> Become a hermit and go live in the woods for a while.
That sounds great, but unfortunately, it's not feasible where I live.
> You might be dreaming of grass being greener on the other side but my point is that it's mostly brown. Shitty brown, that is.
Kidding aside, I don't even think there is much grass in most places. Looks more like dirty concrete. Unfortunately, tech seems to be on track of getting there quick as well.
I feel that it's no longer about making quality products, but more about milking money by any means, even if immoral and/or obviously (self-)destructive. It may have been like that for some time already, but I wasn't able to realize that before.
It seems to me as if we've become the machine that we wanted to build.
I would love doing something that's more "down to earth". Optimally, in some sector that is involved with treating people with respect - "as if" they were real human beings. An alternative would be working outdoors and being nearer to nature in general.
> Second, you need to get your love for technology back. It is still there, but it manifests as hate. My theory of burnout is that it arises when the amount of effort you put in is disproportionally large compared to perceived payoffs. The brain just does a ROI calculation and refuses to put more effort in. To combat that, you need some easy successes.
Just wanted to thank you for this summary. I think you're right, though it certainly doesn't feel like that. I am in a very similar situation as OP, but webdev is only a small part of what I (can) do. I literally hate all of technology right now. At least, it feels like that. Also seems to be age-related. I am 40 and I lost "my spark" about 3-4 years ago. Luckily, still able to work, but the fun is gone and I personally don't believe that I will ever get it back at this point.
Edit: May be relevant to OP: I found a small team with an employer who himself went through burnout and now approaches things a bit differently. Not sure if it helps, but I thought it might be nice to know that those exist.