Burnout is one of the most common dangers to programmers over their career, and I was no exception. Software development and programming can make it difficult to find a healthy balance between work and life. My burnout was a combination of selfinflicted bad decisions, things done to me, and circumstances in my personal life.

In this episode, I share the story of my own burnout and how I lost nearly everything. Through it all, I found what really matters in life and work became a smaller part of it.

I hope this episode encourages you to share your own struggles to get help. Maybe some of the things I learned after going through burnout can also encourage you to keep going.

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CHAPTER MARKERS

0:00 Introduction

0:59 1 SELFINFLICTED BURNOUT CAUSES
1:05 1.1 People Pleasing
1:41 1.2 Overextending at Work
2:03 1.3 Side Gigs
2:15 1.4 High Expenses
2:51 1.5 Drug Addiction
3:18 1.6 Guilt and Shame

3:59 2 OTHERINFLICTED BURNOUT CAUSES
4:16 2.1 Political Lies and Manipulation at Work
5:31 2.2 Recurring Project Firefighting
6:42 2.3 Betrayed by a Coworker

8:04 3 CIRCUMSTANTIAL BURNOUT CAUSES
8:34 3.1 My Child Struggled With Dangerous Addiction
10:07 3.2 My Father Died At a Young Age
10:45 3.3 9/11 Work Culture Changes
12:04 3.4 My Wife's Abuse

13:36 4 BURNOUT TRIGGERS
13:42 4.1 Startup Partner Exited
14:27 4.2 Marriage Became Distant
15:13 4.3 Recurring Relapse of My Child
15:54 4.4 Company Bought Out

17:04 5 MY BURNOUT SYMPTOMS
17:12 5.1 Chronic Insomnia
19:03 5.2 Uncontrollable Anger
19:47 5.3 Forced to Resign
20:25 5.4 Spent Emergency Savings
21:29 5.5 Spent Remaining Cash
21:49 5.6 Sold All My Stocks
22:09 5.7 Fell Behind on Mortgage

22:54 6 STRUGGLING THROUGH RECOVERY
23:05 6.1 Tried Quitting Development
23:33 6.2 My Wife and I Found God
26:11 6.3 My Addicted Child Moved Out
27:03 6.4 I Started on YouTube
28:32 6.5 I Started Career Coaching
30:43 6.6 My Sleep Improved

32:01 7 HOW BURNOUT CHANGED ME
32:11 7.1 Recovery is Daily
32:31 7.2 Confronted My Addiction
33:09 7.3 Became Aware of My Limits
34:01 7.4 Embraced My Suffering
34:24 7.5 Motivated By Change
36:50 7.6 I Began Tithing
39:03 7.7 Learning To Live Sober
40:13 7.7 Focus on The Positive
41:09 7.8 Reject Being Defined By Work

43:56 Episode Groove

#burnout #programming #softwaredevelopment