You took a sabbatical but you kept programming. That didn't address your burn out at all. You should have taken blacksmithing courses. :) It's not that they have reserve energy it's that they refresh themselves by changing modes.
Personally I'm pretty prone to burn out. I work as a developer and have lots of programming side projects I work on. My advantage is that I can sense the burn out and when it happens I stop all side projects and try to do mostly administrivia at work.
I did stay in one programming job while burned out for over 2 years (this was before I realized what was it was). I produced practically nothing in that time but the act of sitting there trying to force my way through made the burn out get gradually worse. I stepped completely away from programming for about 30 months to get over it.
Another thing that made my burnout worse at that company was that the environment was so incredibly awful. Are you sure you're actually happy where you are, or do you say that because you fear being fired again? I would have said (and if fact did tell someone) that I loved my job during those dark two years, but it was because I felt worthless and unable to get anything better. I wasn't trying to trick the person that I told, I was trying to trick myself into believing it.
Personally I'm pretty prone to burn out. I work as a developer and have lots of programming side projects I work on. My advantage is that I can sense the burn out and when it happens I stop all side projects and try to do mostly administrivia at work.
I did stay in one programming job while burned out for over 2 years (this was before I realized what was it was). I produced practically nothing in that time but the act of sitting there trying to force my way through made the burn out get gradually worse. I stepped completely away from programming for about 30 months to get over it.
Another thing that made my burnout worse at that company was that the environment was so incredibly awful. Are you sure you're actually happy where you are, or do you say that because you fear being fired again? I would have said (and if fact did tell someone) that I loved my job during those dark two years, but it was because I felt worthless and unable to get anything better. I wasn't trying to trick the person that I told, I was trying to trick myself into believing it.