Burnout signs engineers tend to ignore

Introduction

Sunday dread is the famous one; the early signals are subtler. This piece lists what to watch for in your own work patterns and practical ways to renegotiate scope before you hit the wall.

Small things that compounded

Looking back over Non-Technical Discussion work, the wins were unglamorous: a naming fix, a deleted config, a checklist nobody has had to edit since.

What made them stick

• They were owned by one person, not a committee.
• They shipped with a way to notice when they stopped working.
• They removed a decision instead of documenting one.

Steal this

Pick the irritation you have mentioned three times this month. That is your next project — it has already proven its staying power.

Closing

Big rewrites make better stories; small compounding makes better systems.