This one isn’t funny, but I feel it’s a sentiment that is reflected in quite a lot of people. Individual contributors are more productive than ever, meaning we’re juggling more tasks and have more responsibilities in work than generations past. The human brain wasn’t meant to handle this level of constant multitasking stress, and some people handle it better than others.

Godspeed, anonymous Blinder. Hope you find your way through that hole to the other side.

Can’t anymore

It’s endless. The harder you work, the more responsibilities you get. I hate taking ownership of things. There’s too much learning to do. Too many problems to solve which increase in scope and take a toll on your mental health. The brain should not be working this hard, all the time. I don’t love SWE, but SWE loves me; the money has me hooked. How can I possibly take a 150% paycut? Plus, I have no other employable skills. Every morning I wake up and open my laptop and see the queue of messages and emails, I feel stressed and trapped.

I want happiness but I also want to continue buying things and going on vacations without looking at the price tag. I don’t budget; the money is just there, always, and there’s lots of it. Not enough to retire though.

I’ve tried taking a break - didn’t make a difference. It’s not burnout, it’s a hate with SWE and tech industry as a whole.

I always thought of starting my own company though. It might be a stupid idea given my stance on work, but I still feel like that’s the solution.