I've taken to extended breaks in my career, reduced my expenses to dollars a month and pretty much focused on something else entirely. The first time it was learning taijiquan and reconnecting with my body through walking and physical labor. The second time is was to play video games and build a community. At the end of both sessions my energy was revitalized around software engineering because in each instance i came back around to using the computer to solve the actual problems I wanted to solve for my real goal. Each time I needed to relearn the tools which was also a nice experience as it allowed me to fix lingering problems. I highly recommend these types of breaks, especially if you have a first principals understanding of computers, as that's critical for saying, "I know this is a problem I can solve with math and computers."
Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
11–20 of 83 posts
Re: Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
#12my first child was born last year, and although its been hard its also really awesome. Most new parents seem to be perpetually short of sleep and exhausted for the first two years. Being exhausted can make intellectually challenging things just too hard to cope with. I will suggest that it is possible you are just tired and should consider finding employment that is less mentally taxing for now. Consider the possibil…
This is definitely it. I've got kids and I was also unprepared for the amount of time that they will take. Usually as a developer one has a lot of time to explore wider area of topics (playful exploration). That keeps the mind energized.
So: get plenty of sleep (a golden rule is when the child sleeps the parent should also sleep), then invest in some topic that's not in your comfort zone (e.g. working on CRUDs? Learn embedded programming with Rust).
Re: Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
#13It'll probably take at least a full year to recover, if not longer. Read this: https://jacquesmattheij.com/dealing-with-burn-out
Re: Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
#14I have been a Hardware Engineer for the past decade or so. After jumping around a bit this year I got an easy job just so that I can practice coding at work. Go figure. I realized that I have nothing more to do with schematics and PCBs and made a decision one fine day on a leap of faith. Haven't looked back. By the end of this year I hope to start solving Leetcode medium to hard and go through the riggamarole of coding interviews. Long story all of us go through the "developer" burnout. How we deal with it is whats important. In my case my spouse has been super helpful and I have family commitments which are a major source of motivation for me pivot careers midlife and purse something that I have developed passion for just recently. Maybe you should try a different field all together. Art, woodworking,machine shop might not pay you well and benifits suck but could very well get your motivation back. Good Luck!
Re: Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
#15I have been coding since the 90s. This year I finally felt really burnt out. It got so bad I was upset, miserable, and lost all passion for working. I have 6 kids and a wife with a chronic untreatable disorder so I couldn’t just quit. And I’m glad I didn’t, it turns out that wouldn’t have helped. Here’s what I did and what I would suggest: 1) after talking to my wife and my doctor I got a counselor. Well really a tea…
The point about seeking professional help is super underrated. Just in the past few months, I would have entered a similar thread on HN to see the OP being brigaded by posts telling him/her to always be coding and to just chug along. This kind of talk completely ignores other issues that may be present and can cause even further damage.
Re: Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
#163 months are not enough to revert the impact of 15 years. It's like having 3 hours of weekend, after 6 days and 21 hours of workweek -- you wouldn't feel refreshed either. If you can afford it, give it more time: a year or two.
In the meanwhile, try other things. Do you have hobbies? If no, did you have any when you were a child? Or just experiment with new stuff.
Or perhaps try finding a place where your computer skills will be useful, but you wouldn't be doing the classical kind of development. For example, you could help some people in their work by creating a spreadsheet with automatically calculated results. Or try writing documentation for open-source software. Teach kids programming or using the computer.
Without knowing more about you I can't give a better advice. But the main message is that after 15 years of doing something, 3 months of break do not mean anything. Especially if you spent them taking care about a small child; that is not the same as having a break fully for yourself.
Re: Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
#17Identify _why_ you have lost passion for developing software. I can think of dozens of reasons _why_ you could reach this point, but the answer will direct you toward the next destination.
I'm not burned out but my reason for moving away from coding is simple. It's not fun in a open office environment with "agile" way of working. I got tired of feeling like a factory worker.
Re: Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
#18I have been coding since the 90s. This year I finally felt really burnt out. It got so bad I was upset, miserable, and lost all passion for working. I have 6 kids and a wife with a chronic untreatable disorder so I couldn’t just quit. And I’m glad I didn’t, it turns out that wouldn’t have helped. Here’s what I did and what I would suggest: 1) after talking to my wife and my doctor I got a counselor. Well really a tea…
Just to glom on to this, if there are any engineers in the Bay Area in need of a good therapist, I have one I can recommend. My email is in my profile if anyone is interested.
Edit to add: The therapist I have in mind is a former engineer and engineering manager, and works almost exclusively with engineers and their spouses/families.
Re: Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
#19I have been coding since the 90s. This year I finally felt really burnt out. It got so bad I was upset, miserable, and lost all passion for working. I have 6 kids and a wife with a chronic untreatable disorder so I couldn’t just quit. And I’m glad I didn’t, it turns out that wouldn’t have helped. Here’s what I did and what I would suggest: 1) after talking to my wife and my doctor I got a counselor. Well really a tea…
The point about seeking professional help is super underrated. Just in the past few months, I would have entered a similar thread on HN to see the OP being brigaded by posts telling him/her to always be coding and to just chug along. This kind of talk completely ignores other issues that may be present and can cause even further damage.
You're completely right. If you're really that suffering that you're burning out or getting otherwise mentally ill, getting professional help is probably the best thing you can do.
I assume it's because there is a bias on technology-focused communities such as HN. The bias of solving problems with technologies (be it languages, books, life hacks, ...), even if the problems are of a social or psychological nature.
You can't solve all problems with technology.
Re: Ask HN: Developer burnout – how to rediscover the passion, or new career?
#20Identify _why_ you have lost passion for developing software. I can think of dozens of reasons _why_ you could reach this point, but the answer will direct you toward the next destination.
I'm not burned out but my reason for moving away from coding is simple. It's not fun in a open office environment with "agile" way of working. I got tired of feeling like a factory worker.
Sounds a lot like why I don't like being a working software developer any longer as well. That combined with the short-term memory of the industry where new fads boom and bust constantly. If you enjoy building software still, just not the environment, then perhaps look at other ways to apply your skills. For me that means freelancing, where I can control for my environment and how much project BS I'll stand.