
Ask HN: What do you do when you've lost motivation at work? - julianusti
I&#x27;m woundering how do you approach this kind of feeling when you don&#x27;t feel motivated at work.<p>I think that majority of people will solve it with finding a new job or maybe take a vacation. But, this is all about long term soltions. What I want to know, how to turn your motivation back right away, without changing a job or taking a vacation. Is it even possible?
======
YCode
Small persistent holistic steps in the direction you want your life to move.

If you want more money look at where you can save money (not eating out,
buying generic products, etc.) and things you might be able to do on the side
to earn more.

Or if you rather start applying for jobs and seeing what else is out there.
You don't have to find a job today, just start looking.

If you want to have more energy find an exercise routine that works for you
and start eating more vegetables and less sugar/bread. Take time to meditate
or at least relax and clear your head. It's likely there's something buried in
your head that is causing you to be demotivated.

If it's your perspective that needs tuning work on rewiring your brain. Stuff
like replacing "this is hard" with "this will take time" or learning to be
okay with being wrong/weak and asking for help when you need it.

If your work isn't fulfilling maybe talk with your co-workers or supervisor to
see what can be done to make it better. If that's not realistic, maybe your
job actually does suck and you need to go back to the first paragraph.

For me personally, I find setting aside time to untangle my brain helps the
most. Sitting someplace and working on a posture or breathing exercise and
really just putting some distance between me and my problems for a little
while.

Usually after that my problems seem much smaller and more manageable.

~~~
julianusti
Thanks a lot @YCode, I really like what you've said and it make sense to me.

The money wasn't prior number 1 for me, so probably it's not about the money.

What is really matters for me are people that surrounding me every day when I
come to office.

Recently, we've been merged with another team. We where doing a great job
before, a team spirit was so great that we where able to deliver better than
others.

I literully was waking up with a huge smile on my face, because I knew that
today we gonna do some awesome shit (no matter if it is bug fixing or
performance improvements or new features).

Now, we have super huge team tons of projects and instead of goals that we are
desire to achieve we have tasks that we have to close.

Now, I waking up with a sad face, because I know that today I'm going to
"close the next issue", instead of "work on chalanging problem" that makes
everyone in a team to feel proud of that.

~~~
mtberatwork
Well, try to remind yourself that it's not permanent. Sometimes you work on
things that bore you to tears, other times you work on things that are much
more stimulating. There will be challenging problems to work on again in the
future, I guarantee it. I would suggest unplugging from work/digital life and
take part in other things that interest you that don't involve screens. Taking
breaks to do other things in life will revitalize your mind and you will find
motivation again. Also, you will discover that you aren't solely defined by
your work.

------
orthecreedence
I might be in a unique situation to handle this (smallish company, fairly
independent), but I just tend to bullshit my way through a work week when this
happens.

I will talk big and vague in meetings about what I've accomplished. I'll talk
about why what I'm building turned out to be more complicated than thought
originally, and will take more time than allotted. If necessary will build
interfaces that _look_ like I'm doing the work when in fact I'm not.

Keep in mind, I don't do this maliciously to "steal" from the company. I do
this because I have a certain amount of creative energy, and _sometimes the
well just runs dry_. I can't think about complicated things (much of my job is
architecting systems) and I have trouble focusing. Instead of pushing myself
to burn out further, I understand it as part of a boom/bust cycle and take a
break at work. Sometimes this lasts up to a week (even more in a few cases).

Then one day during the bust, I'll get the wind back in my sails and start up
again.

This happens once every few months, although sometimes it can be triggered by
a larger project. Sometimes I'll allot a week for something, not do anything
on it, and then complete it all a day before it's due. When I say "not do
anything" I mean I'm not actually coding, however I think my subconscious is
mulling the problem over and I'll have an "AHA!" moment when needed.

Really, it helps to get good at bullshitting and buying yourself time.
Practice, practice, practice. Once again, not maliciously, but for your own
well-being. Pad your days out when giving estimates to people.

