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Discussion on: Burnout as a Developer: Experience, Symptoms, Prevention and Cure

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Matthieu Cneude • Edited

I've had severe forms of burnout almost two times in my career: the first one was very bad and the second one almost happened; I had the good idea to quit and unplug myself from coding for a while.

I wrote a whole article about that if somebody is interested.

tl;dr:

  • Stress related to your work can push you from mild to severe form of burnout.
  • Burnout can manifest itself via a mix of cynicism, a lack of accomplishments, a feeling of exhaustion, an obsession regarding your job, and negative emotions.
  • The causes of a burnout are multiple too. Do you overwork? Do you feel a lack of control and autonomy in your job? Is the company culture nurture open communication and experiments?
  • To prevent yourself going further on the Burnout Road, you should try to explain to your managers that the work environment needs to change. Trying to “fix” an employee’s burnout won’t save his colleagues, and it won’t improve the company culture.
  • Rely on your family and your social interactions to escape the Burnout Road. Strong social bounds are the best medicine against chronic stress.