Six months ago, I completely burned out while trying to ship TaskWeaver’s first beta release. Looking back, the warning signs were obvious—but I missed them all.
Here are the subtle indicators I wish I’d paid attention to. Maybe they’ll help someone else recognize their own burnout before hitting the wall.
1. The Documentation Aversion
It started with small things. Writing documentation that used to take me an hour suddenly felt like climbing Everest.
I found myself procrastinating on simple README updates for days. I’d rather rewrite a component than explain how it worked.
This wasn’t laziness—it was my brain desperately trying to avoid tasks requiring sustained focus.
2. The “One More Fix” Syndrome
Late nights became the norm. Not because deadlines demanded it, but because I fell into a peculiar pattern:
“I’ll just fix this one more bug before I go home.”
Three hours later, I’d still be debugging, having forgotten why I started or what I was trying to achieve. The goal kept shifting, the work never complete.
3. The Technical Tunnel Vision
Meetings became unbearable—not because they were unproductive, but because they weren’t “real work.”
I started evaluating everything through a distorted lens:
- Writing code? Productive.
- Architecture discussions? Necessary evil.
- Team-building activities? Complete waste of time.
This narrow definition of “valuable work” is a classic burnout warning sign I completely missed.
4. The Disappearing Weekends
Slowly, the concept of weekends dissolved.
It wasn’t dramatic—I didn’t formally decide to work seven days a week. Instead, I developed a habit of “just checking in” on Saturday mornings, which expanded until my weekends were indistinguishable from weekdays.
By March, I couldn’t remember the last full day I’d taken off.
5. The Phantom Urgency
Everything felt urgent, yet nothing felt important.
I’d jump between tasks, convinced each one needed immediate attention. This constant context-switching left me exhausted but with little to show for my efforts.
The bizarre part? When asked what absolutely had to be done today, I couldn’t give a clear answer. The urgency was a feeling, not a reality.
6. The Joy Drain
The most insidious sign: the slow disappearance of joy from work I used to love.
Complex technical challenges that once energized me became sources of dread. Successful deployments that should have been celebrated just brought relief that “it’s finally over.”
I stopped sharing technical discoveries with colleagues—not because they weren’t interesting, but because nothing seemed worth the energy of explanation.
7. The Identity Merge
Perhaps the most dangerous sign: I stopped being able to imagine myself separate from the project.
Conversations outside work became difficult because I had nothing else to discuss. Criticism of the product felt like personal attacks. My self-worth became entangled with TaskWeaver’s success metrics.
I wasn’t a person working on a product anymore—I was the product.
The Recovery Strategy
Recovery didn’t happen overnight, and I’m still working on it. But here’s what helped:
- Hard boundaries: No work communication after 7pm or on weekends
- Re-discovering old hobbies: I started playing piano again
- Delegation: Learning to let go of tasks others could handle
- Therapy: Professional help to rebuild work/identity boundaries
- Scheduled joy: Blocking calendar time for things that bring me energy
The Unexpected Outcome
The irony hasn’t escaped me: when I finally stepped back and addressed my burnout, TaskWeaver’s development actually accelerated.
With renewed perspective, I made better technical decisions. With boundaries in place, the work I did was more focused and effective.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your project is to step away from it for a while.
If you recognize yourself in any of these signs, please take them seriously. The cost of ignoring burnout far exceeds the cost of addressing it early.
And if you’re a manager reading this—learn to spot these patterns in your team before they hit the breaking point.