Hope that helps/is applicable to your situation.

~~~
superplussed
I wouldn't post anything on HN that I wouldn't want my boss to see, and
frankly if I was your boss I wouldn't be that happy that:

"I just tend to bullshit my way through a work week.."

"..build interfaces that look like I'm doing the work when in fact I'm not."

"Sometimes I'll allot a week for something, not do anything on it, and then
complete it all a day before it's due"

"it helps to get good at bullshitting"

Honestly, you don't sound professional. To me it's one thing to say, hey I'm
burned out and I need to take a half day today. Or hey, I'm burned out, what
if I worked on developer tooling for a few days to recharge my batteries.

But lying during meetings and distorting what you are working on are fireable
offences, and even if you feel comfortable being that shameless and unethical
on your own accord, why the heck would you give advice to someone else to do
the same?

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I'm bewildered by this post.

~~~
orthecreedence
I specifically said it's not malicious, it's in reaction to my level of
creativity. It's how I operate.

> Honestly, you don't sound professional. > if you feel comfortable being that
> shameless and unethical

If you can work at 100% capacity at your job all the the time, great for you.
If not, then you are either completely honest with your employers about it ("I
didn't get anything done this week because I'm burned out") or you do the
exact same things and are taking some sort of moral high ground in your post
to feel superior.

It's fine if you don't agree with me giving honest advice, but keep the moral
judgements to yourself when they are most likely based in hypocrisy.

EDIT: Also, just want to reiterate: this happens _once in a while_. I'm not
doing this every day. Maybe you should re-read my post?

~~~
superplussed
As I said in my comments, it's not about not being at 100% capacity all of the
time. No-one is, but there are honest ways to communicate that.

What's crazy to me is strategically lying to your employers IN ADVANCE, to set
yourself up to not do any work. Especially given that you are posting it under
your name.

~~~
orthecreedence
Oh, perhaps I wasn't clear. When I say I allot a week for something (5 days),
that task, working at a normal pace, would probably take 3-4 days. I'm not
asking for a week when it takes a day. I'm asking for 1.5x how much I think it
will take to pad. Normal practice.

However sometimes, I am just not able to work on that project for a few days,
and end up doing it all in one day/night after having a few days to thinking
about it. For me, a good chunk of the job is thinking about it. The coding
just kind of flows after that. The problem is that the thinking gets delayed
=]

------
thesmallestcat
It's not natural to love or even like your work. Trying to force yourself to
do so is perilous. Being burnt out is not a failure. The only fix is to draw
back from work in some way. That could be a vacation, it could be not trying
so hard at work, it could be finding a new job, it could be finding a new
living situation. Combining any of those with new interests, or rekindling old
ones, might do the trick. Constantly trying to pep yourself up is not a good
idea, you will eventually face catastrophic burnout.

The only other option is self-medication. That is only advisable if you truly
have no other options but to keep your head to the grindstone, and you will
have to deal with the inevitable fallout of self-medication, which ain't
pretty. So only turn to that as a last resort, like if you're compelled (by
legal or financial obligations) to continue, where the consequences of
stopping outweigh the major drawbacks of self-medication.

This is why it's so important to achieve a low cost of living and some
savings, as it expands your options when you face serious burnout (i.e. you
can quit your job without having another one lined up, or take a much lower
paying job, etc.).

~~~
mancerayder
Totally agree with this, and it's nice to see fellow tech folks understand
that it's better to be honest with oneself with regards to interest and
burnout, and to think of the bigger picture (your life, or your family). The
cognitive dissonance encouraged by the 'I love my work' type of ethos is
dangerous and counter-productive.

I like my work, and I like tech, but if I loved it, I wouldn't need to be paid
to do it. Cut off my funding for it, and I'll probably continue to do it, but
at a totally different path and pace as to what I get paid to do.

There's no need to love what you do, or try to get people to commit out loud
to doing so.

~~~
noir_lord
> I like my work, and I like tech, but if I loved it, I wouldn't need to be
> paid to do it. Cut off my funding for it, and I'll probably continue to do
> it, but at a totally different path and pace as to what I get paid to do.

Amen, I've often joked I'd program 40hrs a week if basic income was a reality
I'd just work on open source/projects that benefited people directly instead.

