like you're just coasting, working only for your paycheck (and even that doesn't make you properly happy)
Struggle with peak-level impostor syndrome
Then it's likely that you're dealing with real burnout, not just tiredness. And you need to start addressing it as soon as you can.
Reflect Honestly on These Factors
When it comes to developer burnout, it's important to reflect on your own habits, mindset, and approach to work and learning. Consider the following factors:
Impostor Syndrome
Feeling like you need to be as skilled as developers with years of experience immediately is a common trap. Comparing yourself to others can create unnecessary pressure and stress.
Lack of Experience
Mastery takes time. No matter how hard you try, it's unrealistic to expect instant expertise. Understanding this helps set more reasonable expectations.
Wrong Direction
Not developing the right skills or learning in an inefficient way can lead to frustration and slow progress. Focus on learning methods that actually help you grow.
Overly Self-Critical
Perfectionism is a silent burnout driver. Everyone needs to accept that mistakes and failures are part of learning. It's okay to fail, you can't be perfect all the time.
Unreasonable Ambition
Ambition is important, but spreading yourself too thin across multiple programming languages, frameworks, or domains can backfire. Trying to master backend, frontend, mobile, desktop, and game development simultaneously is unrealistic for beginners, and even seasoned developers struggle with that. Focus on one area to specialize in, while maintaining a general understanding of other areas - that's actually where I made a huge mistake.
Lack of Goals or Discipline
Having no clear goal or system for growth can be isolating in software engineering. Regardless of how well you're doing at work, personal projects, learning, certifications, research, blogging, or tutorials give your career purpose. To make progress:
Plan your day and allocate time for meaningful work outside of your job.
Be mindful of time spent on low-value activities, such as endless scrolling on social media, and replace part of it with growth-oriented activities. Avoid rotting your brain.
Recognize that "relaxing" isn't always restorative if it doesn't align with your personal goals. Sometimes burnout comes from passive downtime that doesn't feel productive.
Remember the car analogy? Standing still, engine working, but still slowly getting rusty. The only thing that car needs to start moving forward is to shift into drive. For you, finding your "D" gear means identifying the part of your system that actually gets you moving toward meaningful progress, whether it's a disciplined daily routine, a focused learning plan, or a personal project that excites you. Once you engage it, you start moving again, and the rust of stagnation begins to wear off.
The key is to experiment, reflect, and build your own system. Burnout often comes from a mismatch between your ambitions, your approach to work, and the way you spend your time. Being honest with yourself about these factors is the first step toward breaking the cycle.
The bottom line is this: break the loop. You need to do something different, anything. Even the wildest idea can work. For example, if you're a back-end engineer, try a front-end project: learn the basics, pick up the prerequisites, and dive in. Don't get stuck in tutorial hell, it only amplifies stress.
Or start writing tech blogs. Sure, they won't be perfect right off the bat...
BUT THAT'S EXACTLY THE POINT!
The excitement of creating something from scratch is massively underrated. It's like entering a whole new world where everything is fresh and exciting.
That feeling of discomfort and inconvenience? It's actually one of the best feelings you can experience. Convenience is boring, really boring. Living on autopilot is dull, and it slowly but absolutely surely rots your brain. Breaking out of routine and doing something new is how you reconnect with the joy of learning and building again.
And This Is Where the Navy SEALs Reference Comes Into Play
I'm not saying you should go through the "Hell Week" on a San Diego beach, carrying boats and logs in freezing water without sleep for five days, like real Navy SEALs do in training that shapes their future (I'd love to try though).
But let's think about it for a second. Any SEAL can end that excruciating ordeal at any time by simply saying, "I quit" and the instructors will gladly lead them off the beach to a warm shower.
BUT
Here's a particularly interesting part from one of the books I read a few years ago:
"Which can lead to a lifetime of regret" is the key part here. Even though I had already overcome burnout by the time I read this book, it still offered incredibly valuable lessons. Burnout is closely related to stress, but stress rarely comes from working too much. More often, it comes from feeling like you're not achieving anything or losing control of your career. Regret comes from realizing you've been going about it the wrong way all along.
