Burnout can happen to anyone, but in the field of software development, burnout is more likely to happen due to the nature of the job. The long hours put into crunch time or to fix issues when things go south can really take a toll on you. While it is important to prevent burnout, sometimes you might find yourself experiencing burnout already.
In this post, my goal is to share 4 ways you can try to stop burnout.
1. Stop Working so Much
Stop working so much and you will be fine. Although this seems to be obvious, it is one of the most important parts to stopping burnout.
Now, let me define what I am referring to when I mention “work”. Work is what you are doing while in the office or remotely for your company.
Let’s look at it from an example. You are a developer for a company and work a 9 to 5 or 6 job. You are getting a solid 8 hours of work in each day of the week or 40 hours a week. This leaves you with two days off to do what you want — it’s your time to recharge. In such a case, it is perfectly fine to leave work on how it is over the weekend; software development doesn’t have to be your life.
Now, I understand that if coding is your life and even on the weekend you want to be coding. That’s perfectly fine, but make sure it is something you want to code. Learn to take breaks and know when you are hitting your limits.
2. Prioritize Your Health
Nobody is going to take care of your health for you. So, you need to learn to prioritize your health. At the moment it might seem not so important because you’re probably still young. However, later down the line, you would have wished that you did value your health more.
The nature of software development is centered around looking at a computer screen and solving problems for 8 hours a day while sitting. Let’s face it, none of those are good for you when it is for so many hours a day. So, try to get a bit active throughout the day. Lower the strain to our eyes when looking at the computer screen with f.lux. With the amount of cognitive load your brain goes through on a daily basis, maintaining your mental health becomes a top priority.
3. Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance is a term that is thrown around a lot. Let’s define what work-life balance is in my context. It is simply leaving work at work. That means once you step out of the office for the day, you stop coding work related things, responding to emails and messages on an instant messenger such as Slack.
Why is work-life balance important? As a human being, you’re not wired to work so many hours a day. After a certain point (varies from person-to-person), your cognitive level begins to decline. You need to rest and relax, so you can re-energize yourself.
4. Try Something New
It’s great to have a routine, but if your routine is causing you to burn out, then it is time to change it up. Do something you want to try out. It doesn’t have to be limited to work, it can be your personal life.
Always wanted to try hiking? Go hiking on the weekend.
Been putting off a show that everyone else has been talking about? Fit in some time for a few episodes every week.
Breaking a routine is like trying to change a bad habit. It’ll be difficult at first, but with enough perseverance, you’ll eventually succeed and benefit from the change.
I hope this post was helpful to you. If you found this post helpful, share it with others so they can benefit too.
Did you experience burnout before? How did you deal with it?
To get in touch, you can follow me on Twitter, leave a comment, or send me an email at steven@brightdevelopers.com.