Ask HN: How to deal with burnout?

16 points·derevaunseraun··2 comments

Hi everyone. Just wanted to ask how you guys deal with programming burnout over time.

Dealing with abstract design and diagrams doesn't bother me, but physically writing code feels horrible. I feel like the more I do it, the less confident I feel about it.

It's weird because a year ago I felt the opposite.

For anyone who's felt this way or similar to this: does it go away? How did you handle it?

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I quit my job in September, forced myself to truly rest for a month (no hobby projects or anything), and have slowly been building back since then. I feel like it took me 5 months to truly feel like I wasn't burnt out anymore and I'm only now starting to look for work again.

Small hobby projects were really helpful to gauge where I was at mentally. I had a couple false starts but eventually I managed to convince myself that I could actually do the work and things started being fun again as I rebuilt that confidence.

Not sure how paid work will go but I'm in a lot better place mentally now so I'm hopeful.

Time off and rest. Burnout is like a repetitive strain injury of the mind. Working through burnout can cause "stress fractures" to your relationships, health, wellbeing.

Check out Christina Maslach's book The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress.

Edit: work with a therapist if you can! Think of it like hiring a personal trainer for your mental fitness.

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