Yes, you're in the "warm shower," which is supposed to feel comfortable and safe, but deep down, it doesn't truly make you feel accomplished. Think about it. In hindsight, you'd rather have traded that comfort for a real achievement, but that chance is gone. All you're left with is the warm shower - a fleeting dopamine hit that ultimately gives you absolutely nothing.
If you had stayed on the beach, continued grinding through discomfort, inconvenience, and pain, even knowing that more challenges awaited, you'd have been growing toward your ultimate goal. Navy SEALs don't train to earn warm showers, they endure the impossible because they want to become elite, doing things most people can't. The discomfort itself is part of the goal.
How Does This Relate to Our Field?
Yes, it's a completely different game, but most of us sign up to become engineers or tech leads because we genuinely love what we do and believe we can handle the toughness that comes with it. This profession was never meant to be easy.
Just like a Navy SEAL must stay in shape mentally, physically, and psychologically at all times, tech professionals must constantly learn new skills, practice them, and stay alert to avoid falling behind. In many ways, it's closer to being a professional athlete than to a regular 9–5 job. If you stop training, you just start going backwards right away.
I personally chose this profession because it isn't something just anyone can do. Not because it's impossible to learn, but because it demands a very specific mindset to stay relevant and competitive over time. Skill alone isn't enough, discipline, curiosity, and consistency are non-negotiable.
If you truly live and breathe what you do on a daily basis, burnout becomes unlikely. In fact, the opposite happens. Burnout often starts the moment you stop doing that, when learning slows down, growth stalls, and you feel the pressure of standing still while everyone else keeps moving forward.
Discipline, Discipline, Discipline!
I've mentioned discipline many times throughout this article and for a very good reason. One thing Navy SEALs are exceptional at, and something without which it's literally impossible to become one, is discipline.
I believe discipline is one of the most underrated skills anyone can have, especially in a field like software engineering. Reading books about Navy SEALs made me painfully aware of just how undisciplined I had been in comparison. That contrast was eye-opening.
What I quickly realized is this: an unclear mind and an unstructured life are among the biggest contributors to stress and burnout. Chaos isn't just external, it lives in your daily habits, your routines, and the way you make decisions.
Discipline removes that chaos. When you're disciplined, you do the work regardless of whether you feel like doing it or not. You don't negotiate with your mood, your motivation, or your temporary emotions. You simply execute.
And that's exactly why discipline isn't restrictive, it's liberating. It frees your mind from constant decision-making, reduces mental noise, and gives you forward momentum even on the days when motivation is nowhere to be found.
Discipline builds self-respect, because it proves to you that you do what you said you would and you'll have more trust in yourself in the future.
If you want to test your level of discipline, ask yourself this:
Can you stay productive every single day and follow predefined patterns that keep you consistent, or are you productive only when you're forced to be?
For example if you wake up at 6:00 AM on weekdays because you have no choice, but sleep until 9:00 AM on weekends and waste the day binge-watching shows or doom-scrolling reels, that's not discipline.
Discipline doesn't turn off when your calendar is empty or someone's not watching.
Most Navy SEALs keep their routines long after they retire, often for the rest of their lives. No one is yelling at them anymore. No one is forcing them to wake up early, train, or stay sharp. They do it because comfort makes them weak and structure keeps them dangerous and useful in the best possible sense. They've trained their minds to reject convenience because they've learned a hard truth: comfort feels good short-term, but it destroys you long-term. Discipline, on the other hand, is uncomfortable, but it's the only thing that keeps you useful, relevant, and mentally sharp.
Being decisive and a doer is one of the strongest traits you can develop to keep burnout away. Overthinking can lead to disaster, in a silent way. Learn to respect the idea of "good enough".
If your knowledge is good enough to start a new project, pursue a certification, apply for a new job, or even pivot to a new career, just stop hesitating. Start, and start NOW! Put the gear lever into D. The light has been green for a long time, it's been waiting for you to move 🟢.
Real action is what breaks vicious cycles. Not planning. Not thinking. Not consuming more content. Action. And once you break through that cycle, you prove to yourself that burnout and stress aren't permanent states, they're symptoms of stagnation.
