Burnout is one of the most common dangers to programmers over their career, and I was no exception. Software development and programming can make it difficult to find a healthy balance between work and life. My burnout was a combination of self-inflicted bad decisions, things done to me, and circumstances in my personal life.

In this episode, I share the story of my own burnout and how I lost nearly everything. Through it all, I found what really matters in life - and work became a smaller part of it.

I hope this episode encourages you to share your own struggles to get help. Maybe some of the things I learned after going through burnout can also encourage you to keep going.

My wife Angie's podcast, "A past, repainted" is here:
https://apastrepainted.com/content/podcast/

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You can also watch this episode on YouTube.

Chapter markers / timelinks:

(0:00) Introduction

(0:59) 1 SELF-INFLICTED BURNOUT CAUSES
(1:05) 1.1 People Pleasing
(1:41) 1.2 Overextending at Work
(2:03) 1.3 Side Gigs
(2:15) 1.4 High Expenses
(2:51) 1.5 Drug Addiction
(3:18) 1.6 Guilt and Shame

(3:59) 2 OTHER-INFLICTED BURNOUT CAUSES
(4:16) 2.1 Political Lies and Manipulation at Work
(5:31) 2.2 Recurring Project Firefighting
(6:42) 2.3 Betrayed by a Coworker

(8:04) 3 CIRCUMSTANTIAL BURNOUT CAUSES
(8:34) 3.1 My Child Struggled With Dangerous Addiction
(10:07) 3.2 My Father Died At a Young Age
(10:45) 3.3 9/11 Work Culture Changes
(12:04) 3.4 My Wife's Abuse

(13:36) 4 BURNOUT TRIGGERS
(13:42) 4.1 Startup Partner Exited
(14:27) 4.2 Marriage Became Distant
(15:13) 4.3 Recurring Relapse of My Child
(15:54) 4.4 Company Bought Out

(17:04) 5 MY BURNOUT SYMPTOMS
(17:12) 5.1 Chronic Insomnia
(19:03) 5.2 Uncontrollable Anger
(19:47) 5.3 Forced to Resign
(20:25) 5.4 Spent Emergency Savings
(21:29) 5.5 Spent Remaining Cash
(21:49) 5.6 Sold All My Stocks
(22:09) 5.7 Fell Behind on Mortgage

(22:54) 6 STRUGGLING THROUGH RECOVERY
(23:05) 6.1 Tried Quitting Development
(23:33) 6.2 My Wife and I Found God
(26:11) 6.3 My Addicted Child Moved Out
(27:03) 6.4 I Started on YouTube
(28:32) 6.5 I Started Career Coaching
(30:43) 6.6 My Sleep Improved

(32:01) 7 HOW BURNOUT CHANGED ME
(32:11) 7.1 Recovery is Daily
(32:31) 7.2 Confronted My Addiction
(33:09) 7.3 Became Aware of My Limits
(34:01) 7.4 Embraced My Suffering
(34:24) 7.5 Motivated By Change
(36:50) 7.6 I Began Tithing
(39:03) 7.7 Learning To Live Sober
(40:13) 7.7 Focus on The Positive
(41:09) 7.8 Reject Being Defined By Work
(43:56) Episode Groove

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Healing From Burnout After 20 Years of Programming

Healthy Developer

Healing From Burnout After 20 Years of Programming