What are the best ways to avoid burnout in a software design career?

I've always recommended to have one project in which you go "deep", and a handful of projects that handle the "breadth" element of your learning. Your deep project will allow you to be customer, and business/operational focused. You will know the ins and outs, and you will likely stay technically adept because of this project. But, at the same time, it will take away from scalability in doing other projects, and your focus. Your breadth projects allow you to sample the space of newer technologies, skills, connections, business processes, and so on, without requiring in-depth contributions that require deep attention and focus. It's really the best of both worlds and will keep you from feeling stuck!

Burnout can also have its roots in childhood, in an upbringing that teaches one that nothing is ever enough, that self-worth is tied to performance, and that one can always do more. This is used by a society and companies that optimize their wellbeing in teaching people to constantly learn, self optimize and criticize. Social media like LinkedIn give the false impression that everybody is constantly doing more and better. Saying yes to yourself and caring less about other groups goal is the source of power to say no or not now. Sometimes it’s important to not say it professionally and seeing we survive if others are disappointed or angry. It’s your life.

4 points. 1. Know what you don't know. Often times, people underestimate how long a particular thing is going to take, not properly factoring what they don't know. This could be learning a new tech, as well as delivering a task. 2. Get good at what you're doing (quickly if you can), so you can accurately estimate things in the mid-to-long term. If you can't tell what's the right balance for delivering impact and overworking - seek help from seniorer members of staff who can chime in. 3. Make sure you're aligned with the team and with your leadership, so they are OK with "your" workload, and there aren't any unreal expectations. 4. And commit to saying "no" to higher than capacity workload - after those 3 points.

I dont like the unreversibleness of the phrase burnout. You just started to believe that things cannot change for the better. Actually you cannot influence your environment enough at your present state. You are just facing an important learning in your life. For me talking about the situation with many people helps. Also it is important to find your inner love for software. It will help you go through the learning process.

The main cause of Burnout is the ability/ skill of saying 'No' in a very professional way to avoid taking up unrealistic work or timelines that will impact your work-life balance. We should only account for 60% of our time for actual work since the remaining time goes away in meetings, emails, chat, other ways of communication. Also we must include time for learning/ training each day to keep up with new technologies/ tools/ ideas/ etc.

The longer you sit, the faster you die! Look up the research if you don't believe me. So during your workday take breaks away from your big glowing rectangle and mouse and keyboard. Get up and walk around and think.

Work/life balance sometimes might mean being flexible with your duties - e.g. leaving work early to take kids from school, then finishing some work later. To be able to balance that, one needs to have clear priorities - e.g. I try not to sacrifice dinner with family, as well as some training time, but I can skip going out with a friend or some chores if I need to do some more work. Eventually, I appreciate working for teams that value outcomes rather than time spent at work/online. This also helps to set priorities and reach balance.

Learn a new skill that's on the creative side. Artsy stuff. Playing guitar for example or piano. Experiment. This will develop other part of your brain and will balance the engineering thinking.

In my experience, overtime and working on weekend are sometimes unavoidable. However, these need to be compensated, by - as suggested - making time for hobbies, for example running or just walking. These two activities can give time to think, when working on problems that we faced during coding time, these activities may give us benefit to refresh and think about the solution.

Keep in mind that rest is not something you earn, it's a necessity of the body. Therefore, you must not trade off your rest or quality time with family and friends just to keep someone elses business afloat (in most cases your effort isn't even what keeps the cash flowing). Sometimes the compensation justifies some sacrifices, but getting used to sacrifice your needs for small rewards all the time will keep you from growing and, in the long run, you'll pay for it with your phisycal and mental health

I read somewhere that great leaders not just as ask the progress but also ask could that have done differently and better? Why not ask this question from ourselves? This will lead to think differently and grow!.

Learning is life long and in this ever evolving software design and engineering it becomes crucial if you want to stay relevant. So, invest in learning, buy good audiobooks and take subscription of LinkedIn learning. Keep a goal of learning one new technology every year and after learning write and publish on LinkedIn/your blog/medium

Developing your skills is one of the best things you can do to yourself. Acquire a new skill every quarter and play with it. This will help you to refresh your learning skills.

Dedicating all learning efforts to one area can lead to burnout too. It's important to find a balance between skill-building for work and recreational hobbies. For example, learning some front-end web development skills as a back-end coder provides variety and can be considered a fun hobby outside your core role. Exploring front-end as a back-end developer allows you to expand your abilities for the future while also giving your brain a break from constant back-end learning. Having this recreational, non-work related hobby boosts creativity, mental relaxation, and ultimately circles back to improve your back-end coding performance too.

