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Ask HN: Why can't I learn anymore?

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Re: Ask HN: Why can't I learn anymore?

#131

Post by syntheweave »

It's almost certainly not because you're actually getting dumber...and it could be burnout...but, what you are probably facing is probably something more on the axis of philosophical-existential questioning, which tends to rear its head periodically with age. A line of work can be logically good to pursue but eventually your body and emotions will fight you on it if they aren't feeling nourished.

Like, you've had it good in terms of career, from a simple percentiles-income standpoint. And most likely you have had a lot of moments of satisfying problem solving. But the learning of the job is basically done now, and it's just reframing of the same ideas as new technologies. It's like being told that the words in English are going to be renamed tomorrow so you had better get started on learning them.

For right now, punch the clock, and take up an immensely challenging and deep hobby like music or painting if you haven't done so already. If you find that the hobby pulls you forward where the job doesn't, then the path forks: "work to live"(keep punching the clock and moonlight a little) or "live to work"(either turn the hobby into the new career, or turn this into a reason to challenge yourself with tougher coding problems that go beyond learning another framework)

Re: Ask HN: Why can't I learn anymore?

#133

Post by trevormcneal »

rightbyte wrote: post #105
fleb wrote: post #16

This sounds like burnout to me. I am in my mid-40s and used to have spells like this, but no more. I needed some kind of large change, back then, to get myself sorted out, but this could be pretty destructive because if I waited too long, the change I'd need wouldn't really be conducive to staying on whatever project I was on. The key to not having to deal with this problem anymore, for me, was starting to proactivel…

Getting fed up with all the stupid technology grind is not necessarily burnout though. One could call it wisdom or experience too.

Notice the fast decline in the last 20 years? Even active X was less crappy than the most well-polished actual react project, and active X was crap. Even java applets did more and in an easier way than modern frameworks and JS shit.

One simple page, with login, logout, some search, and navigation nowadays require a few plugins, router, state management, lib for requests, lib to handle cookies, lib for JWT, etc...

Re: Ask HN: Why can't I learn anymore?

#134

Post by trevormcneal »

jseban wrote: post #125
rightbyte wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting fed up with all the stupid technology grind is not necessarily burnout though. One could call it wisdom or experience too.

Yeah always switching tools basically resets your experience to zero, so you have to do the same mistakes over and over, no wonder it's hard to stay motivated. And the "senior" jobs have zero power, so you can't stop people from making mistakes, and trying to "influence" just makes the experience even more exhausting and frustrating when people have no reason to listen to you. I wish there was real senior roles you c…

the whole tech thing is changing fast, ageism is a true thing, in a scenario where most of the previous knowledge can be ignored, being a senior with 5 years of experience, 10 or 20 doesn't change much. Given that young people usually simp for the companies much more due to being naive, they have a huge preference in the hiring process.

Tech is removing the root of the knowledge, migrating from understanding the solution, to quick copy&paste from some places.

Re: Ask HN: Why can't I learn anymore?

#135

Post by adriand »

sinenomine wrote: post #123
ttoinou wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any example of a smart KPI ?

Some examples of directly measurable KPIs: 1. Mood diary 2. Time spent on social media, negative 3. Hours of sleep 4. Steps walked, number of repetitions in exercise, calories burnt 5. Psychometric tests (help measure mental clarity) https://openpsychometrics.org/ 6. N-back: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.0220... 7. Active vocabulary test to measure available crystallized intelligence 8. Biom…

I have a strong dislike of the modern focus on personal measurement and metrics. It implies a sort of mechanistic existence. It’s also often connected to a focus on productivity optimization, which given that the OP may be suffering from burnout, seems like it might be the wrong direction.

My advice to OP: whether it’s burnout or not (and it does sound like it), you aren’t liking what you’re doing right now, so if you can, stop doing it for a while. Summer is coming. Can you take a sabbatical? If not, can you quit? If you are able to regain your energy and enthusiasm you will surely be extremely employable, so your overall risk seems low.

Use the time to nourish your body and your spirit. Get off the internet and into the outdoors. Don’t measure your steps or your sleep duration, instead, reflect on how you feel. Lay back in the grass and watch the stars and ponder your place in this vast universe.

I wish you good luck and if you are able to start this journey, I’m excited for you.

Re: Ask HN: Why can't I learn anymore?

#138

Post by blakewatters »

Your problem is very simple: you are working on bullshit.

Across your entire description of your situation you never once mentioned what it is you are actually working on but called out the income you hit and frameworks you are playing with. I humbly submit that your problem is that you have lost the plot.

Hate to break it to you chief but the libraries and frameworks and techniques you use to work are not the point. Creating stuff that people want to use is all that matters. Doing it with finesse and craftsmanship is how you go from good to great but if nobody gives a shit you will always feel empty.

Switching projects and doing something "harder" isn't going to fill that void.

Build something people want. I promise your drive and all the rest will follow behind once you are making them happy and get hooked on solving their problems and improving their lives.

That is what this game is all about.

Re: Ask HN: Why can't I learn anymore?

#139

Post by knob »

dgb23 wrote: post #130

Shooting into the dark here. Maybe you’re demotivated because this isn’t really learning, not in the real sense. The difference between Vue and React are almost arbitrary. It’s like Python vs Ruby or C# vs Java. There’s details that are interesting and useful sure, but most of it is boring. It’s entirely horizontal. What I suggest, because it works for me, is to focus on the layers above and below. Above you find hig…

Those are good observations. I'm going to apply these in my work. I like the above/below concept a lot.

Re: Ask HN: Why can't I learn anymore?

#140

Post by lupire »

blakewatters wrote: post #138

Your problem is very simple: you are working on bullshit. Across your entire description of your situation you never once mentioned what it is you are actually working on but called out the income you hit and frameworks you are playing with. I humbly submit that your problem is that you have lost the plot. Hate to break it to you chief but the libraries and frameworks and techniques you use to work are not the point.…

That doesn't explain why OP was able to learn and do bullshit before.
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