All you need is traction.
Once you have that, acceleration becomes inevitable.
Why Burnout Hits Software Engineers Differently
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, burnout exists in every profession. But burnout in software engineering is particularly brutal. Not because we're special or entitled, but because the tech world is unforgiving in ways most fields aren't.
The pace is relentless. The uncertainty is constant. Technologies change, expectations shift, and the definition of "good enough" keeps moving forward. It's a career that constantly makes you question your skills, your decisions, and sometimes even your choice of profession.
That persistent doubt is what makes burnout in software engineering so severe.
Here's a short list of things that often overwhelm software engineers and tech leaders:
Balancing being generalist vs. specialist: should you focus deeply on one area or spread yourself across multiple domains? Finding the right balance is stressful and often feels impossible.
Design decisions and self-doubt: even when you make the most optimal design choices, you constantly question yourself: could it have been better? What if I missed something?
The endless sea of frameworks and tools: new programming languages, libraries, and frameworks appear constantly. Just keeping up with the pace, especially in fast-moving ecosystems like for example JavaScript is exhausting.
Choice paralysis for learning: you want to stay relevant, but picking what to learn next can feel impossible. It has to be useful, interesting, and applicable in real projects, otherwise it's wasted effort.
Fear of getting rusty: at work, you only use a limited set of skills. Even the most exciting projects can leave you in a routine for months or years. Without coding outside work, other skills atrophy, and anxiety about becoming irrelevant builds.
AI and automation fears: while AI can boost productivity, many engineers worry it will replace them. This uncertainty only amplifies stress and burnout.
Changing industry trends: the tech boom of the 2010s made job security feel abundant. Today, layoffs, slowdowns, and shifts caused partially by AI have made the future feel unstable, adding more pressure for every engineer.
Yes, it's tough. Yes, it's real. And yes, it's stressful and worrying. I'm on the same page. But how we position ourselves in the market is entirely up to us. We have every tool we need to become exceptional professionals.
From my experience, stress and burnout don't help you, not even a little. They don't push you forward, they freeze you in place for weeks, months, or even years. And that's exactly what you don't want as a tech professional.
The Method That Keeps Me Running and Avoids Burnout
My best technique for avoiding stress is embracing the privilege of being in a field that demands nothing less than your absolute best, just like Navy SEALs. They spend their entire careers training, mastering new skills, and taking on missions most minds can barely imagine. But they see it as a privilege, not a burden.
The same applies to doctors, pilots, professional athletes, CEOs, and other high-stakes professions. These roles are tough, full of responsibility, and often stressful, but when you rise to the challenge, they're also deeply rewarding. Stress becomes a signal of growth, not a trap.
Who needs a boring job anyway?
Summary and Exercise for You
The Summary
Burnout is a tricky topic. It's more about psychological exhaustion than physical fatigue, and surprisingly, it's often caused by not using your full potential, not by overworking.
Finding the most effective ways for using your potential is like driving an F1 car at its limit through a corner. When approaching the corner, you need to slow down by pressing the brake pedal just hard enough not to lock up the tire in the process. Go in too hot and you'll miss the corner. When exiting the corner you need to apply just the right amount of throttle and steering lock not to spin the rear tires, lose the grip and spin around, causing losing a significant amount of time.
Developer burnout is much the same. Spin your tires in the wrong way - mismanage your energy, progress, or focus and friction builds up, smoke rises, and you stall. The solution? Be methodical. Balance your pace, check your progress, and manage your energy carefully. That's how you win the race and your career.
And the foundation of all this? Discipline. Everything else like skills, growth, success builds on top of it. Everything!
The Excercise
I'm not going to give you strict step-by-step rules, because everyone's personality and situation is different. Instead, here's a high-level framework, you can customize it to what works best for you.
If you're suffering from burnout, try the following for the next full month:
Map your vicious cycle: pick a day to sit down and identify where you're stuck. Physically draw the cycle that stresses you out.
Find the weakest point: where can the cycle be broken? For example, if you're not doing personal projects but have time, start there. Pick an idea, it doesn't need to be groundbreaking. Even something simple, like a todo app, works.
