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Ask HN: I have a mental block designing software. Time to quit?

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Re: Ask HN: I have a mental block designing software. Time to quit?

#71

Post by SignMeTheHELLUp »

porker wrote: post #44
ArekDymalski wrote: post #34

How exactly does the "mental block" look like? Does it mean that you see several possible approaches and struggle to decide which one to use? Do you feel the pressure of the "into something maintainable that will run for 5+ years" requirement? If the answer to 2nd and/or 3rd question is "yes", your description sounds like a specific phase in the process of your professional development. A lot of people grow with thei…

> How exactly does the "mental block" look like? Does it mean that you see several possible approaches and struggle to decide which one to use? Sometimes yes (paralysis by choice), but in this case no. In this case defeat and "I can't do it" are my initial response, and I shy away from programming. > A lot of people grow with their competences (be it knowledge or skills) to the moment when they start to realize the l…

> Do you have any pointers for finding a competent coach please

I second this request. Finding competent, egoless developers who are willing to share their knowledge is extremely hard.

Re: Ask HN: I have a mental block designing software. Time to quit?

#73

Post by yo-code-sucks »

manyxcxi wrote: post #50

Learning something is always helpful in some ways but it may not be exactly what you need. It sounds like you may be at a point in your career where you may be suffering some imposter syndrome when it comes to making the decisions to move the PoC code to something more final. I hit a stage as well, years ago where I was paralyzed by the 40 different ways to architect a Java web app and all the arcane crap that came a…

MVC became the thing a very long time ago in the 70's. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model–view–controller

Re: Ask HN: I have a mental block designing software. Time to quit?

#74

Post by quantum_state »

It seems to me it may help, if you have not done so, to refresh yourself with some basic abstract math .. starting with set theory, topology, abstract algebra such as group theory and group representation .. it would illustrate how to walk up and down on the abstraction ladder to get to the essence of the problems at hand .. once you have got the essence .. you would be liberated and can spin it any ways you like ..

Re: Ask HN: I have a mental block designing software. Time to quit?

#76

Post by richardboegli »

porker wrote: post #48
blt wrote: post #45

I'm going to take a wild guess and say you don't really care that much about the purpose of your software. You're not a game developer who's been an avid gamer since age 4, or a silicon valley entrepreneur who truly believes their web app is going to change the world. You've identified a niche that's liable to make some money, and are diligently plugging away at an implementation. Your lack of inherent motivation fro…

> I'm going to take a wild guess and say you don't really care that much about the purpose of your software. You're not a game developer who's been an avid games since age 4, or a silicon valley entrepreneur who truly believes their web app is going to change the world. You've identified a niche that's liable to make some money, and are diligently plugging away at an implementation. Spot on. I walked into this career…

Try your hand at Game programming, its great to mix things up and the communities are great:

Unreal Engine 4: https://www.unrealengine.com

Maybe a mod for Unreal Tournament or Ark Survival: https://www.unrealtournament.com/blog/

http://www.polygon.com/2015/8/14/9153379/ark-survival-evolve...

Unity: http://unity3d.com/

Construct2: https://www.scirra.com/

Re: Ask HN: I have a mental block designing software. Time to quit?

#78

Post by MalcolmDiggs »

Is it possible that you're suffering from "Analysis Paralysis"? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_paralysis)

If you have 15 years of experience, I'm fairly confident that you know how to solve these problems. In fact you probably know 10 different ways to solve these problems. Maybe the overabundance of choice is becoming the bottleneck?

If so, perhaps there's a way you can simply force yourself to commit to a methodology/problem-solving-method before you start tackling the actual problems. Or, you could try breaking the development cycle into smaller, more digestable, iterative chunks (so that you only have to think about the next small step instead of the whole path forward).

Re: Ask HN: I have a mental block designing software. Time to quit?

