
Ask HN: Advice on regaining passion at work - throwaway_dev
Hi HN,
    For the last 8 months, I&#x27;ve been on a high pressure and demanding project that has led to a mental burnout and I&#x27;ve lost any passion to do work. Moreover, I&#x27;ve stopped caring about work and become a monotonous mechanical programmer.<p>As a result, I reached out to other folks at the company and managed to successfully switch to a new team. I still don&#x27;t have the previous excitement I used to have for work nor the passion. I even don&#x27;t find joy in my personal side projects anymore which is depressing. I&#x27;m hoping this is a short phase and it shall pass with time.<p>I was wondering if anyone else has been in the same boat and how you handled them. I&#x27;d appreciate any advice in this regard.<p>- throwaway_dev
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cvburgess
It may sound cliche, but take a vacation. A disconnected, no social media, no
email, minimal tech vacation. I find that completely tuning out recharges me
and after a little while (usually 4 days) the distance from all things tech
makes the "itch" come back and my heart a little fonder. I think if you try to
work on side projects and have a constant negative self-perception, you won't
be motivated to do much at all - not just program.

~~~
throwaway_dev
Thank you, maybe that's what I need. A vacation to clear up my mind and purge
some negativity.

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billziss
It comes and goes.

Years ago I (semi-)retired from the corporate world for similar reasons and
because I thought I would have more fun working on projects related to my
hobbies. Turns out that even that got old eventually.

Then a couple of years ago I started working on something else and got renewed
passion which continues until today.

Can you take a long break (say 6 months) and go do something completely
different (like spend time in the Sahara or something)? When you come back you
will have a new passion for your work. Or perhaps you will have discovered a
new passion :)

Good luck!

~~~
cvburgess
This always sounds so nice in theory but how did you pull this off? Did you
ask a manager? Quit and find a different job? Assuming you have the savings to
do so, how did you just stop working for 6 months and not feel stressed out
about the potential looming instability?

~~~
billziss
Simple: I quit.

Yes, I did have savings. Yes, I was single at the time. I recognize that it
would not have been possible otherwise.

