As others have stated, it happens to all of us. I think one has to learn how to take breaks often. The world is not gonna fall apart if you take a week off ever

As others have stated, it happens to all of us. I think one has to learn how to take breaks often. The world is not gonna fall apart if you take a week off every once in a couple of months to let go of your computer and snooze on a beach somewhere. Also as one other person posted, sometimes what you perceive as burnout may be clinical depression...but from the way the poster was talking about it sounded more like job dissatisfaction than depression. Also, it depends on where you work. You have to enjoy the team you're working with and you have to enjoy the work you're doing. Sounds like a big part of it for the submitter had to do with the language in which they were programming. That's a big deal to a lot of programmers. Programming is an art! If an employer or project requirements forces tools upon you that do not jive with how your thoughts flow, not surprising you're burnt out. Do what you love, tons of companies that use Haskell...even ones that use embedded computers. Also sounded like the submitter was enjoying their academic career as a Masters student. Perhaps going down the academic route is a better option. In summary, do what you love!