#79

Post by ArekDymalski »

porker wrote: post #44
ArekDymalski wrote: post #34

How exactly does the "mental block" look like? Does it mean that you see several possible approaches and struggle to decide which one to use? Do you feel the pressure of the "into something maintainable that will run for 5+ years" requirement? If the answer to 2nd and/or 3rd question is "yes", your description sounds like a specific phase in the process of your professional development. A lot of people grow with thei…

> How exactly does the "mental block" look like? Does it mean that you see several possible approaches and struggle to decide which one to use? Sometimes yes (paralysis by choice), but in this case no. In this case defeat and "I can't do it" are my initial response, and I shy away from programming. > A lot of people grow with their competences (be it knowledge or skills) to the moment when they start to realize the l…

>defeat and "I can't do it" are my initial response, and I shy away from programming.

Was it always the case? Also: how do you finish your projects then?

>a competent coach please, vs someone who's overconfident in their own abilities?

I'd say that anyone demonstrating a strong confidence either in the results (ie. guaranteeing to help you) or own skills (ie. talking a lot about self) has a giant red flag over his/her head. Good coaches have an interesting mixture of modesty (no bragging), genuine focus on other people (more questions than statements) and assertiveness - healthy interpersonal strength when it comes to the coaching process, tools etc. Ideal coach will:

1. Be very clear upfront about the distribution of responsibility between him/her and you - it should be ~50-50. That means that being a coaching client is a quite a challenge and it isn't always an easy experience. Anyone painting a sunny, broad staircase up for you is a red flag :)

2. Recognize you as an individual - without jumping to conclusions too early.

3. Describe you the idea of coaching and how it is different from advice, counseling, therapy and other forms of help which are sometimes confused with coaching. Anything what smells new-ageish or like proven receipt for success = mega red flag :)

4. Describe you the process you will go through. Usually it's something like: analysing your needs->setting development goal(s)->performing some action->discussing the action+feedback->setting next goal and this repeats until your main goal is reached (or the agreed upfront number of sessions is finished). It's very important that coaching is like a good project: it has clear, measured goal and is meant to end at some point. If the end is lost in a distant fog - yes, it deserves red flag.

5. Be very precise and metrics-oriented - there's no place for unclear mumbo-jumbo in coaching. Unless someone likes red flags of course :)

So, these are the essential characteristics. Also it is very important that you should feel comfortably in contact with that person - imagine openly discussing your struggles, doubts as well as receiving feedback form him/her. Regarding formal requirements: respected certificate (ICC/ICF/IIC/IAC) is a proof that someone was trained enough to know the process and toolset. But certificate isn't necessary because the process&tools are actually quite easy to learn - everything depends on mindset/attitude and that's something what could be shaped during the training but as usual - no guaranties.

Feel free to ask if something requires more info.

Re: Ask HN: I have a mental block designing software. Time to quit?

#80

Post by ArekDymalski »

SignMeTheHELLUp wrote: post #71
porker wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How exactly does the "mental block" look like? Does it mean that you see several possible approaches and struggle to decide which one to use? Sometimes yes (paralysis by choice), but in this case no. In this case defeat and "I can't do it" are my initial response, and I shy away from programming. > A lot of people grow with their competences (be it knowledge or skills) to the moment when they start to realize the l…

> Do you have any pointers for finding a competent coach please I second this request. Finding competent, egoless developers who are willing to share their knowledge is extremely hard.

Unfortunately I can't point you to any specific person or organization, because I assume you are somewhere around US (guessing by posting time). However when I read HN, SO and sometimes specific subreddits I see people who have a natural potential to be good coaches: that unassuming, focused on the other person attitude and ability to provide constructive feedback instead of criticizing and unsolicited, inadequate advice.

> competent, egoless developers who are willing to share their knowledge

I think it's important to say that by coaching I mean a very specific method of working with skilled & knowledeable people, who are actually already capable to solve their problems but are mentally blocked as OP described. That said, you shouldn't expect that coach will share knowledge or provide you with a ready solution for. For that case mentors (more broad, general advice) or simply advisors/consultants (specific stuff) are the best option. The role of the coach is to inspire you to discover and use the solution by yourself. (I know that it sounds weird but it's the way it works - competent but blocked people usually do not use the advice they get, for many reasons). So, sometimes I joke that a perfect coach doesn't use statements - only questions. Of course in practice sometimes the role of coach and advisor mix a little bit, but this also should be explained upfront.

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