Вікторія Горбік Work 11 July 2025, 09:00

"Work looks pretty good compared to life, which has turned into a dull gi*no." Experience and advice from IT professionals and experts on how to prevent, prevent and recover from burnout

Posts about situations of IT burnout continue to spread on social networks. And such stories are not isolated. Many questions arise in this regard, in particular: what are the causes of this burnout, how popular is this problem really now and how is it solved in IT companies? And also how to prevent burnout? How to diagnose a similar condition in yourself before the body enters a «steep peak» and what to do to get out of it? dev.ua dealt with all this with IT workers who have gone through it, managers and psychologists.

About the problem of burnout

The widespread problem of psychological exhaustion is emphasized by many specialists, both among IT professionals and managers, and psychologists. In particular, Lead Software Engineer Mykyta Bezverkhyi, as he told dev.ua, sees burnout among IT specialists, and he himself has repeatedly encountered this problem and even now feels something similar. «Most IT professionals are now „squeamish“, including me, so we constantly come up with something to work less,» he jokes. According to the IT professional, this condition arises in him personally due to disappointment with the project. «It is either uninteresting, or I feel that there is little benefit from that work and I am sitting around,» says the IT professional. In addition, he noted that this is a vicious circle, because he also does not want to «regularly overwork, sacrificing his psychological comfort.» Another disappointment for him is the team members. «Sometimes I find myself thinking: how did these people even get into IT? It seems like they lack an understanding of basic things,» adds Mykyta.

In addition, burnout is a massive problem of our time, and not only among IT professionals, says Andriy Nysynets, Independent Creative Director, in a comment for dev.ua. He has personally encountered a similar condition many times and has seen it in colleagues. The specialist also emphasizes that burnout is especially visible in IT: high speed, constant deadlines, «always on» expectations, and also — the lack of a visual or emotional result.

«Often, burnout doesn’t look like drama — it looks like indifference, fatigue, a decrease in the quality of decisions, aggression for no reason. And when you notice that a person isn’t angry — but simply „can’t“ — then you realize that they’ve already burned out,» Andriy adds.

Microsoft Power Apps developer Timur Sannikov took to social media to share how a series of life events left him burned out. Trying to cope with the death of a loved one and hide problems at work, he became so burned out that he couldn’t even perform basic tasks.

"Burnout... I heard something in a past life" - is it a myth or reality? That's what IT people tend to believe.

What are the causes of burnout?

dev.ua asked IT professionals who suffered from burnout what life situations led them to this. Among the root causes: war, shelling and lack of sleep, excessive workload and insufficient compensation.

And here, several experts in the comments noted precisely «burnout not from work, but from life.»

A slightly smaller, but still significant, impact, according to respondents, is exerted by uninteresting tasks and personal problems.

Rounding out the list of causes of burnout are micromanagement, lack of recognition, and pressure from the manager.

What does burnout look like?

But what is the cause of emotional and psychological exhaustion? Where is the stumbling block that IT professionals struggle with?

«IT workers have the highest IQ among professions, but the least predictable feedback loop,» emphasizes Salome Mikadze, co-founder of the creative agency and development company Movadex. She believes that burnout in IT is not a personality crisis, but a design problem of the industry. And the main reason, she says, is that we have created an environment that contradicts the basic psychology of motivation.

«There’s no physical 'I did it', just abstract tasks in the systems. This creates a dopamine asymmetry where the brain gets a hit from solving a problem but not from completing a cycle,» explains Salome.

But this is where, according to her, lies the paradox. In particular, she believes that it is this abstractness that gives IT professionals a competitive advantage. «We can create systems that scale to millions of users. The problem is not in the nature of the work, but in how we organize feedback cycles. Learned helplessness is formed even in super-smart people, which is completely unnatural,» adds the Movadex co-founder.

Entrepreneur and experienced marketer Liliya Korop has compiled several main causes of burnout after experiencing a similar condition herself. In particular:

Overwork: too many tasks, responsibilities, deadlines, often without a sense of accomplishment or result.
Lack of control: feeling like nothing depends on you, and when work or circumstances change without your influence.
Lack of recognition: you put in the effort, you try hard, but there is no gratitude or even attention. Low evaluation of results or complete disregard for efforts.
You don’t feel meaningful: work or life seems meaningless, and what you do doesn’t matter to you personally.
Unclear personal boundaries: you constantly agree to unnecessary things, you don’t know how/can’t say «no.»
Lack of rest: no regular sleep, no leisure, no activities «for the soul», everything revolves around «need» — and no «want» at all.
Social isolation: little support, understanding, contact with people, no one to «talk to» or share the burden with.

In addition, the specialist also notes that each day of the war in Ukraine separately and to a significant extent affects the spread of the state of exhaustion of the body.

There are several markers that highlight the state of exhaustion and help recognize burnout in yourself or in colleagues and others. In particular, as Liliya Korop sees it, the following happens:

Motivation drops.
Emotional exhaustion occurs.
Productivity drops.
The person becomes indifferent or irritated.
Physical symptoms appear: headache, insomnia, pain, apathy, etc.

Diagnosing burnout in himself, Nikita Bezverkhyi emphasizes that he usually feels disappointment in himself or in others.

«Either I think, ‘Oh my God, I could work at Google and do normal things, but I’m doing crap and degrading myself for years,’ or ‘Sometimes I catch myself thinking: even here I’m not realizing more than 20% of my potential. And part of the team seems to be working without any initiative at all — then it triggers me, and I try to somehow motivate them or at least stir them up a little,’» the IT worker recalls his thoughts during the process of exhaustion. In addition, he adds that he may also come to understand that his work is either not interesting or not useful.

