[sergiosgc]

There is another view. Programmers commonly have two characteristics that make them talk a lot about burnout:

a) They are analytical people. It comes with the job. You can't program if you don't think analytically, and this characteristic can't possibly be confined to work activities, so it gets ingrained into personality.

b) They like what they do. Naturally, this is not true for every individual, but is true for most. The reason is not that this is a paradise bubble. Much to the contrary: the profession is so taxing for individuals that don't like to code that it self selects "code lovers".

Individuals fitting this description know and actively quantify their productivity levels. They know that they perform better when everything is flowing, and they know when they're off their game. Thus, they are more prone to correctly identifying lower productivity on themselves, when compared to other professions. The result is more chatter about burnout.

This does not mean programmers burn out more than other professionals. It means programmers are more conscious of their own productivity.

[normloman]

The burnout problem is not just talk. When I hear people on HN brag that they regularly work through dinner, thats evidence that high burnout rates are real.

And programmer's personality traits are not solely to blame. It's the whole culture of tech, and tech companies. It's Google and Microsoft building these campuses with every amenity you'll ever need (so you never have to leave). It's VCs looking for young 20 somethings to make startups (because 20 somethings rarely have a spouse and kids to care for). It's all of us on HN acting like this it's ok.

[Huppie]

I'm going to agree with sergiosgc here.

Even though I work a relaxed 36 hour work week and rarely do anything work-related outside office hours I still encountered many of the issues related to burnout. I've wondered why for quite some time and this article pretty much nails where these feelings where coming from.

Fun fact: Even the process of interviewing at other companies seemed to help. Looking back, I think it's because most interview processes contain tests that required me to spend a few hours solving (complex) problems with code.

[potatolicious]

> "Much to the contrary: the profession is so taxing for individuals that don't like to code that it self selects "code lovers"."

I disagree with this part. I think this part is entirely a myth we've concocted for ourselves - we overtly select for "code lovers" with the predisposition that non-"code lovers" are incapable of handling the work.

I have never, ever, seen this proven out, but it's a common belief nonetheless. In general I think there's too much "we're so special, we elite few" in this industry.

Yeah, there's a level of achievement - like any other field - that's only possible if you're living and breathing code, but the vast majority of tech jobs - even senior, high-level tech jobs - don't require this.

[pconner]

HN self-selects "code lovers." It's easy to see that how the belief that this also applies to the industry can propagate here.

[seivan]

Funny how people assume long hours for software engineers is self-inflicted. I take it you guys don't have non engineering managers.

[cben]

For over a year I've been working at home (with a kid), on an open source thing with little prospect of financial return. I have many of burnout symptoms the article lists. I tell myself various reasons why I frequently work into the night, but one thing is certain: it's self-inflicted.