---
title: How a burnout changed my life
date: 2011-09-05
aliases:
- /posts/how-a-burnout-changed-my-life.html
---



In the previous two posts, I wrote about my burnout. First about how I got it,
then about how I dealt with it. I have the feeling it has changed me
permanently, but mostly in a good way.


I don’t work as hard anymore. I don’t want to work weekends and evenings. Of
course, every now and then I feel the urge to do something, but I try to resist.
I read more, and take more time to socialize.


My job has changed from mostly programming to building products. This includes
programming, but also marketing, strategy, design, meeting people, writing and
more. For me, this is a more healthy mix at the moment. It’s a big difference
from freelancing.


The biggest change was that *I see programming as a means, not an end*. This
manifests itself in a number of ways. I’m not trying to write the perfect
program, framework or language anymore. They don’t exist.


Also, I don’t want to use Haskell for everything anymore. I don’t feel
frustrated by using Objective C for iPhone programming, or Ruby for web
programming. Whatever gets the job done fastest. Every now and then I think
about building a better language, and maybe I will someday, but not now.


For almost every problem, I try to find existing libraries. I did not suffer
badly from the Not Invented Here Syndrome before, but now it got even better. I
try to reuse code wherever possible, whether it’s somebody else’s code or my
own.


So far, I’m actually happy for the experience. A burnout is no fun, and it was
scary for me, afraid that I would never be able to go back. I am confident that
I now have found a better balance, and that I will be able to prevent it in the
future. We’ll see\!


[Discuss on Hacker News](http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2961692)