A Day in the Life of a Burned-out Developer: Your Ultimate Guide
Tags: webdev, startup, developers, productivity
Published: 2024-03-14 14:32:44

---
title: A Day in the Life of a Burned-out Developer: Your Ultimate Guide
published: true
description: In today’s high-paced world, there’s a secret formula to enduring your burnout state.
tags: webdev,startup,developers,productivity
cover_image: https://qwcsbptoezmuwgyijrxp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/novel/1710372984763-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-burned-out-developer.png
# Use a ratio of 100:42 for best results.
# published_at: 2024-03-13 23:28 +0000
---

In today’s high-paced world, there’s a secret formula to enduring your burnout state.

### 1/5) Morning Rituals: Fueling Up for the Day

Begin your day at a leisurely 9 a.m. There’s no need to rush, the path to burnout is a marathon, not a sprint. Kickstart your day with coffee and breakfast, allowing caffeine to kick in for a few hours.

> …the path to burnout is a marathon, not a sprint.

Then, Binge-watch a high-quality HBO Max series _(The White Lotus, Succession, The Sopranos…)_. By engaging with complex narratives, you’re not only avoiding work but also filling your mind with enough distractions to prevent any meaningful productivity.

This step is critical for cultivating a deep sense of avoidance and procrastination, key ingredients for burnout.

### 2/5) Time to Work: Be Productive

Dive into the heart of your productive day:

1.  **Mark emails as read**: the perfect productivity hack.
    
2.  **Check your stats like it’s Bitcoin 2017**: mine are my [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@saasrock) and [saasrock’s analytics](https://saasrock.com/analytics).
    
3.  **Look at your editor for a few minutes**: Open your editor of choice and stare blankly at the screen, perhaps opening a file or two, scrolling through lines of code without making any changes. Consider typing a few lines, then deleting them, or simply reformatting some code.
    

> Consider typing a few lines, then deleting them, or simply reformatting some code.

This gives you a sense of achievement and progress, a necessary delusion for the burnout-bound developer. The fleeting dopamine hit from seeing any uptick in numbers creates a perfect setup for later stress when actual work is required.

### 3/5) Physical and Mental Breaks: Thrive for Balance

This is personal but you can replace any activity depending on your taste:

*   **Walk your dog**: They don't live enough, so turn your exhaustion into their highlight of the day.
    
*   **Eat** healthy with your **wife**.
    
*   **Videogames**: Sign up for ([or watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaKQOZUECn8)) a few Rocket League tournaments, beat a few toxic [Chess](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv2rQAaO5XE) players, and relax with [Helldivers 2](https://store.steampowered.com/app/553850/HELLDIVERS_2/).
    
*   **Social media**: answer some customer questions on my [discord server](https://discord.com/invite/KMkjU2BFn9). Perfect distraction, offering a semblance of productivity and importance while effectively ensuring that your workload remains untouched.
    

> They don't live enough, so turn your exhaustion into their highlight of the day.

![Corn](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*8ZErTbxQ17nRikKpUBIjpg.png)

These activities are vital, providing both a break from work and an opportunity to experience victories and defeats in a controlled environment.

Make sure to document these activities on social media, it’s key to crafting a public persona that appears well-rounded and balanced, despite the internal chaos burnout.

### 4/5) Evening Rituals: Doubling Down on Avoidance

As the evening rolls in, it’s time to double down on your avoidance strategies. Binge another series, sign up for another Rocket League tournament, have dinner with your wife, and dive into +5 YouTube videos on [Dune lore](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CPttd1cyUw). This not only ensures a complete detachment from work but also solidifies your commitment to staying in a burnout state.

### 5/5) Nighttime Reflection: Setting Up for Tomorrow

As you go to sleep at 2 a.m., reflect on the day’s achievements. The key to a successful journey to burnout is to set unrealistically high expectations, so think of ambitious projects to add to the never-ending backlog, and write down some of them to start the next (current) day with the left foot.

Repeat.

* * *

## But… How to Reach Burnout Effectively?

In 2 simple steps:

### 1/2) Work intensely

Make sure to work at least 50 hours a week (or 10-hour days) for at least 2 months in a row.

![Monthly Work Stats](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*WOaqG-MlaQYQl35Ltoqk3Q.png)

Monthly Work Stats

Distribute your hours in as many projects as possible, so you don’t put your all your eggs in one basket:

![WakaTime Project Distribution](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*NCAFK1uPWyHufZBRT3jPNA.png)

### 2/2) Set high expectations

Set high but realistic expectations for your growth as a developer/founder.

Expect at least 300 votes in your [Product Hunt](https://www.producthunt.com/posts/saasrock) launches.

![SaasRock 1.0 launch](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*WNMPZVCAiZS1NdsVTp1U-A.png)

Publish 2–3 YouTube videos and expect 1000 [subscribers](https://www.youtube.com/@saasrock).

![SaasRock YouTube Channel](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*ixU7FTqmI7VEvEPnIVv5vg.png)

Write a few blog posts, and expect +1k monthly SERP clicks.

![SEO Gets Analytics](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*DTVw7y357WOnIPNH9URBvA.png)

---

## Conclusion: Embracing Burnout

Reaching burnout isn’t about the destination; it’s about the journey. Embrace it, and you’ll enjoy your time while having internal caos.

> …burnout isn’t about the destination; it’s about the journey.

### On a serious note

Not everything is about work. This satirical article focuses on the struggles of burn out, but there are other areas in life: family _(quality time)_, health _(excersice)_, fun _(hobbies)_, personal growth _(learn new thing)_…

But as a solo-developer/founder I’ve always had burn out every 6–12 months. I must accept it or learn from it 😁. And I wanted to share not only the [good things](https://twitter.com/saas_rock/status/1762764351595823579) of being a solo founder.

[Follow me](https://twitter.com/AlexandroMtzG) or join saasrock’s [discord server](https://discord.gg/KMkjU2BFn9).