Ask HN: If burnout tells you that you are in the wrong job/career, why avoid it?
5amichail68/30/2025, 7:45:21 PM
Isn't burnout like a major operation that could make your life significantly better in the long run?
Comments (6)
JustExAWS · 1h ago
No. Burnout has one and only one reason - the lack of courage or resources to say “no”. No company can make you overwork yourself. The worse they can do is fire you [1].
Yes I know most people need a job. But don’t put yourself in a position where you need your current job.
I have worked for 30 years across 10 jobs everything from lifestyle companies, startups, medium size companies, boring old large enterprise companies and BigTech and currently full time as a staff architect at a third party cloud consulting company. Never once have I been stressed or experienced anything close to burn out because I was always prepared to look for another job.
Being prepared means having a strong network, living below your means, saving money, keeping your skills in sync with the market, and being interview ready. I respond to every reputable recruiter whether I am looking or not.
Also whatever you do, don’t be a ticket taker.
Before you say you don’t make enough to save, if you make a standard developer wage (not BigTech wages) and you have 3-5 years of experience, you are probably making twice the median wage in your area.
I don’t do side projects and never have. I close my computer when I get off work. I exercise consistently and religiously and have since I was 15 in 1990. I prioritize spending time with family and friends for my mental health
In other words, work toward a position of f%%% you.
And before anyone says I don’t know what looking for a job is like these days, I was looking for a job in both 2023 and last year and found one quickly.
[1] Yes I am aware of the exception if you are here on H1B.
Spooky23 · 1h ago
I wish I could upvote this 100x.
I gave a lot of myself to a job, of my own free will. It felt like a mission at the time. Then I lost several people in my life who were my world, and discovered the harsh reality that it didn’t matter at all, and I never really stopped to be honest about what I wanted in life. I’ll never get the time back that I gave away for nothing.
While I was dealing with my personal life exploding, there was a political change at work (unrelated to me directly) that made most of what I had sweat over for a few years nearly irrelevant. It reinforced the lesson and like yours, the importance of boundaries and knowledge of self.
JustExAWS · 52m ago
So I guess I should be completely honest and hopefully this will provide a life lesson for someone. While it’s true I’ve never experienced burnout because of work, I did experience burn out because of my personal life. I wasn’t willing to walk away from a toxic marriage soon enough and in hindsight, the signs were clear. The marriage was short - only four years. But the mental and financial repercussions lasted a lot longer.
I stayed at my second job 6 years too long (for a total of nine) because my personal life wrecked my self confidence. I left that job in 2008 (and got remarried in 2012). But I didn’t fully rebuild my career to be competitive as you’d standard “senior” [sic] enterprise dev until 2014 at 40 year old and didn’t get into any company of note until 46.
chistev · 1d ago
I need the money
eschneider · 1d ago
Burnout happens for a lot of reasons. And it’s mostly avoidable.
lofaszvanitt · 1d ago
It tells you that you overworked yourself or overextended on your bodily resources.
Yes I know most people need a job. But don’t put yourself in a position where you need your current job.
I have worked for 30 years across 10 jobs everything from lifestyle companies, startups, medium size companies, boring old large enterprise companies and BigTech and currently full time as a staff architect at a third party cloud consulting company. Never once have I been stressed or experienced anything close to burn out because I was always prepared to look for another job.
Being prepared means having a strong network, living below your means, saving money, keeping your skills in sync with the market, and being interview ready. I respond to every reputable recruiter whether I am looking or not.
Also whatever you do, don’t be a ticket taker.
Before you say you don’t make enough to save, if you make a standard developer wage (not BigTech wages) and you have 3-5 years of experience, you are probably making twice the median wage in your area.
I don’t do side projects and never have. I close my computer when I get off work. I exercise consistently and religiously and have since I was 15 in 1990. I prioritize spending time with family and friends for my mental health
In other words, work toward a position of f%%% you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XamC7-Pt8N0
And before anyone says I don’t know what looking for a job is like these days, I was looking for a job in both 2023 and last year and found one quickly.
[1] Yes I am aware of the exception if you are here on H1B.
I gave a lot of myself to a job, of my own free will. It felt like a mission at the time. Then I lost several people in my life who were my world, and discovered the harsh reality that it didn’t matter at all, and I never really stopped to be honest about what I wanted in life. I’ll never get the time back that I gave away for nothing.
While I was dealing with my personal life exploding, there was a political change at work (unrelated to me directly) that made most of what I had sweat over for a few years nearly irrelevant. It reinforced the lesson and like yours, the importance of boundaries and knowledge of self.
I stayed at my second job 6 years too long (for a total of nine) because my personal life wrecked my self confidence. I left that job in 2008 (and got remarried in 2012). But I didn’t fully rebuild my career to be competitive as you’d standard “senior” [sic] enterprise dev until 2014 at 40 year old and didn’t get into any company of note until 46.