> leaving my salary behind for a less stressful job with better work-life balance, as we so often read about.
Is work-life balance that much better somewhere else though. Pay is much less for sure but all jobs come with their own constraints and difficulties.
> But then I realized it’s not illegal to manage my own stress and set my own work-life balance, and keep my salary. The company could fire me, if it’s not enough for them, but so far they haven’t.
Exactly. I think if I was at the point of burnout, I would try to stick to 9-5, do my best and see what happens. However, this is easier said than done. For me, the main cause of stress is fear of underperforming, not deadlines. My colleagues are skilled and work hard. It really doesn't feel good to be outpaced. I don't want to be fired for performance reason (suffering from imposter syndrome already).
In any case, I think resilience and stress management should be things we work on, just like any other skills we need at work.
If that's possible, maybe the key is to refuse promotion and stay at a level where you can manage the expectations.