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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 f

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 9y ago
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 9y ago
  > 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.
iguanayou 9y ago
Agree with most of this, but would like to add that you don't need to "self" medicate; if there's an underlying diagnosable mental health concern (depression, anxiety), proper medical treatment might do a world of good.
davelnewton 9y ago
> It's not natural to love or even like your work. This makes no sense to me. It's "natural" to feel how you feel about your work, whether positive or negative (or oscillating). There's nothing un-natural about loving/liking your work either, which makes statements like this meaningless and unhelpful.
- thesmallestcat 9y ago
  You're quoting out of context and distorting what I said. I didn't say that it is unnatural to like your work. I said that liking your work is not the state of nature, counter to the prevalent message that you should always enjoy what you do, or else you're doing the wrong work. Or, as Dad would put it, "that's why it's called work," or as others have said, "that's why they pay you to do it."
  - davelnewton 9y ago
    I'm quoting precisely what you said, and providing a counter-statement, namely, people may or may not love/like their work.
Namrog84 9y ago
> It's not natural to love or even like your work While this may be common or anadoctal and not everyone can be so lucky. But I legitimately enjoy, like, and even sometimes love my job and work. Major parts of it I'd likely be doing as a side hobby for free and even after a days work I toy with the idea of doing a similar side personal project similar to my work. This might not be true every day for me but more days than not. Though I do fully acknowledge these types of jobs are extremely rare and it's unlikely most won't ever find. But they do exist for some.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

mancerayder 9y ago

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 9y ago
> 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.

iguanayou 9y ago

Agree with most of this, but would like to add that you don't need to "self" medicate; if there's an underlying diagnosable mental health concern (depression, anxiety), proper medical treatment might do a world of good.

davelnewton 9y ago

> It's not natural to love or even like your work. This makes no sense to me. It's "natural" to feel how you feel about your work, whether positive or negative (or oscillating). There's nothing un-natural about loving/liking your work either, which makes statements like this meaningless and unhelpful.

thesmallestcat 9y ago
You're quoting out of context and distorting what I said. I didn't say that it is unnatural to like your work. I said that liking your work is not the state of nature, counter to the prevalent message that you should always enjoy what you do, or else you're doing the wrong work. Or, as Dad would put it, "that's why it's called work," or as others have said, "that's why they pay you to do it."
- davelnewton 9y ago
  I'm quoting precisely what you said, and providing a counter-statement, namely, people may or may not love/like their work.

Namrog84 9y ago

> It's not natural to love or even like your work While this may be common or anadoctal and not everyone can be so lucky. But I legitimately enjoy, like, and even sometimes love my job and work. Major parts of it I'd likely be doing as a side hobby for free and even after a days work I toy with the idea of doing a similar side personal project similar to my work. This might not be true every day for me but more days than not. Though I do fully acknowledge these types of jobs are extremely rare and it's unlikely most won't ever find. But they do exist for some.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]