Doing anything long enough leads to some… interesting side effects. Web development has its own effect on you after you’ve been doing it for a while. See if you recognize any of these.
BurnoutOk, this happens with anything but we're talking about web development here. When you have your first dream/nightmare about code or a particularly difficult client, congratulations! You are officially burned out. It doesn’t take long to get here, especially in the tech industry.
Juggling 4 projects when 2 of them have overlapping sprints takes its toll on you. You get to the point where you don't care about the code anymore. You're just trying to get through the current sprint before you ramp up on the next project.
It's normal to get to this feeling because development happens at a fast pace. You can only go so fast before you need a break and that's ok. Take a step back for and think about something else when you can.
Unexpected job requestsThey can come out of the blue. You could be perfectly happy with your job or whatever you're doing and then recruiters message you out of nowhere. It's a great feeling honestly. This is a wonderful time to be a developer.
I'll add a little truth to this. Those random requests only really start coming after you have a few years of experience and you're in the right area for your skillset. Even so, the odds are pretty high if you're in a large enough city.
Make sure that you handle those requests tactfully because you might need those recruiters to help you if you do decide it's time for a new job one day. At the bare minimum at least reply to their email thanking them for reaching out to you.
The inability to not think in codeThis one takes a while to consciously notice. Slowly more of your decision making will turn into if statements and switch statements. Those daily routines become functions you trigger at certain times of the day depending on varying conditions and you'll start to wonder how many async tasks you can handle.
It's incredible how much programming can connect with your life. Although it can get irritating to those around you. Friends and family will start telling you about how life doesn't deal in all absolutes and how everything doesn't need to have a logical answer and blah blah blah.
Seriously though, try to listen to them. They'll help you come out of the isolated world you entered so long ago and help you see daylight again.
The pursuit of other hobbiesAfter you get done writing code all day sometimes the last thing you want to do is go home and stare at another computer screen. You'll start to come up with new interests that you've never considered before. Maybe you'll pick up the ukulele or start learning Japanese.
This is how you'll beat the burnt out feeling and move up to the next level as a developer. Doing unrelated stuff helps you learn how to make connections where people don't usually see them because you'll have more exposure to different things. Being able to think differently is one of the things that makes a good web developer.
So go to that improv group or just go for a walk outside. Whatever it is you decide to do just make sure it isn't related to web development. That might be harder than it sounds if you really like web development.
What are some other things you've experienced after being a web dev for a while? I've heard some… strange stories about what people have done. Let me know about your battle scars in the comments because I actually do read them.