>My most hated thing about the industry: the amount of people who do not give a shit.
This is why they're not burned out.
And IMHO, this sounds a lot like sour grapes. To be rewarded for good work your management needs to know you're doing good work. For them to know you're doing good work you need to tell them. This is just a basic fact of life. And it's not super hard. You just need to maintain a relationship with your boss and ideally your boss's boss.
So your solution is to just not give a shit like everyone else? The reason that I've become so good at my craft is by giving a shit. The reason that my projects always succeed is because I give a shit. Not giving a shit puts a ceiling on your career as a developer. Not giving a shit will prevent you from learning. The irony in my situation is that I am investing in myself by doing the work, I am learning and improving myself while others stagnate. I try to remind myself of that.
> And IMHO, this sounds a lot like sour grapes. To be rewarded for good work your management needs to know you're doing good work. For them to know you're doing good work you need to tell them. This is just a basic fact of life. And it's not super hard. You just need to maintain a relationship with your boss and ideally your boss's boss.
Sour grapes? Only one or two sentences complained about recognition. I'm talking generally about the majority of developers at big orgs. Deal with management? I work in a global org that already has plenty of communication issues, people don't want to be bothered. Moreover I don't want to deal with politics as I am a long-term contractor. I try to remind myself that I just need to bill my hours and forget about it, but I'm essentially treated as an employee and my insane efforts carry a team of 8 people (including other contractors) that literally do nothing while reaping the pay and recognition. They run mouse movers all day and enjoy their paid staycations. "Spend the budget" -- since I provide 10x the value then give me 10x the pay, the other guys are doing nothing while it's expected that I work my ass off. A manager that I befriended once told me "yeah that's usually how it goes, team of 8 but one or two guys do all the work. typical" How is this acceptable? If I give up like the others then I am no better, I become the person I despise and I contribute to the horrible culture that has taken over the industry in big orgs.
>So your solution is to just not give a shit like everyone else
I'd say give a sustainable amount of shit directed at tasks rewarded by management.
You shouldn't see your coworkers as different from you. They're just further along the path to enlightenment. The ending points of this path are effectively:
(1) Finding work that you're passionate about and pays
(2) Finding work that allows you to do something you're passionate about
Unfortunately the opportunities for (2) are far more abundant than the opportunities for (1). The lucky/smart/motivated ones can attain it. For the rest of us there's just (2).
You're climbing burnout mountain now. At the top of that is a long slide called Midlife crisis that ends in the valley of enlightenment.
Interesting take. I appreciate the perspective. Maybe I just need a new work environment. I miss working with smart, driven people. Thanks for your thoughts, this is therapy for me.
I completely agree with the advice you got there and I'll add one thing on top.
I give a shit about what I do. I know my employer does not give a shit about me though. My advice: keep a timesheet!
It's amazing how much unpaid overtime people give their employers if the employer doesn't make you fill a timesheet. It's awesome to look at your own timesheet and see that you really really don't need to feel bad about stopping working at 2pm on Friday because even that still keeps you in overtime territory. It doesn't mean you don't give a shit. You gave it your everything while you did the work, you cared about the code you wrote and you still got way more done than the people sitting in the office for 60 hours a week while goofing off on Facebook. The whole WFH thing makes this much easier because you don't have to dread people's turning heads when you leave the office that early.
The other thing is "unlimited vacation". If you have that at your job, make sure you check how much vacation you are actually taking. Companies actually like unlimited vacation policies, which should be enough for you not to like them. People tend to take less vacation under such polociee. Nobody wants to be the one that took the most vacation for some reason and companies exploit that. So keep track and just take the amount you think you should take (within reasonable limits). E.g. 30 days a year is completely fine. If you work in technology in Germany then 30 days is very likely the amount you get, even if you are fresh out of university.
This is why they're not burned out.
And IMHO, this sounds a lot like sour grapes. To be rewarded for good work your management needs to know you're doing good work. For them to know you're doing good work you need to tell them. This is just a basic fact of life. And it's not super hard. You just need to maintain a relationship with your boss and ideally your boss's boss.