I've just become 24 and I've been working with computers since I was 12, got my own when I was 14. I've been programming for more then 10 years now and I was capable of spending days behind my computer screen. But since I started working things have changed for me. I don't have any personal projects anymore, not because I don't have time, but just because I just don't _feel_ like it. I have idea's in my head but can't seem to think them out into a good project. I just got a new job (with a raise and a lot closer to where I live) and sometimes for some reason I can't get simple things to work, while I know I wouldn't have had any problem with them 3 years ago. Am I getting burned up? Too much stress? Do you have the same issues? Or did you have them and got rid of them? Feedback very much appreciated!
Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
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Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#2Sounds like what used to be your hobby has become your job. If you spend your whole day sitting behind the computer and then go home and spend your off hours behind the computer, you run out of time to do anything fun (hang out with friends, read, etc.)
I am a big fan of golf, and when you look at the PGA Tour most of those players go on vacation and fish, or ski, or do some other activity - anything but golf. Golf becomes a job when you play at that level. I think a similar thing happens to good developers when they start developing full time for a company.
If you have a great project idea, try committing one hour a day to it when you have free time, and see if it really starts to turn out how you planned. If you still feel motivated to work on it, start working on it 2 hours a day - if you can make money from it, turn that into your full time job :)
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#3"I don't have any personal projects anymore, not because I don't have time, but just because I just don't _feel_ like it."
This is very similar to my workforce blues that I got after I finished school. I became very apathetic; being at the bottom of the seniority roster and thinking to myself, "This is what I have to look forward to for the next 40 years." really did me in. That's why I've decided to do a startup -- perhaps I'm being idealistic, but I think I can enjoy what I would consider a better quality of life in that sort of environment.
"I have idea's in my head but can't seem to think them out into a good project."
Do you have anyone to bounce them off of? Say, an old friend from school? I'm in Minnesota and one of my project's co-founders is California, but we've kept in contact since school and tossed around a lot of interesting ideas in that time. It took us a couple years to land on one that we thought was valuable, but I don't think we would've gotten there if we hadn't played with all the mediocre ones first.
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#4Programming for a living may take some energy on that level right out of you. I am in a similar situation and currenty trying to find an interesting project for myself. I think it is just natural that you lose interest if all of a sudden you spend the whole day programming. Especially if you have to do bigger portions of trivial work..
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#5I had the same feeling after 2 years of regular job.
My solution was: I've chosen some serious project in the area of my interest and worked hard to complete it. It helped me to survive in this daily routine.
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#6Sounds like what used to be your hobby has become your job. If you spend your whole day sitting behind the computer and then go home and spend your off hours behind the computer, you run out of time to do anything fun (hang out with friends, read, etc.) I am a big fan of golf, and when you look at the PGA Tour most of those players go on vacation and fish, or ski, or do some other activity - anything but golf. Golf b…
I took up photography for the same reason -- keep as far away from the dreaded monitor while I was off work. If I step back and think about it, it's sort of surreal that all the hard work I do in my day job is just flip-flopping bits of data on magnetic storage in a very organized way. It's nice to do something tactile.
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#7Well, do you like writing code? It's a simple question but one that isn't easily answered.
Take a vacation, and think it over, if you were able to do any 'job' in the world, would you still pick writing code?
Does making things still appeal to you or would you rather be out doing event production or be a talk show host of some sort?
If the answer is still yes, you just need to get back into the groove and unplugging for a while on that vacation will help.
Other than that, I agree with @bkbleikamp up there -- start slow, don't force yourself to complete that cool idea you have in a day. Write it up and break it down into tasks, do 1 task a day and then go get drunk. Rinse and repeat. :-)
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#8I have the same feeling. I sit at work and have lots of ideas for things I'd love to code, but at the end of the unproductive day in the office, I feel so burnt out that I don't have the energy anymore.
I still hope to eventually find the right mode that will work for me, though. Probably that will involve working on my own projects...
Also, I plan to take on a project I can work on from home as my next freelancing contract, where I have most of the responsibility for the design and architecture of the application. What is killing me among other things are many of the unfortunate design decisions in the corporate world.
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#9Do you like your job? Do you like the people you work with? Do you respect your boss? Do you feel like you're learning new things there on a regular basis?
The reason I ask is because some jobs -- ok, many jobs -- drain the energy out of you. It starts while you're at the job and then affects the rest of your evening once you leave the office. You get home and pretty much the only thing you can get up the energy to do is peel the wrapper off a takeout sandwich and turn on the television. It becomes a cycle, and the cycle becomes a habit, and pretty soon you're staying awake at night thinking existential thoughts.
The solution? Find a job that gives you energy -- one that gets your brain working again. Going home energized and focusing that energy on your own projects is just as much of a cycle and habit-forming as going home on watching TV until bedtime.
I know, it's easier said than done, but it can be done.
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#10How many hours a day do you work? What are you actually doing?
I've been working as a programmer for about 6 years, and most of my time now is not spent coding but answering email, on the phone, debugging, etc. When I actually get to do some programming, I still enjoy it.