A software developer shares their ongoing struggle with burnout, impacting client work and personal stability, and seeks practical advice from the tech community.
<p>I burned out two years ago, went through a divorce, and relocated to a new city. I live alone now and care for seven cats.</p>
<p>Over the last two years, I’ve tried forcing discipline, making detailed plans, and restarting over and over. Despite this, I’m still carrying significant debt.</p>
<p>My main struggle is staying focused on paid work. I’m constantly building and working on my own side projects, but I struggle to put time into client work. Because of my experience, finding clients isn't hard, but I tend to lose them after a few months due to low throughput. I deliver high-quality code and solve their core problems, but I can only bring myself to work on client tasks for about 5–6 hours a week.</p>
<p>I’m struggling to survive day-to-day and losing hope that this will change, though some days are good and I can get solid work done. I’ve tried all the standard advice for burnout with little success. At this point, I wonder if burnout has become a habit, an excuse, or a form of self-sabotage.</p>
<p>I’m posting here to see if anyone who has experienced something similar found a practical way out or a working routine that stuck.</p>
# I cannot survive from burnout
Source: [https://lobste.rs/s/0typpq/i_cannot_survive_from_burnout](https://lobste.rs/s/0typpq/i_cannot_survive_from_burnout)
I burned out two years ago, went through a divorce, and relocated to a new city\. I live alone now and care for seven cats\.
Over the last two years, I’ve tried forcing discipline, making detailed plans, and restarting over and over\. Despite this, I’m still carrying significant debt\.
My main struggle is staying focused on paid work\. I’m constantly building and working on my own side projects, but I struggle to put time into client work\. Because of my experience, finding clients isn't hard, but I tend to lose them after a few months due to low throughput\. I deliver high\-quality code and solve their core problems, but I can only bring myself to work on client tasks for about 5–6 hours a week\.
I’m struggling to survive day\-to\-day and losing hope that this will change, though some days are good and I can get solid work done\. I’ve tried all the standard advice for burnout with little success\. At this point, I wonder if burnout has become a habit, an excuse, or a form of self\-sabotage\.
I’m posting here to see if anyone who has experienced something similar found a practical way out or a working routine that stuck\.
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