I don't love what I'm working on (or even like it) but I love _programming_
and so on balance I get to do something I love for money - not a bad deal most
of the time.

I've done the minimum wage thing (did it for 8-9 years in my late teens-mid
twenties) and the other side of the coin is pretty horrible.

------
akeck
I've used one or more of the following for a quick fix:

o Force 8h+ of sleep (or at least lying flat) for a 1-2 weeks, if not
permanently.

o Force daily exercise mix for 1-2 weeks, if not permanently. Each day: either
short and intense OR long and slow. I avoid short and intense on consecutive
days.

o Really good teeth and gum care to enhance QOL and sleep.

o Fasting (water only) while at work.

o Active vacation: 2-4 days at a resort/camp where you can simplify your day
to "move or eat" for all waking hours, and sleep in a decent bed for 8+h.
Might want to go "screen free" as well.

Good luck!

~~~
leesalminen
I just did 5 days at a resort with no working of any kind. Didn't even check
email. Came back, went to the office for a day and now feel as terrible as I
did before leaving.

5 days always worked for me before. Is there such a thing as permanent burn
out?

~~~
akeck
Unfortunately, I've seen some people get burnout that really sticks. Some
found success with a much longer break (3 weeks - 6 months). I've also heard
that certain types of talk therapy can unravel the burnout drivers, so one can
address them "on the fly," without interrupting work too much. Finally,
something else may be going on, so you may want to check in with your personal
doctor or a psychiatrist. For example, a hidden vitamin deficiency can do all
sorts of wacky things to quality of life.

~~~
taway_1212
I can confirm, a couple months long break always does wonders for me. That's
why I prefer to be a contractor, as such breaks are not compatible with full-
time employment.

~~~
leesalminen
I sure do miss contractor life right now.

------
Jemmeh
1.) Usually when I'm not feeling motivated it's because I'm hitting a wall.
The pomodoro technique helps me with this a lot personally-- it forces me to
take breaks and recharge my creative batteries, but it also equally forces me
to sit still and keep attacking that wall during the scheduled study time.

2.) Recently even pomodoro was not helping me. I think I had a project that
had poorly written specs, and was also complicated to boot. It was very hard
and I struggled a lot for several weeks. I tried writing down a visual map,
trying to get a better mental model of it but had trouble grasping it still. I
could feel my ability to focus and be motivated starting to go down over the
weeks as I got more frustrated with the project not moving forward well. I
felt dumb. What worked for me is going home and programming something I cared
about instead for a half day on the weekend. I also did some tutorials that I
could definitely succeed at. I feel like it rejuvenated my ability to focus
and got rid of my frustration, I was finally getting things accomplished again
and learning new things, which is a big motivator for me when programming. I
like the "achievement" of completing things and I had not been getting that
for weeks. I came back to work feeling like less of an impatient idiot and
finished the project rather quickly from there.

------
edw519
Turn lemons into lemonade.

Data + Process = Results

Data is your current job.

Process is what you do with that data.

Most people will want to change the Data; that is, change job, change career,
take vacation, etc.

Sounds like you're asking how to change Results without changing the Data,
right?

Simple. Keep the Data the same but change the only other available variable:
the Process...

Keep going to work. Keep doing the job. But change how you think about it:
"How can I use this current situation as an investment toward my future?"

Consider multiple solutions to every work assignment, their way and a better
way. You can still implement their way while learning a better way you can
implement on the side or later.

Consider every assignment an "instance". Come up with a "class" of solutions
for that instance. Instead of writing one solution, write a "mini-framework"
that would solve this problem AND many similar problems. Again, you don't have
to implement your elegant solution now, but once it's in your brain, it's
yours forever.

Find time to talk to your users! Find out what they hate that's not being
addressed (and there's probably plenty). Then work on that stuff on the side.
Do it at work now and become a hero or don't do it at work now and become your
own hero at another time or place.

Always be thinking, "How can I use this project to better myself?" Get
creative. You may surprise yourself with the possibilities.

