Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?
Learn something new. Learning new things is the only way to be happy. This is true on a neurophysiological level - the hippocampi of depressed people are shrunk. Happiness, positive emotions and learning and memory all take place in your hippocampus.<p>Learning and living are really the same thing. Both are just the formation of new synapses in your brain.<p>Practically speaking, change things up! Maybe find a new job, start a new personal project on something you've never worked on before. Take some time off if necessary and possible. But be sure to fill your time off with as many new experiences as possible.<p>Also, _passion is a skill_. Sometimes it comes naturally, but it can be cultivated, too. This is called the "growth mindset" (See Carol Dweck's book, "Mindset"). The growth mindset has been extensively studied over the past 3 decades, but only as it relates to intelligence. Now, psychologists are discovering that it applies to passion as well as intelligence[1].<p>So what does a growth mindset entail? You can only grow (in passion, intelligence, etc.) if you believe you can grow. So 1) believe that you can cultivate a passion in your career and 2) learn new things.<p>I had a pretty severe burnout 2 years ago. In my personal experience, the above is how I rediscovered a love for computers.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200306-the-surprising-truth-about-finding-your-passion-at-work" rel="nofollow">https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200306-the-surprising...</a>