111–120 of 190 posts
This story helps illustrate the mindset from a particular angle. http://www.hobodrifter.com/the-fisherman/
I'm married and have four kids, though two have now left the nest. When I read this, I think about all the times I set aside my code to do something more important - interact with my kids, nurture my wife, and pursue hobbies outside the technology world (I run, bike and sail). But ... you might be surprised to learn that I love that tee-shirt. I think there are many who are misguided enough to ignore balance in their…
I'm married with a 11 month old son, but definitely identify with this perspective on it. I'd never sideline my family to squeeze in an extra bit of work for the sake of work, but still strongly identify with the passion for technology that got me to where I'm at today. I hope I can raise my son to appreciate an appropriate balance.
So share your passion for technology with your child(ren) ... it's really never too early to let them touch it if you're careful. My daughter once deleted C:\Windows because she never "played that game" and wanted to install another game before I got home (her mom told her to wait). That OS never booted again ... we switched from Win98 to WinXP that night so that I could have a bit more control.
In general, I think it's good to let your children fail at things they want to try themselves - my job as a parent is to keep them from failing at things that are fatal, or have long-term consequences. And you'll find that they're fearless around your computer. They'll just click until it works if they have to. It's a funny contrast to teaching computers to senior citizens, who are afraid any wrong keystroke or errant mouse-click will permanently break something.
Of course, if they're not interested, you can't effectively force your love of technology on them. But I'll bet you can find something that they ARE passionate about that you find interesting too. And isn't that a better way to spend time together than sitting in front of a TV?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I code for fun as a way to restore myself mentally after coding for money...
Luckily you get time to do the fun part of this. Imagine if you had to do company-approved products in your spare time or if you didn't have that time to be able to work on such things? I understand - I tried to go to college for graphic design, thinking it would leave my more "fine-arts" type of projects as a hobby and enjoyment.
>Imagine if you had to do company-approved products in your spare time
I'm married and have four kids, though two have now left the nest. When I read this, I think about all the times I set aside my code to do something more important - interact with my kids, nurture my wife, and pursue hobbies outside the technology world (I run, bike and sail). But ... you might be surprised to learn that I love that tee-shirt. I think there are many who are misguided enough to ignore balance in their…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Key takeaway - Don't do it for an employer. Do it for you. As a hobby, or as a business where you're rewarded for hours worked and quality of final product.
If you code for yourself as a business, it's generally horrifically stressful dealing with the money, marketing and contract side of things, all the while still having to churn out the code. Very few people can do this successfully for long.
I'm married and have four kids, though two have now left the nest. When I read this, I think about all the times I set aside my code to do something more important - interact with my kids, nurture my wife, and pursue hobbies outside the technology world (I run, bike and sail). But ... you might be surprised to learn that I love that tee-shirt. I think there are many who are misguided enough to ignore balance in their…
I am exactly old enough to be jealous of your COSMAC ELF. It's an artifact of a time when hobby computing was much more like trailblazing in an unknown land.
It's not that I want an unbalanced life, but when your hobby merges into your career it becomes hard to diversify. I'm fortunate that I have a wife and kids to help balance me out; without them I'm sure I'd be coding for most of my free time.
I have been trying to be a 10x engineer for the past 10 years and only been somewhat successful.
I can tell you one thing that will get you close to a 10x developer almost immediately: when you're at work, turn off your phone, and never open distracting websites (like news.ycombinator). Most programmers are so severely distracted, you can level up several times above the average just by focusing.
Another trick is to slow down somewhat, think more, and write fewer bugs (and less repetitious code). Because fixing a bug after it hits QA (or a customer) takes longer than testing it quick while you are writing it.
Unfortunately, it is very hard to do so in a society that tries to level everyone in the same way.
The best possible situation to me would be working nonstopping for months, then do something else for months and so on.
Generally, this is an easy stance for young, unmarried, and otherwise unattached people to approach their career. A warning to those that think this will enhance their opportunities later in life. It won't. Sure there are a few great employers out there that will reward you with loyalty (or massive sums of money) but that is the exception. After a life of nothing but work, no matter how much you love it at the time,…