I don't think you're fully burnt out yet. You'll know you've hit the bottom when you actually can't program anymore, even for your own kicks in limited bursts.

I don't think you're fully burnt out yet. You'll know you've hit the bottom when you actually can't program anymore, even for your own kicks in limited bursts. (You're already severely heat damaged though if limited bursts either for work or 'fun' are all you've got left.) Your will for it just won't be there and you'll really, actually do anything else, not just think about how nice it might be. If you do reach that point, you're probably going to need a year of recovery before you can even think about programming again, and two to make a recovery that you could at least again be employable. (You might or might not eventually regain your old levels of productivity.) If you're just heat damaged, you should still take some recovery time, since sustained heat damage is how you get full burnout. My only advice is don't let yourself get to that point. Sounds like quitting is the easiest way to avoid that right now. It's what I would do -- a friend left a toxic mid-stage place (in different ways, but ultimately stemming from a team lead) not too long ago, too. If you have stock options, hope you have nice terms that let you keep them without exercising for a long time, just in case the company is lucky. But if not, don't let them handcuff you -- money can be had elsewhere. Don't worry about the career. Even a year gap is fine. Maybe try a BigCo for a while, where the pressures tend to be lighter and switching teams is often an option rather than switching companies when you run into a toxic situation. (Of course BigCo has its own caveats -- you might enjoy reading this recent thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21645117 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21645117 )