Ask HN: Tips to relearn how to care about my job?

I've had a similar problem post covid - although I never had covid the after-effects of isolation have been somewhat hard to work through.

Surely others have dealt with this - but I actually did pretty okay throughout the lockdown in my okay sized room in NYC. My roommates paid rent but left for other states so I basically had an apt to myself. I got lucky enough to have a job as well - however, this instilled an odd kind of lazy malaise.

I've since left new york since everything worth doing in tech is remote - separated where I sleep and work etc. But it seems like my ability to properly get focused or excited about my work has completely atrophied.

My first step in solving this was using an app to track tasks that give me the most and take the most - so different kinds of "work" and things that "waste" time (youtube, web browsing etc).

I haven't found a solution but it's troubling to say the least. I initially was worried about not progressing as fast as I wanted to - now I've identified the issue is I rarely complete more than 3hrs of deep work per day. Or 6hrs of doing anything.

However, I've sort of accepted I'm an introvert - stopped trying to be "cool" for the right reasons and idk I have decent savings which feels good.

Find a job with similar pay but a goal you care (substantially) more about?

Don't.

Care about yourself.

If you're working on things that interest you and with people you enjoy interacting with and you're treated well by your employer, then your job with take care of itself.

If you're not, find a new job until that list is satisfied.

If you cannot care about the goal, then the goal is likely not really worthwhile. There was at one point where I exhausted myself for what was essentially an SEO app. I got to the point where sitting in front of the laptop and the thought of typing generated significant pain; my body freezes. That's burnout. I had nothing left to give. After that, I swore I would only look for work that I find worthwhile and purposeful. I identified some broad areas of social impact that felt meaningful for me (e.g. legal, healthcare, education, finance) and only looked for startups that were working within those areas. YMMV.

If you are young, and you have a good social safety net (family), then it is probably better to actively search for a different company, one where you feel that you are contributing meaningfully and purposefully.

If the only reason you are there is for the high income and the prestige of working there, but you do not feel you are contributing meaninfully, then forcing yourself to work through this will hollow you out. You'll wake up at middle age with a middle-age crisis. You might succeed with the prestige or wealth, and none of it means much. (Or you realize that your youth is ultimately ephemeral, and you can never get it back again). Further, at that time, you are much less likely to absorb the risk of changing your career -- dependents, tech-industry ageism, etc.

In this post-lockdown economic time and huge demand for workers, this is the time where it is favorable for employees. That window is still open, but it is closing. When it closes, we'll be left with lower demand for workers and higher inflation. The window for job mobility is open now and it won't last forever.

You may possibly be able to apply for a different job internally, but I suggest it is something you feel you can contribute meaningfully.

If you still insist on staying, you can try to get a mental-health leave until you come out of burnout. Take the time to find out what is really important to you. It is probably not status or prestige, even if it seems that way. If you're able to find the purpose within you, then that will be what gets you up in the morning; you might be tired, and even exhausted, and yet, purposeful and meanginful work makes it feel like it is worth it.

Watch that. Doesn't always work. Not everyone you will work with loves what you love or gives as much of a shit about it as you do. And it's painful watching them fuck it up day after day after day. Eventually you end up disliking it by proxy.

I'm also a weirdo. I intensely dislike what I do for a living but I'm good at it and the money is pretty excellent. And I hate it enough to want to do a quality job of it and automate as much of it as possible so I can do something more interesting with my time instead.