21–30 of 74 posts
Also what wccrawford describes worked for me (I just needed couple of month at a crappy job, to be so happy/thankful to go to college).
1. Rediscover your passion. 2. Get away from work and analyze what it is you really want. Then pursue it. 3. Have some time with your relatives, friends, and loved ones. 4. Re-learn the value of being able to enjoy little and solitary moments for yourself. 5. Do some charity / volunteer work.
An option: It's almost winter. Ski resorts are hiring. You can meet awesome people in a very low pressure work environment (hey -- a non-college ready made social scene that doesn't cost 40K a year) and have access to head-clearing, soul uplifting physical activity that beats the hell out of jogging. And you'll still have the time and energy to code if you want. And if you want it to be not just a distraction, well,…
Upvoting this idea. I've spent quite a few weeks up in cabins producing code that I had a hard time concentrating on elsewhere. Easy access to lots of people with interesting stories (who are generally willing to listen to what you have to say) and opportunities to clear your mind with some intense exercise makes ski resorts a clear winner in my book. Now that I think about it, quite a few of the good developers and…
I realized I only enjoy software if I'm building what I want to build or something that interests me. You know what? It's called work because it isn't fun. Most people do a day job to pay the bills. It's part of being a grown-up and it comes with commitments and responsibilities that yeah, sort of suck a lot of the time. Even if you're lucky enough to do something you love for a living (and I am) it isn't passionate…
Know what? I guess, you're wrong. If you (abstract you, not the you I am replying to) are doing things that you don't like, you're pitiful, at the very least. I strongly believe that life is too short to waste it on things you aren't "genuinely enthusiastic about".
My 2c.
You think college is just doing what you want? If you can suck it up for college suck it up for a business. You're getting paid to learn. Start taking charge at work, and start it by taking on the responsibilities no one else wants.
Leverage your youth and things you've already accomplished into a compelling story. Start going to industry events and network.
Use the fact that you have a decent job already to spend less hours working and more hours networking. Find the opportunities you want and grab them by the horns.
In life you eat what you kill. Learn to enjoy the hunt.
Just...do something else. More than likely, you'll come back to it later. (If you don't, that's cool too, but I honestly enjoy programming for its own sake.) The ski resort idea is solid, personally what I ended up doing was starting my own business, failing, doing contract work here and there while getting an education in comp sci and philosophy.
Going to college isn't a horrible idea if you don't know what you want to do, but I think that's something you could do after doing some working/travelling for a bit. (Caveat: I still haven't gone to formal school)
There are two good ways to do this. One is going to college full-time, and taking random-ass courses that you think might be interesting. Don't go for the degree, don't focus on CS courses only. Go for the experience, put effort into things that aren't required that you think may benefit you, and especially talk to people. The second way is to get a boring nine-to-five job that puts food on the table and gives you enough spare time to get a hobby or a side project. Then just do whatever suits your fancy, until you find something that suits your fancy and you want to be more serious about. Getting a crappier job is actually better, as it will be easier psychologically to drop it and follow your dream when you find it.
The third, less desirable, option is to be a bum. This is much like getting a crappy job and exploring on the side, except without the job, and subsequently without the food that it puts on the table. This requires either awesome friends or a savings account. Be warned, it's habit-forming. I would recommend the other 2 options because they'll teach you self-discipline, which is important.
now, uh, as for burnout, at 19, it's probably social. Are you dating? do you want to be? Put some effort into that arena. Maybe cut back a little on your work effort, but my advice is to keep your job. (I mean, by all means, switch jobs within your career focus if you see an opportunity... I'm just saying, don't leave the field.)
When I was a little bit older than you I also felt burnt out. I quit, saying I wasn't going to work in IT ever again. And I then failed to get all manner of menial jobs. It was a miserable experience. I got another IT job within a month or two, but it was a significantly worse job (in terms of experience learned; it actually paid about the same... but I went from being the small fish around some really great people to being the 'big fish') that I think probably set my career back many years.
As for dating, uh, I can't give you specific advice, other than to say it's like any other problem, if you put effort into it, you will make progress.
for social stuff in general, moving to silicon valley can give you a fresh perspective. Nerds are concentrated here, and they have a higher social standing in the valley than anywhere else I've lived. This can, to a large extent, solve the problem of feeling like a supernerd that nobody likes or understands, because it's very easy here to put yourself in a group where you are the least nerdy person in the room.
1) Go to college (yet another monthly "should I go to college?" posts on HN sigh). I didn't go until my 20's either, and I've yet to regret going. I certainly regret going that late. The reasons to do it are numerous, but there's one important one that matters above all else, it's an investment that will pay for itself very quickly if you do it right, and will continue to make you money long long after you've finished.
2) Learn to work on stuff you don't want to work on. I know I'll sound old and crotchety, but that's what distinguishes adults from kids, adults spend most of their time doing crap nobody wants to do because it just simply has to get done. It take extraordinary discipline to do this, and you have to work hard at building that kind of discipline. It doesn't mean you spend your life in a joyless and soulless pursuit of meaningless trivia, it means you understand you have to do shit work sometimes in order to get to play on stuff you want.
3) Learn to pace yourself. You aren't burned out yet, trust me. Do what you are doing now, with twice the number of hours, plus a full course load, a mortgage, a couple car payments and a family, and you'll learn what burnout is within 4-5 years. But you should learn the skill, how to pace yourself, because it really is amazing how much stuff people can juggle if you learn to do it the right way. If you run around pumped to max with your brain on fire for everything, you will burn out in a few years.