Ah, burnout—the silent killer of motivation, productivity, and your will to open another Jira ticket. It sneaks up on you like a memory leak in production, slowly draining your energy until one day, you’re staring at your screen, questioning every life decision that led you to this moment.
Let’s play a game: Burnout Bingo. If you check too many of these boxes, it’s time for an intervention (or at least a strong cup of coffee and a long vacation).
The Burnout Bingo Card
1 You start the day exhausted, no matter how much you sleep
Forget “waking up refreshed.” You could sleep for 12 hours or power nap at your desk—it doesn’t matter. Your energy bar never refills.
2 Your brain feels like a 2008 laptop running Chrome with 57 tabs open
Simple tasks take twice as long. You read the same line of code five times and still have no clue what it does.
3 You’re emotionally checked out
A critical bug goes into production? Whatever. Stakeholder changes requirements for the 20th time? Cool. The office is literally on fire? Meh.
4 You hate the thing you once loved
Remember when coding was fun? Now, even a clean PR feels like just another step toward existential dread.
5 You fantasize about quitting and opening a food truck
Tech burnout has a weird way of making you believe that selling overpriced tacos on the beach is a viable career plan.
6 Your patience is thinner than a junior dev’s CSS skills
Minor inconveniences send you into a quiet rage. The build fails? You consider throwing your laptop into the nearest body of water.
7 You start making reckless decisions
“Eh, I’ll just push straight to production. What’s the worst that could happen?”
8 Your calendar is a battlefield of meetings
No time to code, just back-to-back meetings where nothing gets decided. Bonus points if half of them could’ve been an email.
9 You can’t remember the last time you took a break
Lunch? What’s that? Vacation? Sounds fake.
10 Your stress dreams involve work
You wake up at 3 AM in a cold sweat because you “forgot” to close a ticket in Jira.
What to Do Before You Blackout
1 Acknowledge It
Burnout isn’t a badge of honor. You’re not a productivity god—you’re a human who needs rest. Own it before it owns you.
2 Set Boundaries (Yes, Really)
Stop checking Slack at midnight. Say no to extra work when you’re drowning. Your job will survive without you for an evening.
3 Take a Real Break
Not a “I’ll just keep an eye on my emails” break. A real one. Go outside. Touch grass. Do something completely unrelated to tech.
4 Fix Your Sleep and Diet (Sorry, But It Matters)
Living on coffee and takeout is great until your body starts staging a rebellion. Eat something green. Hydrate. Get actual sleep.
5 Find the Root Cause
Is it bad management? Unrealistic deadlines? A toxic team? Fix what you can, and if you can’t—maybe it’s time to move on.
6 Get a Life Outside of Work
I know, wild concept. But having hobbies that don’t involve a keyboard makes a huge difference.
7 Talk to Someone
A mentor, a friend, a therapist—anyone. Bottling it up is how you end up rage-quitting your job on a random Tuesday.
Final Thoughts
Burnout isn’t just feeling tired. It’s a full-system failure. And if you’re hitting too many squares on this bingo card, take it seriously. Work will always be there—your sanity might not.
Have you ever hit full burnout? What snapped you out of it? Drop a comment below!
Top comments (0)