First off, I'd like to point you to Richard Feynman talking about burnout [1].: While taking time off isn't a bad idea, you may find you immediately burn out a

First off, I'd like to point you to Richard Feynman talking about burnout [1].: While taking time off isn't a bad idea, you may find you immediately burn out again on returning to work. The goal should be figuring out how to work sustainably. I'm sure I'll echo a lot of other voices here, but here is some practical advice from a manager and someone who's recovered from burnout: First, if you've been working more than forty hours a week, scale it back. Let your manager know you've been having health issues and will be trying out lifestyle adjustments which may mean your velocity could drop as you cut back to a more sustainable schedule. This is important, since your velocity is going to drop no matter what and you want to get ahead of that with your manager. If anyone wants more detail and you don't feel comfortable saying no, focus on the symptoms and not the cause. Sharing that you're burnt out can inadvertantly come out as blame. Second, when you aren't working, don't use computers or do anything remotely similar to your work routine for at least a couple weeks. You may not know what to do with yourself at first. Exercise, hiking, or a non-tech side project are things to consider. The important thing is to find something to think about that isn't work. Finally, SLEEP! This will likely be the hardest part, as your burnout related symptoms are ultimately caused by poor sleep. The other steps you're taking are in service of making this step easier. Allocate at least 9 hours of time for sleep every night. Melatonin can help in the short term if you find it difficult to sleep early enough, but keep in mind you'll probably have lots of dreams and wake up groggy until you've adjusted. Burn out is common in tech because most of us love what we do. However, love of what we do plus stress can mean an inability to disengage, which results in poor sleep. Poor sleep creates a general feelings of unwellness and inability to think clearly. This will happen to the best of us from time to time. However, if you prioritize your recovery, you'll bounce back pretty fast. Good luck to you! 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3874875 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3874875 is the HN discussion for this post (the original HN link is broken) https://www.asc.ohio-state.edu/kilcup.1/262/feynman.html https://www.asc.ohio-state.edu/kilcup.1/262/feynman.html