I Quit React Development - JavaScript Fatigue and Burnout

I burnt out, quit my job and can’t stand the thought of jumping into another Front End codebase that isn’t my own. I was a React developer for three years working at international companies and unfortunately, succumbed to burnout.

Expert from my article
'A key aspect why I disliked my role so much, was that it was primarily bug fixing with very little feature development. A builder does not become a builder to fix other builder's houses. While it's extremely valuable to have the skill to do so, it's not what keeps you happy.

When I realised I was burning out, I:
Attempted to address internal issues - these were not resolved.
Requested to move teams - this was not possible.
Interviewed at other companies - I received a couple of job offers but ultimately decided I had had enough of front end and decided to take a step back from React.

I didn't solve my burnout by quitting, albeit removing myself from a bad environment was an important part of this. I took a month off to reflect on my career, mental health and what would ultimately make me happy. Building forms for a living and fixing other people's bugs was not conducive to this. I still enjoy the power of programming, the lifestyle it offers and the technical challenges it presents. I'll continue to program but in a more 'stable' ecosystem.'

In the article i've also linked to a few articles around burnout as a software developer as well as JavaScript fatigue - which is seemingly prevalent within the front end or React community.

----------
Articles
----------
Medium article that summaries everything

Smashing Magazine - front end fatigue

What it's like to learn JavaScript in 2016

Also available on my website:

----------
Active socials
----------

----------
Gear
----------

#softwareengineer #programming #burnout #softwaredeveloperburnout #javascriptfatigue

[MattKander]

Timestamps:
2:32 - How I burnt out and what it looked like
8:19 - The impact of culture and mental health
10:29 - How bad code can effect the developer experience
15:47 - What I did when I realised I had/was burning out.

Please check out the description and / or the article linked that will explain in a bit more detail what you could do if you're on the path to burnout. There are some really good links to external articles about developer burnout that are a bit more well rounded than this video as well. Stay safe friends.

[CMFL]

I've watched this video half a dozen times since the new year as I was toying with the idea of leaving my high pressure job & abusive client in engineering consulting. Just ended my last day on Wednesday. Not looking back. Thanks for the motivation!

[JasperL]

This is very similar to what I went through. What you said about it seeping into your personal life is spot on. I dreaded going to work, and outside of work I could only think about having to go to work the next day. I stopped exercising because I was so tired all the time, started drinking more. Fortunately I quickly realized how self destructive that was, so I quit my job. Now I'm doing much better.

[k-yo]

I've been on this small team with no consistency on codebase, long story short, I quit and moved to a scale up company supposedly more organized. They weren't. It was 10x messier. What baffled me was that almost every 100 of the devs there thought dealing with this shit was part of your job and life goes on. I was let go with 3 months with no detailed reasoning except I wasn't fitted for the company culture and not on level with what they expected. I'm almost 6 months unemployed now COMPLETELY demotivated to work again because I was led to believe every place is like this. I'm really stuck with this thought on loop in my head. My idealism is crushing me :(

[trafficmonsoonacademy]

Takes a lot of courage to share what you went through sir.

Aspiring dev need to hear stories like yours to prep themselves mentally and emotionally.

Being a developer also has its dark side.

Hard to find it in Youtube when everyone is only talking about the good stuffs of being a Dev.

5 stars for you Matt

[izio]

I love 90% of my job, but I've been wanting to quit for the following reasons:
1. My senior developer is super OCD, gives me the smallest criticisms. Is super condescending in the way he talks.
2. The work I've been given for the past few months are all monotonous UI tasks that have no challenge, and half the time when I submit a PR, my senior finds something to nitpick at. I'll have you know the other dev makes far more mistakes than I do, and doesn't follow my senior's conventions, but doesn't get criticized as much because that guy is far older than us
3. The raise I got this past year sucked. Just $0.33+ per hour raise
4. During the grind, it's awful. I worked like 20 hour work days. It was absolutely insane.
5. I just don't feel like I'm growing. I'm thinking about just working part time as a web dev tutor and launching my own company or doing freelance. I'm just so uninterested in living like this.

