Why did you post this on a throwaway account? Are you afraid that HN will think less of you if you posted on your real account? Not trying to be critical - these are honest questions here.
Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
31–40 of 135 posts
Re: Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
I second the ADHD check. This sounds like classic ADHD symptoms to me. Once you sort of reach that pinnacle you've been striving for, it's easy to lose the drive when you can relax and quit striving or when things are less challenging. You will find your motivation will wax and wane, week in and week out. You start avoiding the real work so much with distractions that it becomes painful just to face it and your own p…
> I second the ADHD check. This sounds like classic ADHD symptoms to me. Once you sort of reach that pinnacle you've been striving for, it's easy to lose the drive when you can relax and quit striving or when things are less challenging. You will find your motivation will wax and wane, week in and week out. You start avoiding the real work so much with distractions that it becomes painful just to face it and your own…
While we all have a little bit of it in us: let's face it, nobody wants to work on a dull project, ADHD symptoms become so exasperated in these scenarios that they become debilitating and self-destructive. The brain turning to mush that OP described hit it right on the head. The best litmus test I've found is to the conversation test:
"frequent shifts in conversation, not listening to others, not keeping one's mind on conversations"
I can have "black out" episodes where I impulsively and immediately walk away from conversations without finishing them, often with a little amnesia. I've asked my girlfriend a question, essentially immediately forgotten that I did so, and turned up the radio volume.
Re: Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
#33The beginner mistakes line stuck with me. What types of mistakes (specific examples)? This might be useful for me to know what is going on ewith you.
Big things like agreeing to start coding without requirements. Little things like inconsistent return conventions or code disagreeing with documentation comment blocks. People are referring me to classic coder texts like Code Complete. Okay, maybe I do need a review but I fucking read that book in the 90s. It's incredibly galling.
Reminds me of that study which found giving checklists to surgeons improved survival rates in a hospital by a significant amount. It had basic stuff on there like, "Wash your hands before operating."
Maybe something similar would work for you.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/1...
Re: Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I second the ADHD check. This sounds like classic ADHD symptoms to me. Once you sort of reach that pinnacle you've been striving for, it's easy to lose the drive when you can relax and quit striving or when things are less challenging. You will find your motivation will wax and wane, week in and week out. You start avoiding the real work so much with distractions that it becomes painful just to face it and your own…
I think everyone finds themselves with those thoughts and feelings. I think that the lack of drive and focus is a symptom of something, in rare cases perhaps ADD/ADHD. However from personal experience I usually discover a core problem that was causing these symptoms. Resolving that problem takes care of the lack of motivation and focus. Perhaps the specific work environment isn't for you. One job I worked directly ou…
I agree with everything you say. Often there are other factors. It sounds like this is a consistent problem with OP though, and regardless of environment or lifestyle, he's still having issues.
Re: Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
#35Sometimes, when you learn new things, your expectations of yourself grow faster than your practical skills. You read about great things, and then you want to be able to do those too, but your practical skills and experience hasn't caught up yet. Maybe it's that?
Re: Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
#36Same shit was happening to me for a while. I have 1 word for you: modafinil.
Re: Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
#37I think it's a common pattern, only perhaps the magnitude is worse in your case. I observed it on myself as well on other programmers back when doing a project management stint.
What helps me personally is having a notepad where I jolt down TODO items, to the most atomic level if possible. To give an idea what's on it here now:
- probe for activity on the I2C bus
- find the SIGCHLD problem
- remove rectangle in the logo on web interface
- follow up to a customer on his RFI
Re: Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
#38Become a farmer and grow your own veggies
Re: Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
#39It sounds like you're "under-stimulated"; try running your onw co for few months and come back on this thread. Maybe you're a lion in a cage?
Re: Ask HN: Underperforming, feeling stuck
#40I think it's a common pattern, only perhaps the magnitude is worse in your case. I observed it on myself as well on other programmers back when doing a project management stint. What helps me personally is having a notepad where I jolt down TODO items, to the most atomic level if possible. To give an idea what's on it here now: - probe for activity on the I2C bus - find the SIGCHLD problem - remove rectangle in the l…
When you know you need to "add feature X", what do you do? Write "itemize feature X" on your list, and then, when you come to it, sit there and think of a list of things to replace it with?