Most programmers struggle finding ideas. You have the opposite problem. You're
surrounded by problems desperately needing solutions but not getting them.
They're just not on your radar because you're so unhappy being unmotivated in
your environment. Focus on the unassigned possibilities while you're in the
muck. You may not realize it now, but where you're already at is the best
place to find them.

~~~
RUG3Y
Excellent post!

I hated my last job, was thoroughly miserable and finally realized that I had
ended up in a state of "learned helplessness." Your approach would have helped
me tremendously.

Thankfully, I've had some time for growth and introspection since leaving that
company.

------
gibrown
The thing that I've found that motivates me the most long term is to work on
problems that I think are important to work on. Working on challenging
problems is great, and motivating for a while (few years), but ultimately I
need to work on something that I think makes a difference in the world. Also
something where I think that my skills can uniquely make a difference to the
problem, but that by itself is not sufficient.

I'll still get frustrated and demotivated at times, but I will come back to it
with a feeling that I am at least trying to work on something important and
challenging even when things don't go right or they get particularly hard.

As an example, I spent a few years working on ASIC design for high def video
encoding and decoding (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray). Super interesting and challenging.
Wow I don't care about it's impact on the world though.

~~~
blt
I feel the same. Unfortunately i spent the first 2 years of my PhD learning
this about myself. Still searching for the right problem.

------
jseely
Lack of motivation for me typically comes when I have too many things to do
(and generally they are the kinds of things I don't enjoy doing). The only
solution I've found is "focus on one". Sounds simple, but often it's very hard
to get the clarity of mind to look at all the e-mails in my inbox or tasks on
my task-list and say, "That one.". But if I do this, then I only work on that
one item until it is FINISHED. The simple act of actually completing something
tends to increase my level of engagement and motivation. Then I go eat a
cookie.

------
blanket_the_cat
As someone with an insatiable appetite for learning/being challenged, no kids,
no serious relationship, and no equity in anything, I will walk almost
immediately (with notice/finish the project/etc. of course) if I don't feel
properly challenged. That said I don't feel like I'm a great person to give
long term advice other than this..

I operate this way, because when I've stayed at places where my motivation
began to wane, invariably, it then began swiftly descend, and then plummet
incomprehensibly. The worst part was never going in to the office I had come
to feel less than nothing about, it was bringing the lack of motivation home,
because it inevitably followed me into my personal life, and stripped me of
the desire to do the things I love.

That's where I draw the line.

Everyone is different of course. I'm sure you have good reasons for staying,
and I sincerely wish you best figuring it out as someone who has been shackled
very firmly with some golden-handcuffs to roles that ultimately offered me
nothing more than big checks, and a sense of futility.

------
pcsanwald
Talk to your manager about it. There's always a lot of options for dealing
with this kind of problem, but when you are unmotivated and maybe feeling
down, these options aren't apparent, which makes the situation seem hopeless.

\- take a break from day to day development to do some strategic research: for
example, a new technology that could be helpful to the company, etc.

\- switch teams, or take on a different role within your team

\- be on the lookout for anything, even something very small, that _does_
motivate you; and figure out how to do more of that. you can't control what
motivates you, but you can recognize when it is (and isn't) happening, and
adjust.

Some things that have worked for me personally in the past:

\- Going through a book like SICP, 7 languages in 7 weeks, etc.

\- Organizing a hackday for my department.

