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

I think most SWEs that don't get burnout either have an extreme passion for the work such that they don't mind thinking about it 24/7 or opt to go into lower pressure jobs. There are a lot of people finding ways to have lower pressure work at the FAANG level firms as well, although that is harder with the current market crunch for tech.

Many people are willing to grind it out for a couple decades, and some people working FAANG type jobs have been able to build generation wealth doing it, so that's a tradeoff they made.

I think you just have to go into it clearheaded about what you want, and avoiding getting sucked into situations where you're not optimizing properly for anything (i.e working 60 hr weeks for a mid-sized company that doesn't pay that well).

In some cases it’s easy to identify a workplace as the cause of burnout: Companies that require 50-80 hour weeks, bosses who yell and scream regularly, psychologically manipulative situations, and environments where people are prevented from having control over their own outcomes are going to take a toll on anyone. Getting any new job is statistically likely to be an improvement.

But I talk to a lot of developers who say they’re burnt out but who go on to describe relatively comfortable working environments. Some people even manage to get “burned out” at every company they’ve ever worked for, regardless of what it’s like. For these people, I think blaming the job for burnout becomes a cover for different problems.

For some, it’s because they haven’t built much of a life outside of work. As we grow up it’s easy to fall into routine of going to work, going home, and repeating. Some people I talk to haven’t met up with friends for months. Others haven’t taken a vacation in years. Some people can’t name a hobby that doesn’t also involve sitting at computers at the end of the day (gaming is common). For people in this group, changing jobs does very little beyond the initial excitement of meeting new people. If you’re in this group you really need to start getting out and doing things, even if you don’t feel like it initially. Rebuilding a life outside of work can improve one’s stress resilience in the office tremendously.

I’ve also noticed a lot of developers describing classic depression symptoms but calling it burnout lately. Despite changing attitudes toward mental health, people are still resistant to admitting depression in themselves. I’ve had a few friends in recent years who self-diagnosed as being burned out and took time off of work or quit their jobs to recover. Then in the absence of daily routine and social engagement of work, their depression became even deeper. I think the overlap between depression and burnout symptoms has created an opening for people who dislike the idea of being depressed to blame their jobs for all of their problems, which can delay treatment for a long time. For people in this situation it’s best to explore all explanations and be open to the possibility that maybe there’s more going on.

A good heuristic might be to look around you. If many of the people at your company are unhappy, burned out, or turning over rapidly then it’s probably your job. On the other hand if you’re one of the few people who seems to be struggling or of you’ve felt “burned out” at every job since college, maybe there’s more going on that can’t be explained by work alone.

Finally: Different jobs fit different personality types. Some people get bored and drained by slow-moving companies. Other people have difficulty handling any pressure or unpredictability at work. What works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. Match your job to what suits you best.

I've been in high pace job before being cuite young and eager and I felt no burnout.

Currently being in a moderate paced one (still not a laid back one, we are well paid staff expected to perform), but I am burned out now due to the feeling it makes no difference. Why am I wasting my time here?

> One of my later insights was that burnout doesn't merely entail working too much (although that's certainly part of it); burnout often involves pouring too much of your heart and soul into something that does not love you back. I describe burnout now as a kind of "unrequited love."

> So many of us go above and beyond for our companies/projects/teams/whatever. The author here describes overcommitting at work. We might have the best of intentions, but at some point, we don't see the returns we yearned for and start to question what all this self-sacrificial giving is for. That is when burnout really sets in.

This has been my own experience—I burned out hard while working at a tiny startup as the primary developer. External pressure was actually very low—it was self-funded and the CEO didn't feel much pressure to move quickly—but I overinvested in the project and company and eventually realized that the company didn't love me back.

That's the best advice I can give for burnout—the company will never love you back. No, you're not the exception. Give what you're contracted to give and what will get you better opportunities, but don't fall in love with a project or a company, because there lies burnout.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28306750

- 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 hours can be brutal, even at places that claim to value work/life balance. Pay is also not great unless you get a winning lottery ticket.

- 5 years in post-IPO "startups". There are pockets of good culture and pockets of shitty culture. As long as the stock is doing well you're golden for comp. The trick is to land on a good team where your boss is politically connected and can shield you from insane demands on your time.

Edit: I went through varying waves of burnout at all these places. For me the thing that helped the most with burnout was having customer interaction and knowing I was solving a real problem. Ultimately I left tech and started working with people more directly which is way more fulfilling.