The burnout is a real issue iOS developers face, why? As developers we use our brain far more than the average human for far more hours per day. It takes a toll, the hyperfocus & getting lost in code day in day out is easy done & the burn out, well that can creep up on you. This recently happened to me.

People around me noticed it building all of 2025 but I ignored their warnings & carried on regardless. Needless to say come May I was a mess. I no longer had any passion or enthusiasm for my code. I didn’t really want to show up & I just was a shell of myself. I really wanted to write this blog as a reminder it can happen to any of us at any time & there are ways we can help ourselves get our fires burning again!

Stop, Pause & Take a Break

It’s not always possible to just take leave. I do understand that. But if you can, pause a project & take a break, even for a week. Ideally 2 weeks but it’s not always possible. Coming away from the daily code routine, switching things up can really help reset the brain. It’s not avoidance in this case. It’s a rest. Just like our bodies after a workout or big day out hiking, we would have a rest at the end of the day. Our brains need this too.

Find the root cause

Sometimes there isn’t a cause, but often there is. Do you have health problems that aren’t being managed to the best they could be? Do you have stress at home or with family? Are there outside circumstances affecting you personally that then leach into the rest of the working day? I personally said this year I was going to focus yet slow down and really take care of my body. That never happened. I have blinked and half the year went by, my fitness, well that’s got worse because I was too focused sitting at a desk. My health, well that’s always going to be a bit messy but I definitely didn’t have it under control as best I could. Stress, well come May, I had a ball of stress hit me which was kind of the cherry on top of the cake so to speak. All these outside issues were really needing attention to help me be the best version of myself within my code.

Build something completely different for fun

I truly mean this. Don’t go back to what you know. Take a challenge outside of your limits. Start learning that something that you always wondered about or had an interest in. For me this was game development. I always fancied myself as a iOS game dev. Turns out I really love programming games & have had so much fun that the enthusiasm & passion for programming just came flowing through me like a river of code. This lead me to go back to swift language & start updating code with such a passion that in all honesty I can’t quite believe I had been burnt out!

Talk it out

Yes I know, another person telling you to talk. Trust me, I’m British, I get we, we do not like talking it out! But it is really important, even if it’s just one person that you can say “hey, I’m feeling really burnt out right now”. Talking about it releases the guilt & the misleading feelings of shame. As programmers it can be so easy to fall into the trap of “we aren’t good enough” especially in the age of AI. But you know what, you are good enough. Trust me AI can’t solve every problem, good old stack overflow google searching won out for me this week & proved AI can only know so much. It’s actually got a lot wrong this week that I have had to point out. Please don’t let the robots take offence & come get me. 😂 In all seriousness though. Taking that first leap to say those words out loud can be so freeing. Don’t be ashamed to say you need a minute. You are far more important than the code in this moment.

Step back in slowly 

It’s easy to in our time off come up with a million good ideas that we want to build. Don’t go building them. Write them down for another time. Step your toes in slowly to the cold pool of code. The deep diving straight away, never ends well & you’ll end up back where you began. Stepping in slowly, updating something, adding a new feature, only working a half day etc. These are great ways to fire up that brain engine & get everything firing on all cylinders ready for you to be your best programming self.

Have you been through burnout? What’s your best advice you can give to others experiencing it?