Balance your work alone. Life will get its time. The key issue to be concerned about is how much time you are working and what is the output? If you keep your output in perspective, you can easily manage the time. Measure the amount of time you take for everyday tasks at work. Remember that and schedule your day accordingly. Once this is done, you will have enough time for other aspects of life. There is no magic formula, it is individual discretion.

I'm lucky that I'm passionate about my work and that I found my calling. Rediscovering and nurturing your passion is an antidote to burnout. Your career can be a canvas for creativity and a platform to address real-world issues, but it may lose its lustre if you stray from your true calling. To avoid burnout, seek out projects that genuinely pique your interest, challenge your skills, and ignite your inspiration. This can be difficult if your financially challenged, but making small steps in the direction of your passion will help, it doesn't have to be an all or none thing. When your daily tasks align with your passions and purpose, you're more likely to remain motivated, satisfied, and resilient in your career.

I firmly believe that aligning your work with your passion is an excellent way to guard against burnout. The multifaceted world of technology, with its diverse range of fields such as software development, DevOps, and cybersecurity, can be challenging and may lead to monotony and burnout. However, when you align your career with your personal interests, it can be a source of inspiration and satisfaction.

I think there is a concerning mindset that says asking questions makes you less valuable. Please, learn from others. Asking a question doesn’t make you look dumb, it shows you are thinking and trying to understand. Don’t struggle in silence! Seek help.

Seek opportunities to work face to face. Pair program. Connect with your colleagues. Have meals together to make time to talk about subjects that are unrelated to work.

The importance of seeking support cannot be overstated. Remote or independent work can lead to isolation, impacting your mental and emotional well-being. To fend off burnout, nurturing a support network is essential. Cultivate connections with peers, colleagues, friends, and family who can provide valuable advice and feedback. Join an OSS project you feel you can collaborate on, you'll find others that have similar interests and views which can lead to friendship and a supportive ear. Sharing your challenges and triumphs not only alleviates the burden but also enriches your perspective and problem-solving abilities. Moreover, their encouragement and empathy can serve as a powerful buffer against the stresses of the profession.

Be open and learn to collaborate with others. Ask for new ideas and ask others to review your works. Teamworks is important and do not become a loner in a work place.

IMO, the only way to have a great and healthy career without too much effort is first to be disciplined. Go to bed at reasonable hours, don't work "too much" if possible, vary your activities in order not to be bored focusing on stuff that will be good for your career. Have one target : Be happy. If you are, you'll be willing to work a lot in a way that your won't be tired easily, your brain will learn more things easily, and you'll be passionate. In order to be happy at your job, you need to take care of yourself.

Manage your stress and learn the right ways to take care of your body. Eat well and avoid many processed foods with harmful ingredients.

Just learn to say No. Even if you are a newcomer looking for legitimity, you need to know how to set boundaries between what you think you can do, and what you can really do with the amount of time and energy you have.

Keeping yourself challenged and working on new topics/scenarios & Issues will avert the burnout. Also agree with what others have said, work-life balance is a necessity. Developing your creative side helps relaxing, e.g. I spend some of my free time in painting and other creative works which help me relax.

Watch your back. Companies are not families; they are teams. You always risk getting cut from the team. Strive to make yourself uniquely valuable so when managers make a list of people they can't afford to lose, you are as close to the top of the list as you can get. The best time to find a job is when you have a job. If you get fired or laid off, it's probably not personal (unless you're a jerk or you're crooked). Try not to take it personally, get back on your feet, and find another team to join. Wipe the dust off your sandals and move on.

Consider that if the work is hard, demanding, taxing, the problem might not be the work itself. It could be the why behind the work. How does it connect to the greater good, public interest, or society’s future? If it doesn’t and you don’t feel a call to mission, that could be the problem. Passion is about you, mission is about a greater cause. Find a mission and hard work feels like a much easier lift and doing the work gives a bigger pay-off than finishing it.

Es gibt immer wieder Themen, die wir nicht direkt beeinflussen oder ändern können – und Dinge, die wir so gestalten können, wie wir sie brauchen. Das war schon immer so und bleibt so. Ob im Job oder im Privatleben wir befinden uns in einem ständigen Wechselspiel aus Fremd- und Selbstbestimmung. Wir können nicht kontrollieren, was andere über uns denken oder wie sie sich verhalten – aber wir können aufhören, uns davon abhängig zu machen und da ansetzen, wo wir wirklich etwas bewirken können: bei uns selbst. Wenn wir Verantwortung für unsere Bedürfnisse und unser Handeln übernehmen können wir lernen vernünftig mit unserer Arbeitsbelastung umzugehen, Berufliches und Privates in Balance zu bringen und somit zufriedener und gesünder bleiben.