It is not the computers I enjoy, it is solving real world problems. I really get a kick out of that, computer or not.
Ask HN: What keeps you going?
21–30 of 74 posts
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you going?
#22CS pays. Luckily it's also mildly interesting and sometimes very interesting. I don't love my job, but I work for a company that does good things and pays me pretty well.
None of my goals have ANYTHING to do with my career and most of them have EVERYTHING to do with motorcycles and offroad racing.
Software engineering funds my (very amateur) racing "career".
Loving your job such that you want to wake up every day and commit yourself to it is a fantasy for almost everyone and a reality for the few. Some people even on my team love what we do and think it's the coolest shit. For me, I'm happy here because it allows me the freedom to do the things in my life that are actually important to me.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you going?
#23This question itself shows a little bit of privilege.
What keeps me going is having to pay the bills. And even after you pay bills you have to worry about retirement, and if you have enough for that you can worry about your family and friends.
Don't get me wrong I actually REALLY like my job right now but I didn't always like what I was doing. And probably one day I will also dislike what I am doing, but in the end you have to keep working so long as you need money.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you going?
#24I don't look at it as just coding, but rather the purpose behind that code.
I don't know if I am interested in coding for years and years, but I do enjoy solving problems and right now I am doing it via coding.
Seeing that code solve real world problems for our users is a very good feeling.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you going?
#25I've been programming for 25+ years. I still love programming. Never wanted to be a manager. The challenge of coding, solving problems, and being well-paid for it make me very happy. I'm currently sitting in my kitchen, working from home, looking out my deck onto SF Bay. This is not a lifestyle I would have been able to accomplish being a chemical or mechanical engineer, a biologist, an accountant, etc. I truly feel blessed that I love programming, that I'm good at it, and that I am living in a place that rewards good programmers consistently for the past 2 decades. Who knows when this well will dry so I'm taking it as far as I can.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you going?
#26> What makes you wake up every morning and sit down to code again?
Having other coders to talk to about code as well as life. You won't have access to such people unless you keep working with them.
As it happens most of my current team is remote, but a lot of the socialising is over Slack.
And it's a big deal having qualified experts to talk to about stuff; they know the most about what's interesting, what works, and what's been tried before.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you going?
#27What keeps me going? Obsession and passion.
I got my first computer in December 1994. I was 43 then. The first night I did not sleep. Not the next either. Got hooked, immediately. I was in a full time job as a mechanic. In a workshop, wrenches, oil, welding, repairing, cars, machines, etc. Taught myself programming, besides the the normal job. In 1997 I got headhunted by a software company, having won 1. prize in a programmer's competition a Magazine ran.
Now I am retired, and am programming more than ever. Will sell my own products, I have what they call an ISV, my own one-man company.
Programming is as fun as ever. I do everything, Web, Desktop apps, plug-ins for the large multi media applications. Several languages, all is very fun :)
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you going?
#28remember that you are always choosing to do what you do. look around at other stuff if you are bored. i haven't been too unhappy with my work (which has varied) because i always feel like im doing what i want to do. just try to convince yourself that you are doing the best thing given your circumstances.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you going?
#29I work in medicine, specifically genetics, and virtually all code that I write is serving that purpose. A few near-death experiences in life is what keeps me going, each and every day.
Losing everything is the most motivating loss function. If only my life had a more stochastic optimizer that didn't get stuck in local minima.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you going?
#30You could go be a bankruptcy lawyer and write the same threatening letter over and over every day for the rest of your life