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Samuel Pires
Samuel Pires

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"Boreout", being sick of not improving.

In recent times, it has become more and more common to hear about "Burnout" syndrome. Especially in the tech industry, we see a lot of already experienced developers that are exhausted, and already out of their limits when it comes to working.

And we also see a lot of solutions for this type of situation, people are already all over it and fighting this problem.

But, what about when the situation is the complete opposite?

I'm a beginner software developer with nearly one and a half years in the field, and I've constantly faced what I like to call the "Boreout" syndrome.

I feel that being a beginner, I have a lot of energy to spend, and think like a newborn child, it needs to be in constant movement, it is a completely blank paper ready to absorb experiences from other people and other things.

Speaking in "tech terms", it is fundamental to spend this useful energy from a beginner when it comes to solving problems and building new things. And I feel that companies often miss this point.

At least for me, this lack of internal motivation at work and just having to do boring things that don't make me feel that I'm going forward drives me into a very uncomfortable state. I'm feeling exhausted, doing less...

There is this constant feeling that I'm losing the "Good times" which is exactly when you are just starting at something, being stuck in places that don't actually will help you improve, and then, time passes and you are still just a junior when you should be ready to evolve to more senior roles.

I've always wanted to know what exactly could be the solutions for this type of situation, how we use 100% of our potential as beginners, and make sure that we get prepared for more challenging tasks in the future when they come.

Latest comments (1)

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Devjour_app

Hello Samuel,

We totally feel you. The boreout is not well used term by so many. However, it started to raise more and more due to the following:

  • High Expectations when joining a team
  • Being assigned only to small and non-challenging tasks
  • Discovering the "Boreout" feeling late. So, it would affect your motivation and productivity.

The way to overcome such a thing is different from one organisation to another. However, on the personal (developer level), there are some options to help them overcome faster:

  • Direct communication with your superior (or manager) that you are feeling this and you need to have challenging tasks.
  • Among your dev team, propose to have a development meeting Bi-weekly. There you will discuss new tech, learnings and do some challenges.
  • Journal your feelings and productivity everyday using any journaling tool like "Notion, Devjour" with ability to track your productivity and mood. So that you can spot your feeling early on in the process.

I hope these points work the best for you.