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Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
81–90 of 370 posts
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
#82Burnout always happens, in every job. Solution? Well, first, not everyone has the privilege to do something about it, but you're in tech so: Vacations. Sabbaticals. Gap year. Change jobs. I've had 35+ years in tech and done all of the above. I routinely "burn out" (aka, get bored) after about 5 to 7 years and move to a new group or company. Still love coding, still love leading projects. Just need to change it up.
Getting bored is not a burnout.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
#83Yes, it's possible. Give yourself time to recover, as long as it takes, and time after that to rediscover the joy. That may mean, for a little while, grinding away at some kind of unsatisfying but low-stress job while doing your own little "joy" projects in your spare time, or training in a new platform/language just to remind yourself of the fun of starting again from scratch. Nobody says you have to be a manager, o…
> Give yourself time to recover
This worked for me. I had to first admit that I wasn't okay, then I had to change the expectations I had of myself.
I had to get comfortable enforcing boundaries (i.e. say no), which was made easier by changing jobs (because I had an opportunity to set expectations with my employer). I also had to gain some better soft skills to make 'no' sound more reasonable, which was a challenge at first, but has served well since.
The other huge factor that made it possible for me was financial stability. It is much easier to set boundaries when I have money to survive an unplanned job hunt.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
#84I found that just moving teams and dropping a load of baggage made a huge difference and a huge improvement. I also found that regular physical exercise outside (running for me) is a game changer and totally allows your brain to disconnect. Finally, don't guilt trip yourself on your free time. There is nothing you "should" be doing on your spare time. Want to code? Fine. But do you really? Want to just veg out and wa…
+1 for sport and moving to another team.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
#85Yes, I hated my job because I was doing status updates for 4 hours a day while still trying to code. After a year, I stopped caring about their project. I started avoiding work and interviewing for the last 6 months.
I found a new job that pays more, lets me code more, and interrupts me less. Now I'm much happier to go into work even if it's just CRUD APIs.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
#86I was in burnout pretty bad while working for a big bank in my country. The work was very stressful, lots of office politics even though they paid pretty well, and my boss were nice (with a lot of pressure lol). I just thought I was not a good employee because I was tired all the time, then I started my company. My gosh, the work was (and still is!) 1000 times longer, harder, everything is so so bad and need addressing all the time YET I am no longer feel burnout for a few years now (since I started my company). For me, the burnout is not related to the workload or the complexity of the work--you need to ask yourself a question: why are you doing what you are doing? Is it what you want? Otherwise you will always in burnout until you find your mission in life.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
#87I'm still pretty young so this might not apply, but I tried to skip university and make it as a freelancer. Worked out fine money wise, but got severe burn out working on a project that I shouldn't have taken on in the first place, but needed the money. I recovered fine, but it was pretty brutal. For a while I couldn't even look at code without getting nauseous and a having a splitting headache. I'm not exaggerating…
As a society we should figure out some sort of systemic work exchange program where people suffering from burnout can leave their career for 8 months to work in a brewery or be a fire watcher or herd goats or whatever until they figure out that, "damn, my old job wasn't so bad after all." Either that or they become a full time goat herder...
I think it would be really good for most people.
Oddly enough, it probably wouldn't be that hard, or even trivial if you are already a contractor
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
#88I was burned out in 2015, and abandoned the entire field in favor of a move into law enforcement. That didn't end up working out, which is for the best, in retrospect, because what I wanted wasn't a job with less thanks and more danger, but a job that I felt was worth getting up in the morning to do.
What eventually worked for me, was switching from operations to infosec, and switching to a new (to me) company, where I was able to pre-vet my chain of command, making sure I wasn't going to run into the previous problem, that of working for someone or someones who have squandered their chance to earn my respect for various reasons. Thus far, it has been highly successful. Not only do I not feel burned out, I am relatively excited to start working when I wake up, and kind of have to restrain myself in order to maintain personal life boundaries. At night, I'll spend time thinking of new ways to solve work problems, because it's fun, not because I'm stressed out or obsessed with completing a given project or task.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
#89I found that just moving teams and dropping a load of baggage made a huge difference and a huge improvement. I also found that regular physical exercise outside (running for me) is a game changer and totally allows your brain to disconnect. Finally, don't guilt trip yourself on your free time. There is nothing you "should" be doing on your spare time. Want to code? Fine. But do you really? Want to just veg out and wa…
Similar for me, I noticed that the thing that lead to burnout was the politics around work, not the work itself. I changed companies and was happy till I got myself in the same political nightmare. If you find yourself in the same position, change the project/company, it will make a big difference for a while. Try to find a company with a healthy management/culture for a long term fix (if you want to spend more than 2-3y in one place), this is very hard thing to come by.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
#90no