Thoughts on burnout from a Lead UX/UI Designer that everyone should pay attention to

What to do to avoid burnout

The main question remains open — what to do to avoid falling into this trap and driving yourself to complete exhaustion.

Oleksandr Gorodensky, founder of Lime Flow, a content creation company for eCommerce brands, has also experienced moments when he felt like he couldn’t do anything. He shared what helped him stay energized and regain his clarity. Here’s his personal plan:

Quitting alcohol: I drank alcohol for three years, but four months ago I decided to stop completely. The result: more energy, deeper sleep, more stable mood, better well-being.
Nutrition as a foundation: if you want to be productive, start with your plate. According to Oleksandr, healthy eating reduced stress, normalized metabolism, and helped him forget about constant fatigue.
Physical activity at home: Alexander started with something simple, specifically dumbbells at home, without complicated programs. Just movement, and he felt the tension after a working day disappear.
Basketball is team energy: I play basketball regularly. Physical activity and team emotions give Oleksandr a real boost of energy and keep his body in good shape.
Cycling is a brain booster: For Oleksandr, cycling has been a habit since childhood. Each ride gives him the opportunity to clear his lungs and thoughts, as well as enjoy the scenery. As a result, after 30–60 minutes of cycling, his head is clear and fatigue is gone.
Order at home means peace of mind: Oleksandr maintains order at home, and for him, a space without chaos reduces the load on his attention. «Order at home equals order in the head,» he notes.

Explaining his approach, Oleksandr adds that his experience proves:

Take care of your body and mind.
Know how to stop and restart.
Choose an active vacation that is truly fulfilling.
Remember: surrounding order = internal balance.

«We often think that we need to work harder to succeed. But the truth is that without energy there will be neither results nor satisfaction from the process,» emphasizes the founder of Lime Flow.

Similar theses were made by Mykyta Bezverkhyi for himself, in particular, first of all he believes that it is necessary to maintain a work-life balance, a healthy body — a healthy mind. «It used to be ok so-and-so, but now I’m almost 30, a rocking chair, a swimming pool — that’s a must, without it, the cuckoo will go away,» he emphasizes. In addition, among the recipes for burnout, he also names an interesting meaningfull project and a team of cool smart people, preferably with common interests. Accordingly, to get out of the state of exhaustion, the specialist advises to fix the reasons, as well as to establish a work-life balance, change the project, change the team (if possible). «Magnesium B6 also helps me,» he adds.

Andriy Nysynets also shared his tips on how to prevent burnout. Here’s what he focuses on:

Eat. But not just food. Go to galleries, read books, watch movies that aren’t from the Netflix top. A brain that doesn’t eat goes out.
Talk to those who are deeper than you. A culture of thinking heals better than a «week’s vacation.»
Learn. If you can’t solve a problem, you may not be burned out, you just don’t know how to solve it. It’s not about drama, it’s about growth.
Listen to yourself. If you feel sick every morning, don’t wait until you’re discharged to start treatment.
And most importantly: don’t wait until you «break down.» Take care of yourself before, not after.

Explaining how to avoid burnout, Salome Mikadze takes a broader view of the problem and notes what has changed in the system. According to her, the smartest teams have started hacking this system, creating artificial feedback loops that match our neurology.

«They do real-time impact visualization, showing developers how their code changes user metrics not in a month, but instantly. It reprograms the brain’s reward system,» she explains.

She also adds that teams create micro-completion cycles, breaking down large projects into daily wins, where each day there should be something that can be «closed.» Salome believes this reduces cortisol and keeps dopamine at optimal levels.

The third element she believes prevents burnout is ownership distribution, which is giving people the full cycle of responsibility from idea to result. «It restores a sense of agency,» Salome explains. She made an interesting observation: teams that do this right show 40% higher productivity, not because of more hours, but because of better quality thinking.

"Don't hire someone who tells you they're burned out during the interview." Aitovo residents discuss the causes and consequences of burnout at work

4 questions for a psychologist who works with the problem of burnout

Clinical psychologist Zhdanov R.D. shared his vision of the problem of burnout with dev.ua. In particular, from his experience, he spoke about:

1. The prevalence of the problem: Burnout is not just a buzzword, but a common consultation request and a widespread problem. In this field, it is often disguised as «loss of motivation,» «feeling like you’ve been sucked out,» or «I don’t even want to turn on my laptop.»

2. Causes of burnout: The main one is constant mental overload without adequate emotional relief. Relatively speaking, the brain is constantly «at work», but the soul is «in isolation».

3. The first signs that burnout is near:

morning fatigue even before starting work;
apathy towards projects that used to inspire;
anger or indifference towards colleagues/customers;
The feeling that you are working hard but getting zero results.

4. Elementary mental hygiene to prevent burnout:

Have a clear schedule that includes space not only for work but also for life.
Learn to say «no» without feeling guilty.
Don’t be the hero who always «takes things out» — because you’ll burn out first.
Plan vacations in advance and realistically take them.
Regularly check: «Do I still want to do what I’m doing?»

Read the country's main IT news in our Telegram

"The apartment was completely burned down, no property was left." Shahed hit the apartment of the developer of zakaz.ua last night

How not to burn out during war — the experience of NIX team volunteers

How to overcome stress and burn out without going crazy? The experience of an EPAM developer who maintains his mental health thanks to a hobby

“A Justified Measure for the Future.” How a Project Manager at the Peak of Her Career Left Her Job and Reimagined Her Life Through “Conscious Unemployment”