I went through something similar, a bit earlier in the process. I wasn't burned out with programming, but burned out with the particular job I was doing, which

I went through something similar, a bit earlier in the process. I wasn't burned out with programming, but burned out with the particular job I was doing, which had basically been taken over by the work of being a maintainer: Reviewing other people's code, writing up community standards, trying to relieve friction in the community, etc. I had programming things on my to-do list; but whenever I organized the list by order of importance, the programming tasks were never anywhere near the top. I reached the point where I'd sort my list, look at the things at the top and think, "I know these things are important, and it's certainly gratifying to have the influence and the authority to try to make these changes... but I kind of don't really care." At that point, I realized that if something didn't change I was eventually going to get fed up and leave the project entirely, leaving a big hole. So, I said that I'd set aside Friday to do some "fun" programming, to keep the job interesting. (I ran this by my boss, and he was supportive.) I thought this "fun" would have to be something really different and new, but it turns out nearly any kind of programming will do; so although I mentally give myself permission to do whatever I want on those days if I need to, I often end up just writing "normal" "important" code from the top of my to-do list. Just that little bit is enough to "pay" for the rest of the week. Joy is the source of our power as human beings. No human activity is sustainable long-term if the psychological cost of doing something outweighs the psychological benefit; and conversely, people can endure an amazing amount of hardship and toil if the activity is a source of joy. The key to sustainable work, relationships, whatever is to be looking for ways to find joy in those activities.