Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
I&#x27;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&#x27;t have taken on in the first place, but needed the money.<p>I recovered fine, but it was pretty brutal. For a while I couldn&#x27;t even look at code without getting nauseous and a having a splitting headache. I&#x27;m not exaggerating here, it was like I had lost the ability to comprehend code at all. Code was just meaningless symbols randomly arranged without any rhyme or reason.<p>What helped eventually is about ~6 Months of completely distancing myself from Programming. No programming for work, no programming for fun, not keeping up with current developments, nothing. I was fortunate enough to be able to afford this, but I truly believe that a 6 month long hard brain reset was needed. Wouldn&#x27;t have worked in 3 months. Other comments here echo a similar sentiment and you&#x27;ll find other blog posts and personal experiences on the internet with the same conclusion.<p>On the upside, coming back after 6 months and discovering that I stopped getting physically ill trying to code was an amazing moment. I fell in love with programming all over again. Only this time I learned to listen to my body and 
started prioritizing health and happiness over a steep career and financial success.<p>Honestly I don&#x27;t think many people would be impressed by my professional output (especially not on this site), but I can honestly say that I&#x27;ve never loved it as much as I do now and I can rest easy knowing that it&#x27;s sustainable and doesn&#x27;t negatively impact my mental health.