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As a developer who always valued having full control over my tasks, I decided to take it a step further and accept the challenge of being a tech leader. Initially, it seemed like a great idea, but new challenges and growing workloads led me to a breaking point. That's when I realized I needed to take care of myself and work in a sustainable way. Today, I'll tell you about my ups, downs, and how I ultimately found balance—how I overcame burnout, regained my health, and found satisfaction at work again. I hope it can somehow inspire you and give you energy to tackle your own challenges.
As a developer, I valued having full control over my tasks and independence. I wanted everything to be understandable and organized. And it was like that—I would get tasks and crush them like a steamroller. I felt like I was creating something and helping others. But at some point, I started feeling bored, that I was losing enthusiasm. I was looking for new challenges, something more—work that would allow me to grow and be appreciated by others.
And then suddenly, an opportunity came. I was offered the role of a tech leader for an interesting project at that time. It was something new, bigger. I already had experience as a leader—first at Divante, then at Gorilla—but these were mainly mentoring roles, supporting junior developers. The breakthrough happened when I led the VueStorefront for Magento project—I had a team of three developers. We had to integrate VueStorefront with Magento. Despite many challenges, particularly related to performance, this project ended successfully, which gave me great satisfaction.
Next came the offer to lead the bigger project—this time the team had nearly ten people, and the project involved not just the frontend but also the backend and Google Cloud. Challenges came one after another—new technologies I hadn’t worked with before, managing a larger team and more challenges, conflicts within the team, and collaboration with “business people.” Additionally, I struggled with:
- Technical debt — improperly implemented microservices architecture. Developers needed a lot of time to introduce new features because the system was too complicated.
- A lengthy release process—lack of deployment automation.
- Miscommunication within the team and with other teams.
- Frequent pivots and changes in priorities.
Despite the enormous workload and challenges, I tried to give my best. I was determined to find solutions to help the team work more efficiently. I kept trying until, after some time, I felt overwhelmed, ground down, and drained of energy.
I tried to persevere, but at some point, I realized I had lost control—not just over the project but also over my health. I understood that my physical and mental health was suffering due to constant stress. I decided to take action—I took care of my sleep hygiene, started exercising regularly, and sought help from a specialist. After many months of agony, I opened up to my director and honestly admitted that I couldn’t handle everything. Thanks to that, we started reorganizing my responsibilities to reduce my workload. It was a difficult but necessary decision that allowed me to get back on track.
I thought about what I really wanted to do. After much reflection, I understood that the typical tech leader role, involving managing a team and tasks, had as much to do with engineering work as a Dacia does with motorsport. I wanted to return to what truly brought me joy—setting a technical direction, inspiring others, and doing hands-on work. I wanted to solve business problems through technology, which aligned with my passion and gave me a sense of freedom.
Today, I know what mistakes I made, and I don’t want to repeat them. I set boundaries and take care of my health; I don’t let work drain my energy. Finding balance has become my priority, and taking care of myself is the foundation upon which I build my professional life. Ultimately, I found the right role for myself—as an experienced developer, I can still be a leader to some extent, supporting the team while working on what I do best—technical challenges that give me satisfaction and allow me to grow.
I think I had to hit rock bottom to understand who I really want to be and what I want to do. I tried something, and it didn’t work out, but I learned what I’m good at and what I’m not. I bounced back enough to decide on changes instead of staying stuck in a role I didn’t enjoy. If there’s anything to take away from this story, it’s that it’s worth betting on yourself and what drives you, because only then can we be truly happy and fulfilled.