I am still the person who owns outcomes. I still stay curious past the ticket description. What changed is the fantasy that a company will archive your overtime in gold.
A sustainable high bar
- Define “done” with operability, not just feature checkmarks.
- Protect deep work blocks; meetings are not proof of value.
- Escalate overload early, while options still exist.
- Keep side-of-desk craft (writing, demos, learning) that belongs to you.
Burnout taught me that intensity without recovery becomes noise. Choosing yourself is how you keep the signal. The goal is not to care less. The goal is to care in a way you can repeat for years, across products like Djengo, across teams, across whatever you build next.
Key takeaways
What to remember
- Intensity without recovery becomes noise.
- Escalate overload while options still exist.
- Keep craft that travels with you.