\- Since I am motivated by making things more efficient, taking a week to
focus on better test automation and feeling the reward of making my
colleagues' lives a bit better.

~~~
julianusti
I've ellaborate a little on the root couse of my problem in the first comment.

Ragrdig what you've said. >Since I am motivated by making things more
efficient, taking >a week to focus on better test automation and feeling the
>reward of making my colleagues' lives a bit better.

That's what I exactly did last week for example. I've been building a tool for
performance testing and automation and I was feeling good. Now, I'm done with
this and I have to get back to my daily routines, which not making me happy.
Moreover, one of my good teammate is leaving and that's just makes everything
even more worse :)

------
rubicon33
I've noticed that burnout tends to occur when I've been doing long stretches
of "just get it done" work. While that type of work is great for your
employer, it can be very unfulfilling for the employee.

Programming is a craft, and one that you can find meaning and fulfillment in.
Mastering your craft is an exciting and motivating endeavor if you can take
the time to do it well. But if you are forced to write "just get it done" code
all day it will suck the energy from your soul.

If you are in a job where you simply cannot take the extra time to write
elegant, interesting, well designed code... Then it may be worth looking for a
new job. Find a company where the deadline isn't yesterday, and where you can
foster a pattern of writing excellent code, and improving your craft.

------
dpflan
@julianusti, I asked a similar question almost 3 years ago; it wasn't directly
about motivation at work but motivation and inspiration in general:

 _Ask HN: What are your sources of inspiration and motivation?_

>
> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8409926](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8409926)

I think it is very helpful to write down your thoughts and feelings to make
tangible the ideas in your head that you are consciously aware of or being
subconsciously influenced by. This also may "free up" your thoughts once they
are "excised" and transferred to text. If you can write down the negatives,
the positives, then work on framing or using a different perspective on the
scenario, you may find a new way to approach your work.

------
Apreche
I haven't had motivation to work... ever? I work only because I have to. I
work as little as possible. The last 13+ years of my life seem to show this
plan is a pretty good one.

~~~
noir_lord
Say hi to Bill Lumbergh when you see him, if you feel like it ;).

------
dwc
You're asking for a quick fix without knowing what the problem is. Lack of
motivation is normally a sign of some other problem. If the problem is that
you just don't like the work any more, maybe the only fix is not just a new
job but a career change. If the problem is the project/manager/team then it
might be possible to move to another team in the same company. If the problem
is that you haven't taken any significant vacation in 5 years...

------
djrogers
Step 1: Pay your bills, look at your retirement account, your mortgage, etc.
Step 2: Figure out why you're working in the first place - if it's to put food
on the table and pay your bills, then there's your motivation.

If you decide that you're working in order to fill a hole in your should and
get a sense of satisfaction and contentment, find it outside of work (family,
church, volunteering, etc).

------
ptero
I think it is _critical_ to figure out if this is a short term feeling (tired,
burnt out, etc.) or you are just not interested in what you are doing anymore.
I think being honest with yourself and not rushing the decision will help --
say, take a month and ask yourself each morning "do I look forward to going to
work today?".

Depending on that answer the recommendations will likely be very different.

------
davelnewton
Motivation isn't the key factor: motivation comes and goes. It's a natural
part of being human--we won't always want to do what needs doing.

 _Discipline_ gets you doing what needs to be done. Discipline is more
directly addressable.

~~~
jenkstom
The brain's ability to be "Disciplined" varies widely based on genetics. IT
careers seem to attract those with executive function disorders more than most
fields.

~~~
MrLeap
I wonder if IT careers can cause an executive function disorder.

