How I Recovered After Burnout in My Third Year
Around this time last year, I completely fell apart. When I opened my eyes in the morning, going to work felt terrifying; I couldn't write a single line of code; and in meetings I couldn't even remember what I'd said. At first I thought I just lacked motivation, but even after resting well on the weekend, Monday felt exactly the same. That was when I thought something was off and started changing things one by one.
The first thing I did wasn't "reduce my work" but "set boundaries around work." I turned off all notifications after work and left my laptop in another room. For the first week I kept checking out of anxiety, but there was never actually anything urgent.
Second was the habit of recording accomplishments. Every Friday, I write down three lines about what I finished that week. The core of burnout isn't having too much work; it's the sense that "I haven't accomplished anything." When you write it down, you can see that isn't true.
Third, I picked up a hobby completely unrelated to work. I started hiking on weekends, and spending time on something totally unrelated to coding helped my recovery more than I expected.
If you ask whether I'm completely better, well, I'm still sensitive. But I haven't gone back to the state where I couldn't do anything like last year. If any of you are going through the same thing, don't push through it alone—try seeing a doctor, too. I had psychiatric counseling for about two months, and that was the biggest help.
4 answers
My second "achievement log" is genuinely effective, I admit. Since the company won't recognize me, I have to recognize myself lol.
I hit the same point around my second year too, but unlike the author, I started with "cutting down on work." But that actually just made my anxiety worse. With fewer things to do, I felt like I was falling behind... In the end, setting boundaries and weekly reflection were the answer for me. In particular, writing three lines on Fridays—at first I thought, "What's so impressive about that?"—but after about two months of buildup, it really made a difference. Maybe burnout is burnout because it's tied to a sense of accomplishment. I haven't tried hiking yet, but I should start something unrelated to coding too.