Burning out is a terrible feeling. As someone who got a job before finishing school, I spent the first few years of my career working literally 16 hour days. I felt the need to prove myself, and I worked hard to do it. After 3 or 4 years my life changed in some big ways, and the life style started to affect me extremely negatively. I continued to try to work more hours but I wasn't getting anything more done. It was like I had no more ambition to work. On one particular project I hit a big dip. I became depressed, I started neglecting things like laundry, or brushing my teeth, or eating. When the project ended, I got some time to recover a bit (but not fully) a year or so later I was on another stressful project. I think I hit my low during that. I almost became completely separated from reality for lack of a better description. I started having deep almost philosophical thoughts about what the point of life even is. Again my productivity dropped lower (and also my quality of work, and my communication) I tried to make up for it with extra hours, but it only made things worse. Eventually I quit, and found a better job that has been pretty strictly 9-5. Additionally I also stopped working on side projects for a while. I think a really important part is realizing that the situation I was in was not going to get better, and a complete change was necessary.