My intuition is yes, sometimes.

~~~
RubenSandwich
"We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us"
-Father John Culkin

------
tmaly
I try to make the job interesting by looking at each project or task in a few
different ways:

1) Can I find some way to automate it by building some interesting abstraction
to the problem?

2) Can I use some new tool or technology to increase my skill set? This might
even be a non-technical skill in some cases.

3) Can I write a blog about the problem and how I approached it and how I
solved the problem. Doing this will help to market my skill set or help me
make connections with other interesting people.

------
daxfohl
Five lines of code. First thing, sit down and add five lines of code. It
frequently gets you in the zone and you write a lot more. And even if not, you
finish the day (or go into your status update) having accomplished _something_
, which is better than continual zero progress.

------
rb808
Do you have secure job where you can take it easy for a while? Its a great
change to work 9-5 just for the money and find other things in life to enjoy.
Perhaps its spending time with family & friends, perhaps learning a hobby,
maybe some physical exercise.

Think about the people you meet and if you really envy the career path or life
path someone else has taken. Maybe you should follow that track?

------
ChrisLTD
Are you demotivated because you're burned out or because you're just not
interested in the actual work you've been doing? If it's burn out, you need to
take more breaks and a vacation. If you're unhappy with the kind of work
you've been doing, it's time to look for a new job or find aspects of your job
you can be satisfied with.

------
habbanc
Right now I'm reading all over the questions/articles I can found related to
this question. But I can't find a similar problem or solution to mine. So I
would like to comment mine here.

In my case, I really like my job. All my teammates are great people, and I
like working with them. Everything seams nicely. But my problem is that I
don't work hard enough, (It's not that I'm actually working hard but want to
push myself more, I would be very happy if that was the case), I really don't.

Do you have any suggestions?

------
collyw
I had a bit of a lull after 6 or 7 years. The I got a job building an entire
system from scratch, learning Django (that not only gave me a big boost in
productivity after Perl and CGI, but encouraged me to become a better coder).
I realize now that working on new projects keeps me a lot more motivated than
keeping someone else's crappy code running. Something that only requires a
small team or one developer will make you feel like its your baby,rather than
a small cog in a large wheel.

Avoid enterprisey software as working with that can be soul destroying
(Salesforce and Marketing cloud integrations have been the most demotivating
things I have worked on in a long time).

(Having said that, I think its time for me to learn something new myself as I
have been using the same tech for 6 years now - Django is still great, but I
need the same sort of thing for other areas of development).

------
myegorov
I've learned not to ignore these signals (lack of motivation) but take them in
stride. So I usually wiggle a little to put things in perspective and see if
there's room for incremental change. If everything else fails, I don't
hesitate to make drastic changes to my environment. This takes some intuition
and guts. At one time or another, I've been a classics PhD student, a civil
engineer, and software developer. So it helps being reflexive, opening
yourself up and exposing yourself to life's forces beyond what bears on you at
present, and sometimes putting yourself in a situation where there's no way
but to try something new. If you're stuck in a local equilibrium, one way out
may be to put some life's forces to bear on it.

------
tboyd47
Drink more coffee.

Seriously, coffee is the universal motivator. Anything that can't be fixed
with coffee will have to be addressed at the source. Why aren't you feeling
motivated?

~~~
Raphmedia
Coffee causes me anxiety and wreck my sleep cycle. Some people are way too
sensitive to it. Not a good solution for everyone.

~~~
dvlsg
Yeah, dropping caffeine from my diet was a huge benefit for me.

Not immediately, mind you. Those first couple of weeks were rough.

------
nix0n
Changing the color scheme of your text editor might be enough of a change to
your job.

Going on a weekend trip might be enough of a vacation.

~~~
iguanayou
I use the "change color scheme" trick and it does work.

------
codingdave
Why is taking a vacation not a long-term solution? That is exactly what
vacations are for... to give yourself a break, let yourself step away from
your job, forget about it for a while, come back refreshed and pick it back up
without being as burned out.

You only have a problem when that does not work. In that case, you need to ask
yourself what is really bothering you about the job, and talk to your employer
about fixing it. Often, open communications about what is wrong will work,
problems can be fixed, and things will improve. And if not, maybe you do need
a new job.

But finding a new job or taking a vacation is a common answer because it
sometimes is the correct answer. I'm not saying it should be the first answer.
But don't try so hard to avoid those answers that you make yourself miserable,
either.

------
ivm
I don't wait for motivation in general, just cultivate discipline based on the
thought that I will be dead in 0 to 50*365 days and there are many things that
I can do to help everybody around. Often it requires mind-numbing work but
that's what the life is on this planet.

~~~
julianusti
man, it's super valid point ;)

------
5_minutes
Your resilience towards work issues goes hand in hand with your personal
situation. Just saying that if you would be in a super happy place personally,
this stuff might get to you less.

------
crispyambulance
> I think that majority of people will solve it with finding a new job or
> maybe take a vacation. But, this is all about long term solutions.

Oh, wait, you're saying that a new job or going on vacation is a "long term
solution" ?? No, sorry, that's really a short term solution.

You're asking for even SHORTER TERM solutions? Get drunk.

Long term but pithy answer: Love and Exercise. Make serious time for taking
care of your body and connecting with others in your life. You'll feel better.
Seriously.

~~~
julianusti
thx, I really appritiate your advice!

------
kristerv
yeah, drugs. Fastest solution to all problems.

