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Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

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Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#211

Post by cgio »

Feeling stuck in a rut is quite common and most people would at some point have felt that and mostly rightfully so. You’re young enough, potentially with little responsibility in the way of family obligations etc. given that you don’t mention any. Evaluate whether you’re doing what you love. If yes, there are things to enjoy in your evolving relationship to your subject. Things are not always perfect, for some of us never. You learn to extract satisfaction from the little that is good rather than the many that you expect or anticipate. I failed most of my dreams but reality is much better than I thought it would be. Don’t overestimate the value and eventual relevance of your plans. Follow them for the journey.

—they call me the king of the cliché—

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#213

Post by laszlojamf »

senectus1 wrote: post #20
colanderman wrote: post #9

1. Take time off, like a month or more. [1] Use it to do anything other than coding. Hone a hobby, travel, volunteer, etc. No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. 2. You are worth more than you currently think you are. Internalize this, know this, that is key. "I am a sole developer for Mobile and Web platforms at this startup in a very small team" --> is a desirable skill in and of itself. 3. Stop…

>Hone a hobby definitely. I would highly recommend creating something. Woodwork, metalwork, sculpting, crochet... whatever. It uses the brain in a completely different way. it creates new challenges and the satisfaction of physically manipulating the world is unequal in the digital world.

Second this, would add any musical instrument to the list. You don't even have to be any good at it. Just improvise and see what comes out. The value for me lies in not being able to "think" about it. You just have to do it. It's not a problem to be solved but something to be discovered.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#215

Post by onion2k »

Stop expecting someone else to notice and start making things happen.

You could just leave and go somewhere else, but the problem will probably follow you unless you luck out and find a great company. Most companies are happy to let their devs stagnate on low pay. Making things happen yourself is the best way to improve your life.

Go to the founders of the startup and tell them you want to hire a couple more developers so you can lead, mentor, and improve. Sell them on the idea that you'll be able to move faster and reduce the bus factor of the app you build. Ask for a raise. Suggest features you'd like to build that will improve your learning.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#216

Post by 1337biz »

fshr wrote: post #30
colanderman wrote: post #9

1. Take time off, like a month or more. [1] Use it to do anything other than coding. Hone a hobby, travel, volunteer, etc. No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. 2. You are worth more than you currently think you are. Internalize this, know this, that is key. "I am a sole developer for Mobile and Web platforms at this startup in a very small team" --> is a desirable skill in and of itself. 3. Stop…

But what if they aren't worth more (as a dev, financially) than they think they are? They could be awful, but naively put in a ton of hours. Why do we assume people are worth more? Are we trying to make them feel better by making assumptions and potentially leading them horribly astray? Most people are supremely mediocre and there are just and many horrible devs as their are great ones.

He is a developer not an assembly line worker. Office work is subjective to the environment and can not be objectively measured. It largely depends on how he presents and positions himself in his specific work environment and there is always room to level up this situation.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#217

Post by ivan_gammel »

michaelmior wrote: post #205
feanaro wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

I would agree for small gaps. But I think it's at least somewhat understandable why a significant gap would be a concern. With the pace technology moves at, if you have not been working for an extended period of time, it's reasonable that you might have fallen behind. Certainly this shouldn't be reason in itself to reject a candidate and it at least somewhat depends on what you were doing during that time, but I find…

Significant gap in this case will be several years, no less, but regular technical interview can answer all the questions about qualification.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#218

Post by xcambar »

Well.

1. You severely undervalue yourself.

2. You are abused at work: overworked and underpaid.

3. Rock-star programmers and ninjas are bullshit "titles" meant to shine some lights on successful introverts to attract some other introverts into abusive companies.

My best advice, if any, would be to find yourself a hobby or any activity with which you can gain back your confidence: sports, crafts, cooking, etc.

Then, work on showing value rather than chasing recognition. Your work and skills are most certainly good, but since you're devaluing yourself, you're probably devaluing them as well. And people (peers, bosses) actually do use it against you (willingly or not), fueling the vicious circle.

Last, learn how to do I interviews and start fresh on a new job. I personally have learnt as much interviewing with 30+ companies than trying to uncover my own worth. Why? Because you can change some parameters at every new company you meet and discover for yourself how your discourse is perceived and how much real people think you're worth.

I've applied to jobs 2-3 levels above where I was just to rebalance my then actual experience with the "market" and I've learned a ton!

Most companies you will never work with/for, so you might as well use them as tests for when you will get an interview with a company you really like.

But first: get some confidence back.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#219

Post by suction »

ransom1538 wrote: post #105
colanderman wrote: post #9

1. Take time off, like a month or more. [1] Use it to do anything other than coding. Hone a hobby, travel, volunteer, etc. No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. 2. You are worth more than you currently think you are. Internalize this, know this, that is key. "I am a sole developer for Mobile and Web platforms at this startup in a very small team" --> is a desirable skill in and of itself. 3. Stop…

Agree with #1. HN is the social network for software engineers. Instead of teenage girls staring at a perfect looking tiktok influencer and feeling fat shamed, we are a bunch of typing idiots thinking we aren't good enough to be employed. Imposter syndrome is everywhere here. Look. 99% people here are just pounding out CRUD apps too -- don't be so hard on yourself. There is a maddening amount of over engineering goin…

And a good portion of those 99% use scaffolding for those CRUD apps, then fiddle with the CSS, and call it a day.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#220

Post by dusklight »

How to get better at anything:

1. Find the limit of your abilities. 2. Push yourself to exceed your limit slightly. If the most you can bench press is 40kg, push yourself to bench 40.5kg. If it takes you on average 5 hours to fix a bug, push for 4 hours and 55 min next time. 3. Get a good night's sleep. 4. Repeat.

Are you not able to solve leetcode easy questions? Even if you are, you can keep trying for a while, and if you feel like you really can't solve it, go look at the solutions for that question from others who have solved it (in the language of your choice). You can see how others solve it and also different solutions and also you can start to learn from them and decide for yourself what makes a solution "better" than others.

Market is crazy right now and salaries are exploding. You should really put yourself out there and check out the opportunities.

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