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Ask HN: How common is developer burnout? Have you ever been burnt out?

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Re: Ask HN: How common is developer burnout? Have you ever been burnt out?

#91

Post by JohnBooty »

nickd2001 wrote: post #89
JohnBooty wrote: post #69

This makes me wonder if finding a low-key, sane culture is the key to sustainability in the industry, and avoiding burn out. They are exceedingly rare. The only way these can really exist is within a small bootstrapped (self-funded) venture or perhaps within an open source project that has both autonomy and outside funding. The paradoxical nature of commercial software development is that the entire fucking industry…

I agree with the above, but have you looked public sector? (e:g gov't , academia) low-key, sane culture can be found there. Simply because the org is not constantly chasing the next quarter's profit. Its not utopia, but in my experience (mostly private sector but a fair chunk of public sector) , public sector is so much better, less stress, and ironically, more productive because you can make long-term decisions, fix…

For my next role, I think I'll definitely look at this. Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: How common is developer burnout? Have you ever been burnt out?

#92

Post by nickd2001 »

JohnBooty wrote: post #91
nickd2001 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the above, but have you looked public sector? (e:g gov't , academia) low-key, sane culture can be found there. Simply because the org is not constantly chasing the next quarter's profit. Its not utopia, but in my experience (mostly private sector but a fair chunk of public sector) , public sector is so much better, less stress, and ironically, more productive because you can make long-term decisions, fix…

For my next role, I think I'll definitely look at this. Thanks!

I wish you the best with finding such a role :)

Re: Ask HN: How common is developer burnout? Have you ever been burnt out?

#93

Post by burutthrow1234 »

jventura wrote: post #84
burutthrow1234 wrote: post #20

My career history (across different businesses): - 4 years working in-house on software tools. It was not very stressful but also didn't pay great and the tech stack was out of date. - 2 years doing boutique consulting. Lots of interesting challenges but very stressful and high pressure. Pay was surprisingly mediocre and there was a lot of sales involved. - 6 years in series A/B startups. Lots of autonomy but the hou…

> Ultimately I left tech and started working with people more directly which is way more fulfilling. What do you do now, if you don't mind me asking?

I manage a niche retail store for a hobby that I'm passionate about. It's nice to be out of the house and talking to different people.

Re: Ask HN: How common is developer burnout? Have you ever been burnt out?

#94

Post by syndicatedjelly »

RemoteIsHeaven wrote: post #54
syndicatedjelly wrote: post #17

I obstinately focus on engineering, technical, programming, and math problems in my work. It affects my performance reviews, because I am told that I am a high-performing individual contributor who “lacks” an eye for the bigger picture, because I show little interest in the business side of things. This has kept me sane at work thus far. We’ll see how long I can keep up this approach.

> a high-performing individual contributor who “lacks” an eye for the bigger picture, because I show little interest in the business side of things If focusing on engineering, technical, programming, and math problems is really what excites you and you truly have no interest in the business side of things, you should start looking for companies that will only want you to focus on engineering, technical, programming,…

Thanks. Maybe I’m not senior enough to have reached the breaking point with this company, but my current career goal is to advance as far as I can as an individual contributor. I’m interested in going down the “Principal/Staff/Distinguished” route, not the people/project management route.

Re: Ask HN: How common is developer burnout? Have you ever been burnt out?

#96

Post by mxgrn »

How I'm personally seeing it, the sole reason for burnout is doing stuff you're not enjoying, for too long. Then, the solution I'm trying to follow is to organize my life in such a way that I never feel the pressure of deadlines, as well as any need to communicate with people I dislike.

Re: Ask HN: How common is developer burnout? Have you ever been burnt out?

#97

Post by cdeutsch »

At 45 I got laid off from a startup in June 2023 after trying to push through burnout for over 2 year. After 4 purely cosmetic redesigns of the product before we were even public, I just stopped caring. Our none existent customer base isn't going to suddenly buy the product if primary buttons are purple vs blue.

The next six months of trying to find a job were completely demoralizing thanks to all the other layoffs in the industry. I gave up looking and downsized my life so I could take 2 or 3 years off.

I'm slowly letting it go, but I'm still dreading having to go back to writing software. Unfortunately I haven't been able to come up with many similarly paying options to switch to. Maybe management or technical sales I guess? Maybe just getting away from frontend dev will help as well.

Re: Ask HN: How common is developer burnout? Have you ever been burnt out?

#98

Post by cdeutsch »

tippytippytango wrote: post #8

Burnout is your brain giving up because it doesn’t think the benefit is worth the effort anymore. If you don’t have a purpose for what you are doing all your brain will do is obsess over the negatives. Every job in the world has massive negatives. You have to find a positive purpose for what you are doing to balance the negative. Even a low key sane culture will feel like a soul sucking grey blob of a life it you don…

Well said! I'll be keeping this in mind when searching for my next job.
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