> So many of us go above and beyond for our companies/projects/teams/whatever. The author here describes overcommitting at work. We might have the best of inten

> So many of us go above and beyond for our companies/projects/teams/whatever. The author here describes overcommitting at work. We might have the best of intentions, but at some point, we don't see the returns we yearned for and start to question what all this self-sacrificial giving is for. That is when burnout really sets in. I've had friends burn out while working for hostile or indifferent managers, startups that are trending the wrong direction, companies that engage in illegal or unethical behavior, etc. This is me. Multiple times now. Each time I’ve joined a company, I’ve enjoyed getting to know the product and the tech. I’ve grown up to it, and then I get to a “but we could do better” point. I’m a high initiative/gullibile/naive person I think. And so then we “do better”. We go big(ish) and it’s awesome. I do so, because I can’t just do the 9-5 thing. I get into it. I want to put a ding in the small part of the universe that is that product. And 4 times now it’s been successful. And then I wear out. A big part of it is some combination of discovering the company and/or team mates just don’t get into it like I do. So I feel disenfranchised then (as do the few other peers that have collaborated in doing cool things). And so then I’ve been fortunate to find a new opportunity each time. As I keep track of what happens, the product runs for 5-10 more years being maintained by “don’t go the extra mile, don’t really get into it, do what the PM asks for, nothing more, nothing less” developers. And ultimately, the project/product caves. Layoffs and depressed salaries occur. Morale sucks. What was awesome and lively, like the stupid tree in that stupid giving tree book is just a sad stump surrounded by sad engineers. As I talk to these engineers, it’s never their fault. It’s always something external. They just don’t seem to realize that if you don’t keep the product thriving, it won’t keep supporting you. Frankly I’m at another nexus like this again right now, and really struggling with what to do next. I’ve been shackled with both a very nice salary AND about as strong a guarantee as one can have that I can stay here doing whatever until I retire in 15-20 years. Ageism terrifies me.