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I think your burnout is because you enjoy working hard, but have trouble knowing when to find that balance between productivity and happiness.

In my 7 years since college, I've worked at two tech companies, and I've experienced burnout at both at one time or another.

I'm dealing with it by:

1) managing expectations - people are generally reasonable when they're aware of your work load and can sympathize with your need for leisure time

2) don't be a roadblock, but you can say "NO" more often - when I was younger, I'd chase small wins here and there, but overall it did not impact my external performance metrics much. It would have been more productive if I focused on more impactful changes and leave some smaller tasks for newer team members (and use it as an opportunity to transfer knowledge + teach)

3) there's always more work to do - one more email, one more changelist, one more code blog to read, one more framework to learn, one more person to meet. I have accepted that I cannot possibly exhaust my mental todo list. Anyone out there who says they accomplish 100% of what they want to do is either lying or have a short list.



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