dont quit your job. immerse yourself around creative people. you need money to live, unless you live with your parents.
Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
31–40 of 69 posts
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#32First things first: A vacation will almost certainly help.
After that, try learning something outside your normal programming repertoire, ideally very different from what you do at work. A new language (I suggest OCaml or Smalltalk, either should have plenty of new ideas to get you inspired), or program category (OpenGL graphics? Interpreters for tiny languages? Games?), etc. Do something new and fun.
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#33I am where you were 3 years ago in age.
But I work full time...
I still have enough energy to do freelance for other people and still work on the stuff that really interests me.
I usually take a break after work and let my brain rest while I watch some comedy, exercise(running or skateboard), take a nap (for 1 - 2 hrs) or spend time with loved ones.
Then I am usually ready to rock until around 2 - 3 A.M.
I think it's really about how excited you are to work on something, or how bad you really want something.
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#34Do 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 d…
But how do you find that job?
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#35Serious fitness, binge drinking, and periodic vacations. Make time to work out four or five days a week. Get absolutely plastered on Friday or Saturday -- at the very least hit up a bar and talk to some people. And make sure to get the fuck out of wherever you are every month or two, even if it's only for a weekend.
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#36Dude, quit your job, work at a coffee shop, and build things because you want to build them. Your skill will return, the light will return to your eyes, and your career will improve. I'm not even kidding. Take a few years away. You'll build something so much cooler than you would at these apparently soul-destroying jobs you've got. I did it, and I'm now showing off what I've built at damn near every Ruby conference i…
Dude, quit your job, work at a coffee shop This is bad advice.
[deleted]
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#37The "cutting edge" is getting rather dull. -- Andy Purshottam
I suspect you may have gotten to the point where you're able to quickly recognize fundamental issues. Problems which may have once seemed to be interesting and challenging because they were new to you are now familiar and boring.
This happened to me a while ago and I decided doing the same kind of thing for work and play was too much so I decided to take up the piano in my spare time. I rented an old upright and bought a lot of beginner books and just started to try and learn to play. I'm not very good but I find even a few minutes of practice now and then helps me clear my mind when I'm stuck on something.
Perhaps there is some similar creative outlet you could explore?
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#38I 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 c…
your "burnt out at the office" speaks very closely to my experience - its my first serious job as a full-on C++ software developer, and frankly, it sucks the interest out of programming.
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#39It happens with all people who are working for big companies i.e. more no of employees. Key to get out of this is to get selfish.
Work on the things you want even when you are in office. :) Compress regular work in smaller chunks and keep promise to you that I would write atleast 50 lines of good code everyday. Am sure you do this for 7 days and you know what to do next to reach there.
Getting started is the important thing. Get away from HN/programming.redddit; work on small snippet; be happy and then search anybody has done similar thing. Discovering similar/better/quicker approach to your code i.e. whatever would boost your confidance especially when you can write code without google search.
So that helps to get back to books/api documentation. And suddenly you become a programmer you want to be.
I know this sounds pretty simple but that is the key.
google appengine + small JQuery/Prototype project can help anyone to get started
Re: Questions from a young developer that "just" started working aka: how do you manage it?
#40Do 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 d…
But how do you find that job?
Craigslist -- ok, just kidding.
My advice on how to find a job that energizes you rather than saps your energy? It's similar to advice you've heard before, though in a different context: Keep iterating. Try something new or someplace new, if it turns out that it's not what you thought it would be, move on. At least, that's what has worked for me.
I think all too often we create our own limitations and believe that there's a "career path" that would be dangerous to jump off. Or we worry that we're not qualified to do something different. Or else, we worry that we'll have too many jobs on our resume and no one will want to hire us.
But the truth is, the odds are against you finding a meaningful, energizing job on your first or second try. The system is set up against you, if you will. You do maybe one or two interviews at a place and get a quick look at the office and based on that you're supposed to pick the place where you're going to go spend a huge part of your waking hours -- and somehow it's going to be wonderful? Good luck.
So, to sum up, I'd say you find that job by treating the whole process more like the dating process. You'll date a handful and they won't work out, and eventually, hopefully, you'll find one that does work.