Become a high school technology/science teacher. Reassess in five years to see if you still hate programming.
Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
61–70 of 178 posts
Re: Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
#62This sounds like the beginnings of burnout or depression... do you find joy in anything else? Does anything motivate you? I went through this for about 3 years after my divorce. I couldn't find motivation or joy in anything. I turned to helping other people solve their problems because at least I was helping others to get through what I couldn't figure out how to get through myself. There was a lot of time spent in r…
I’m in a similar boat myself. I told myself I didn’t have any energy for things outside of work because of my job, though I never found the workload that overwhelming. I could get lost in the puzzle of the technical work and I’m good at it, but I ultimately found the work to be meaningless. At some point enterprise SaaS feels so abstract that even if in some sense it’s improving the world (helping companies work more…
Hang in there.
Having been in your position, I know sometimes all you can do is hang in there and not much else.
You can never predict when the upturn will come...but it sounds like with some restorative activities (your hiking, cooking, music) you are on the right track even if it doesn’t feel like it.
Re: Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
#63This sounds like the beginnings of burnout or depression... do you find joy in anything else? Does anything motivate you? I went through this for about 3 years after my divorce. I couldn't find motivation or joy in anything. I turned to helping other people solve their problems because at least I was helping others to get through what I couldn't figure out how to get through myself. There was a lot of time spent in r…
> I turned to helping other people solve their problems because at least I was helping others to get through what I couldn't figure out how to get through myself. Do you consider this to be a good thing? Doing the same now, and wondering if it’s okay.
Ultimately you won't really know if it's a good thing until after the fact. I think just following my nose and doing what felt good in the moment was a big help. I guess it helped that I'd been trained as a youth counsellor early in my career, and I've been helping people my whole life as a by-product of who I am. A lot of people over the years have told me I should be a counsellor because apparently I'm really good at sucking the drama out of situations, calming people, soothing their nerves and helping them to get to a point that they can solve their own problems.
Like I say though, often you won't really know if what you are doing is a good thing until you look back on it and you see that the person you helped has moved forward. Some people just don't want to be helped and no matter how much effort you put it, you're not helping. But it's really difficult to see that while you're in the midst of it.
Just keep doing what you're doing while you have the motivation to do something. Get what you can out of the experience - the energy I got from helping other people even just to find their smile in the midst of something they felt they couldn't get out from under was enough to say that today I did good.
And take it day by day.
Re: Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
#64Give yourself permission to not be excited about things you used to. It's okay. There is nothing wrong with you. This can happen. This is normal for a lot of people. If you're comfortable and not starving, take it easy for as long as you need. Freeing yourself from worry may lead to some great insights and enlightenment. If not, no big deal.
Re: Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
#65Maybe try something new related to programming? I can think of a few things that might be interesting (no idea if you've already done them though):
* Try a language like Racket. It can feel really liberating, because it's so easy to just get boilerplate stuff out of the way. Beautiful Racket is a nice book to kinda give you a feel for it. [1]
* Maybe try doing homebrew development for an old game console? Gives you a taste of embedded development in a fun way, and on a platform that you know isn't going to change. Also gives you the opportunity to learn things like drawing graphics or making music. Because the hardware is limited, it kinda takes the pressure off in terms of being able to draw well etc.
If this interests you at all, maybe pick one of the older/lower powered systems, like NES or Gameboy.
[1] https://beautifulracket.com/
EDIT: Actually, something that's done wonders for my motivation/drive is exercise, eating well, and intermittent fasting. I have much more "mental" energy these days, and motivation just seems to come with it.
Re: Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
#66> I sat down the other night to get started in a grand project I’ve been getting so excited about and I just couldn’t and this seems to be pretty common lately.
I find it amazing that people can program full time and then want to go home and program even more. I enjoy programming too, but I want some variety in my life, and perhaps even get out of my chair from time to time.
If you're not motivated to work constantly at it, join the club. There are lots of us out here.
Side note: I actually started to find my day job tedious, too, and then got stuck in bed bored with COVID for a week. After that boredom, I actually started to miss it again. A long digital detox couldn't hurt -- allowing yourself to feel actually bored for an extended period of time, without any screens.
Re: Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
#67Happened to me. Switched to digital marketing. I really like it. I still code sometimes but it's never more than 20% of my week. Had to learn basic design, UX, CMSs, CRMS, CDPs, marketing automation etc.
Long story short, there is a huge shortage of competent digital folks in the marketing world. I really like the work and the pay is similar.
Re: Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
#68This has happened to me after a 20 year career and successful side business. Instead of fight it, I accept it and look at it as a natural part of growth, not stagnation. It opens up the possibility for you to take your job for what it is—a job—and explore new hobbies and interests. If nothing is interesting, take a break from trying and play video games or watch tv for a year. Youre going to bump up against a lot of…
> For me, that new interest has been electronic music production
This is exactly what I came to after also losing interest in my job defining who I am. I came to the same conclusion, work is just work. I do it purely for the money and fulfilment in mentoring. The products we make seem entirely meta to the overall human cause. Modern life has little meaning, it's so abstract. You rarely ever get to see any use in the output of your efforts.
Creating something for yourself, something real and tangible, is one way of finding something small and finding that satisfaction one misses in the toil of daily life.
Re: Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
#69This has happened to me after a 20 year career and successful side business. Instead of fight it, I accept it and look at it as a natural part of growth, not stagnation. It opens up the possibility for you to take your job for what it is—a job—and explore new hobbies and interests. If nothing is interesting, take a break from trying and play video games or watch tv for a year. Youre going to bump up against a lot of…
> developing 4 bar loops and hoarding gear. Those are the antithesis of a productive producer.
Or philosophically, your personal choices on whatever takes your fancy are the reasons for working; they are a higher meaning to life than working to feed and house yourself.
Re: Ask HN: Losing all interest in programming, what now?
#70I'm going to keep it very simple; tell yourself you're not going to program for two whole weeks. You may feel uncomfortable letting yourself go, but it will give you a much needed break and you will come back more energized. Speaking a bit more anecdotally, what worked for me when I facing a similar problem was shutting off the computer immediately after work and allowing myself to relax and prioritize other hobbies.…
> tell yourself you're not going to program for two whole weeks.
Two weeks. Ten working days. You can't be serious. Three months minimum. OP needs to zoom out for perspective and that takes time.