Commit fully, take it seriously: attach yourself to your idea, project, certification, or blog. Think about it often, the more you engage, the easier and more exciting it becomes.
Avoid quick dopamine hits: please stay off social media, reels, and other brain-rotting distractions. Instead, focus on the long-term satisfaction of completing your project and the impact it can have.
Use AI wisely: tools are helpful, but you're the operator. Find a balance between using it too much and not using it at all.
Stick to a strict morning routine: wake up early and follow the routine every day, even on weekends or holidays.
Be mindful of your time: plan, track, and manage it carefully.
Document your progress: keep a log of what you do daily.
Commit daily: make GitHub commits or other measurable actions to track consistency.
Whenever you have to do something, do it now: don't procrastinate. Bugs, refactoring, learning, or tests, do it now. There's no better moment than the present.
After a month, compare how you feel now to how you felt at the start. Don't worry if your project isn't finished, that's not the goal. The goal is consistency, reflection, and growth.
If you love the process, keep going, it will do wonders for you. If you hate it, first check honestly: were you consistent, or did you slack off? Either way, you'll gain clarity on what you need to improve to reduce stress and burnout.
Remember: you're in a privileged position, don't waste it!
Top comments (4)
I was once burnt out and I have hit rock bottom so hard, I still have painful wounds, but I agree, nothing beats identifying the cause and then fighting back with discipline. I wouldn't say I've won completely yet, I have such a huge work to do, but I try to take a step by step.
First of all, when I felt burnt out (indifferent, moody, tired, joyless, only my few people and nature gave me some strength honestly), I quit my job without identifying a reason and without a next, short and realistic goal, I just felt tired.
When I thought I was tired and maybe didn't like what I was doing, time showed me quite opposite - I absolutely adore coding, creating huge systems which solve problems of real world, appears I love being part of a mission, but the reason of my burnout was my inability to protect my boundaries (in terms of timeline, deadlines, vacation planning) at work, my constant trying to prove I was a good coworker, "driving my car in a wrong direction", plus I think there was a rusting too.
I felt rusty, because I changed. Younger me wouldn't believe I needed and could learn about depths of programming, while mature me got anxious about missing opportunities, about wasted time and confidence, about empty spaces in knowledge.
Now I try to learn things which I missed on, because I wasn't confident enough to touch these topics and I take corporate culture way more seriously now.
I have strong discipline in sports, I swim and I take public transport even in the coldest weathers, but discipline in work is different.
I found out, I was way more disciplined when someone (school, university, office job) was controlling my schedule. Now I try bring back strong Natia but by controlling time myself, even when everything seems super important and impossible to reorganize and prioritize.
What helps, is a schedule! I know when I have to leave to go to pool, I know my cycle breaker (as you mentioned and I loved it!) is a dinner so I try to do most of the work before dinner and then dive back soon, I have set limits on social media because reels seem very stupidly, accidentally catchy and time-consuming, and the last one- before sleep I try to read a book of our field at least 10 min.
The most important thing, no excuses! That's where my weakness lyed.
I wish this pain and waste of time on nobody. And I would with big interest read another article from you maybe more about your tips and tricks how to sharpen professional, non-physical discipline.
Thank you for such important article! I was amazed reading your metaphor about rusting car and finding our own Drive mode, absolutely loved f1 metaphors and again thanks for sharing, I would never think strong and disciplined person like you could ever go through this!
All the best wishes for this new year, keep going brother!
Thanks for such an insightful comment! And I'm happy you've found your rhythm, it's never too late. Everyone should go through this kind of hardness to understand what works for them. Especially in our field - full of frustration, impostor syndrome, constant learning, and feeling that you don't belong in that position. That's where a strong mindset is built. When I was a beginner, I was afraid of difficulties and complexities of what my career brought, but then I realized that the point wasn't to avoid dark places, the point was to feel comfortable in them.
Great narrative, at first discipline might feel difficult as a battle but overtime it gets so addictive.
Totally. It's like a game. You lose one part and you have to start from the last checkpoint, which might be way too far at the beginning.