Ask HN: Has anyone managed to find enjoyment in their work after burnout?
I kind of did. Tldr: gather some allies, create a secret council, push changes from the inside.It is an ongoing thing, but I found friends with the same values and we are trying to change the environment that cause the burnouts. At the same time I have to convince myself that coding and managing is not the actual root cause of the burnout.Having friends who share the same sentiments helps. But the most important thing was to identify what exactly is the root cause and bash it.Talking about it to your manager will help alot if your manager cares. In my case, my manager talked and get the head of department hire a veteran that becomes my mentor and take over some of my workload.Hiring properly actually helps! It lets good people in. Once onboarded, they alleviate your burdens so you could think of strategies that to change the environment so it's better for everybody. This changed my mind about hiring people, since I previously had a bad experience with hiring when my company was in a hypergrowth phase.In my case the cause was the classic pm-does-not-know-technical-stuffs-yet-plan-everything-ahead-behind-closed-door-and-say-the-final-decision. Fixed deadline, immature product desig that doesnt account for technical limitations. So often either we had to: 1.) Propose a fix now and add more to our plate so we crunch, or 2.) Not propose a fix and risk ourselves getting woken up in the future.We kind of had to learn a bit of PM-ing so we "understand their language" and have the ability to persuade them into understanding what happens on the other side and making changes that beneficial for the whole team.Things are changing slowly. Processes changes within the orgs for the better. Some external influences still could reverse the progress. But a celebration for small steps is in order! Party with the people you care and cares about you.