Sick of deadlines? Sick of project managers, boss, customers or whatever? Coding was once a dream of yours and now it drags you down. Each time you even think about it? Dreading Mondays? Thinking, why am I doing this shit?
Welcome to coder hell or like some call it programmers burnout. Maybe it’s a burnout, maybe not. Anyways, I’ve been there. A few times. Different stages though. Last time it was close to a burnout. Maybe I was already in it, don’t know. Doesn’t matter that much now. Even when you don’t burn out, the dread is there. And it affects surprisingly many devs.
In every team I worked with, there were at least two devs, who thought about doing something else. Working outside of IT. Like opening a sheep farm in New Zealand. Or a local one with some goats and sheep. However, almost none did ever take action. After some rambling they moved on with the code thing and complaining; money you know. Only a few did change something. Most of them became contractors and are doing the same shit just for a bigger pile of money. Now they got customers, not an employer but for many, the stress stays the same. They still have a boss and that guy is dictating their life.
The rest moved on to other things. I know of a guy who moved to photography and the rest somehow ens in the health section like yoga instructors, life coach or alike. Interesting change indeed.
The funny thing in my experience is that you don’t dread coding at all. Even after those holes, I still enjoy coding. Not always, but most of the time. Especially, when I make the rules; maybe not all, but the most relevant ones. The relevant ones that affect my health and joy of coding.
The most important thing I learn through these experiences is, that you need to change something to the better asap. Not necessary the job but how we cope with stress and how we balance stress and de-stress. And changing thing in our sphere of influence. You won’t be able to change the culture of a gorilla company but you can change yourself and in your sphere of influence. And if the latter does not work and is bothering you too much, find the next jobs. Not all companies are doing the same shit in the same shitty way.
So, have you ever been to the point of quitting programming?
Originally published at codeboje.de.