Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

Working as a programmer, very happy.

Working, not necessarily that happy.

Programming is a manifestation of curiosity. Therefore, programming is a spark that, once ignited, probably never really dies. You can suffocate it and pretend it's out but when things free up again it will come back. If I wouldn't be working I would simply be programming on my spare time more than I do now. I can only speak for 30 years down the line, though, so YMMV.

Working is a whole another thing. It's a great opportunity to work on interesting and challenging things. It's also an opportunity to see those interesting and challenging things serve goals you don't find so interesting and challenging. That's obviously because the owner of the company gets to decide what the company makes. The problem is decent income and good benefits. There's really no other way to fix that problem except to stop working and get your income from a company of your or your investment returns.

Much of what I do at work is not programming even if I am a programmer. Most of it is communication, maybe comes down to fixing bugs so that other people can continue their work, and then there's a slice of actual development in between, at times. It's not necessarily development that would always be fun but it's still interesting and challenging. I could imagine doing something else but the nature of work wouldn't change except that the payoff would likely be lower. I could work on something else but not as an employee.

Have you considered that there's something wrong with you emotionally? You sound like you're constantly under stress and even anxious about your economic survival. Those two can very effectively dig you into a slippery hole of depression which would just amplify them and you'll falling into that depression even further.

It's like a loop that nearly impossible to break out of, and even when you do returning to a comfortable life rhythm will take considerable effort, too.

Also, for a lot of people there is no rock-bottom, you'll just keep slipping deeper and deeper.

So, my advice is to ask for professional help—which I realise is one of those "easy to say; hard to do" type of advices, but try to ask for support from your friends—and try discovering something new, which can be completely outside of IT!

Another thing that you can try—which is very effective, but doesn't require you to dish out money is downloading some CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) tracks or guidance applications. There is quite a few of them and they can help a lot (although they might not be as effective as with professional guidance).

Also, something "odd" which I can also recommend is 7cups.com (which is an online therapy platform; you can have 1-1 sessions or group sessions, it's great if you need to just talk to someone). You can even try becoming a guide (called a "Listener"), helping others can also help you (and this especially true, if you're an extrovert).

Uhh... I have to ask: what, exactly, were you expecting? Exhilarating highs and a path to millions?

It's a job. Most people don't have jobs that'll make them "rich". Be glad you aren't living paycheck to paycheck, or worse, are unemployed because the job you had was optimized away with computers.

To be blunt, there's a sense of entitlement evident, here, that I have trouble grokking. You get to spend all day in a comfortable office working with no more than your hands and brain making double to triple what a day labourer pulls in with a hell of a lot more effort.

And your complaints are, what, you have to hammer someone else's nails, the work is repetitive, and it isn't a fun party every day while you amass untold riches?

Look, I get being dissatisfied. Humans love looking at that greener grass on the other side of things fence. But appreciate what you have. Seriously.

I've installed my first linux(Slackware) at the age of 14 (im 35 now) .. since then I think i've been "programming" until i started working , when it became the thing that pay the bills. Now... i think it's like everything in life ... i have bad days and good days , I've worked for places where i felt challenged and for other places where i was in only for the money (that never worked) , at the moment it kind of sucks ... I'm only in for the money (so is everyone else) so the job i do is not very challenging leaving a feeling of sort of emptiness , but as i said , it will change ... I've been here before and i know it can change very quickly . So all of you that feel quite down , have some patience and make a move , things will get better.

But the thing is I could have been an MD, lawyer or someone in finance - these things were well within my reach. But I was sold a false dream and now I am stuck in misery.