But my actual solution is basically putting my mindset in a zero position (i
don't even work for this company) and imagine what I would love to do right
now. Then figure out if this company can provide this activity. In my case
what I want to do are startups and learning about the different aspects of a
company so while I'm a developer i actually go out and sell our product. at
least try to. or do some marketing. or team mangement.

------
yeukhon
I leave work. I browse HN. I read news. I walk around the campus. It's tough
to lost motivation at work. I have been recommended to look for a new job.

~~~
julianusti
yeah man, that's the thing, that leaving the work is the easiest solution.
It's like your survival instincts are talking to you, to go in a way where you
don't have to fight.

I feel If I leave the job I'll just follow my survival instincts and not solve
the real problem.

------
woliveirajr
Take a look at all my bills. They motivate me to earn, at least, enough.

Then take a look at things I'd like to have: bigger house, better car, funny
gadgets. Then I know that I must work if I want to have it.

Finally, take a look at the grass from all around the globe. Places I'd like
to visit, to live, places where I would have the same job and earn much less.
Then I know if I'm in the right place or not.

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notadoc
Find a way to take a mental break in some form. If not a vacation then embrace
a new hobby. Find something unrelated to work that is different and enjoyable,
and do it often enough to find enjoyment and relaxation in it.

You also might just be burned out, or bored. In which case a vacation,
switching things up, or even a job or lifestyle change may be in order.

------
vuchkov
I simple stop working... and take as much as possible good time to enjoy the
World :) And after, I start (continue) my work again... I hope it will be
helpful for you too. [http://www.vuchkov.biz](http://www.vuchkov.biz)

------
brango
You watch this course:

[https://www.coursera.org/learn/happiness](https://www.coursera.org/learn/happiness)

Then re-evaluate your life.

~~~
julianusti
thx bro, I'll.

~~~
Omnius
your use of the contraction like this broke me. i had to read it 4 times
before it "worked".

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chapium
I am feeling this hard right now and have been struggling with motivation for
several years. Thank you for posing the question, I hope HN has some insights.

~~~
julianusti
My pleasure @chapium, I hope on it too ;)

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amorphid
I have some experience with this, but don't want to air grievances in public.
Happy to chat privately. Email in profile.

~~~
julianusti
I'll thx a lot.

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mtw
I'd look into changing jobs within the company.

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excalibur
Read HN.

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CriticalSection
> What I want to know, how to turn your motivation back right away, without
> changing a job or taking a vacation.

Sometimes vacations are very demotivating. If the work situation is bad, it is
nice to get away for a week, but then after a week you're right back in it
again, and it can seem worse than before, in contrast to your pleasant
vacation.

------
Kenji
More caffeine!

Jokes aside (or was it a joke at all?), you need a goal. Implementing a good
feature and improving the software, reaching a position, earn money for a
greater good, etc. Something that injects passion into your daily life.

------
hacker_9
You want the short term solution? Go out binge drinking on Saturday, suffer
through Sunday, and then go back to work Monday thankful that you have a way
to fix your bank balance.

~~~
julianusti
:)

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stevebmark
No one does anything. They take no action. They complain about their jobs to
those who will listen, and slog on unhappily. They talk about quitting but
never do.

~~~
julianusti
quitting is the easiest way to go, I'm trying to solve it in a different way.
Which way you ask? I still don't have an answer, that's why asking here.

~~~
stevebmark
I'm not criticizing you nor anyone who does this. It's just a statement about
what everyone does. Complaining is cathartic, not a bad thing.

Quitting is the hardest thing to do. You are not physically capable of
quitting. It takes either a catastrophic event or large amounts of unhappy
time to force someone to quit. People don't wake up one day and decide to quit
their jobs. Facing a job search, less income, explaining to new places why you
left, dealing with people when quitting, figuring out health insurance,
explaining to your family, social pressure to have a job, and more, all huge
problems that prevent anyone from just upping and quitting.

You aren't going to solve it, just like most other people working in tech
eventually stop caring about trying to solve it. Do you think people working
for garbagy startups care about that product or their jobs? In an ideal world
we could all get perfect job satisfaction, but there's no way to guarantee
that or optimize for that, even if you like the company.