[CMFL]

I work as a Mech Eng in consulting. Same issues as you described. Insane schedules, horrible management, and no communication. Burnt out more than once. I watch my mental health now but none of my coworkers do. The industry preys on conscientious, hard-working people. It's always "do it for the team" or "everything's changed - let's get it finished in the same time limit" even though the personal cost is unacceptable. The worst part is getting laid off with no notice - it's insulting.

[edsonfilho]

It is amazing how the problems are the same no matter where you live in the world... I am in São Paulo, Brazil and you described perfectly how I am feeling at this moment. In fact, I found your video because I wanted to know if more people feel like me. I'm back-end developer and I'm stuffed... I should pulled the plug 4 years ago. my health is mess and I'm unhappy with my job. I guess that programmers are kind of artists, and put us in a factory culture, at some time will be a grave for our healthly and creative minds. I hope I could find out another way to be a programmer without burnout, cause life is a short trip and I can't waste more time in this way... I want to live not only survive.

[vishalgautamm]

Hey Matt, thank you so much for sharing this. Over the course of 9 years, react's syntax has transformed THREE times. It has been a lot better since hooks came out, but before that .... render props, hoc (all churn). But on one in JS land talks about it. I think we are really undermining the consequence of using these tools. Once a great feature, becomes a churn 6 months later. I think this JavaScript community and as well as npm community should this issue seriously.

[arifali]

The main reason I hate coding with other people is that they worry too much about the webpack bundle and try to make bootleg versions of great packages which end up worse and nobody understands. Drives me nuts when other people look at the issue and cannot understand because someone wanted to make redux #2 without any documentation and garbage code.

[dotterel]

Hey man, I've worked 40 hour desk jobs and I've worked 70-80 hour weeks outside in 30 degree weather. I enjoyed the longer hour job over the 40 hour a week desk job. It had nothing to do with the hours, it had to do with the team, like you said. I get just as physically knackered working a 40 hour desk job that I don't like as i did working 80s a week in trenches. Good on you for quitting before it got worse. I sadly quit too late and lost everything outside of my job first. Subscribed!

[jarradbedford]

Thank you for this video. What you described is exactly what I have been/am going through. It creeps up on you before you know it.
It should be talked about more. My circumstances are different, I have children and a mortgage but what has helped is putting a clear plan in place to work myself out of it. If anyone else is going through the same I would recommend it, as the worst feeling that wasn't touched in in the video is the feeling of being trapped and the helplessness that can come with it. Make a plan to get out of the situation, see it through and you will soon start feeling better. Good luck all 👍

[ionutindre]

I am seeing this video just now. Nice words about burnout. I have been there twice and I can say that the best way to recorver yourself, is to take off some time 1-2 months and start to enjoy the life again. Gym and patience also helped me to get back on the right track.

[SuperStarLike]

Thank you for your openness. It was nice to hear this and do some personal deep reflection inspired by it,

[brandonw.]

Just found this video today and it's definitely relatable. Unfortunately, this is all too common in frontend roles and in the js world.

[james]

I quit my job a couple of months ago. Total shit show of a team. Too much work, terrible management which poisoned the team inside and out. I’ve just been chilling and decompressing for the last few months. Trying to feel human again. It’s poisoned me for working in corporations. I will start freelancing. So tired of useless product managers and the politicking. There were tones of managers who just couldn’t do anything and tried to to get in front of anything that was working.

[jaspercaelan]

Front end development is particularly bad I think, rapidly changing frameworks, new devs who don't know what they're doing, and generally most developers just suck and management sucks even more. I finally ditched my career in career in software development to pursue photography. It has its challenges too but it's not completely insane like software development these days. I would never go back, it's not worth the mental and physical toll, not even for a significant pay rise.

[artihlec]

I wish you to reignite. At the moment I think I'm experiencing something similar (the difference is - I'm not even working). Happy coding.

[DieterPrivate]

Burnout takes years to actually recover, so try not get that far. I'm still recovering for years. If just quiting your job solves it, you don't have burnout, though it can lead to burnout in the long run.

[bapluda]

Front-end is hell. Do yourself a favor, do not work front-end jobs. If you do, ask a for a lot of money. I would only work front-end if it paid double of my back-end salary.