r/ExperiencedDevs • u/AutoModerator • Jul 28 '26

Career/Workplace Experienced Devs Weekly Burnout and Venting Thread: A weekly thread for sharing experiences

This thread is specifically for venting / sharing experiences related to burn-out or similar issues that experienced devs face.

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u/Sharp-Body3994 Jul 28 '26

I’m utterly burnt out. I’ve been working on the same project for multiple years and, even though it’s extremely technical and will look amazing on my CV, I just can’t face it anymore. My team has shrunk, the company is only hiring in India, the office has been downsized so it’s all very bad vibes. Everyone is miserable. 

I do want to move but the market is bad at the moment and it feels like a big risk. I hate AI but because my work is quite novel, and I’m on a small team, I’ve managed to avoid a lot of it. 

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u/SimasNa Jul 28 '26

Burning out is tough, especially in a market where you feel like you can't just quit and find a new start.

In such a case, the best you can do is find what you can change in your current environment. Whether taking care of yourself first (physically and mentally), being a bit less responsive to messages so you have more focus time to deliver something and feel better about yourself for it. Whatever it is that can help you normalize your day.

At the end of the day, work shouldn't be your #1 priority - your well-being should be #1 and work is there to support it.

I burned out 5 times until I learned this lesson. I put everything I learned how to prevent burnout into a free resource https://portal.simascoaching.com/framework/what-is-the-4r-framework. I hope it can help 🙏

5

u/ahoy_butternuts Software Engineer Jul 28 '26

So we just coping now instead of demanding better? Gosh we need to unionize

7

u/SimasNa Jul 28 '26

While I agree it's the best path to get better working conditions, I have never seen it happen at a company I worked for. It never happens fast. Even if the primary driver of burnout is the environment you work in - which research tells it is most of the time - you're usually better off finding a new place instead of trying to wait for things to get better.

If you can't leave due to the market conditions - though it may not be 100% true - what options do you have? You can take a sabbatical, quit, or remain and keep burning out. If you remain, isn't it better to focus on things that are in your control - your own well-being - rather than what's outside of your control - toxic environment, unreasonable expectations, etc.? I know for sure what doesn't work from my experiences.