31–40 of 52 posts
Get enough sleep and exercise. Starting to do these things have made a noticeable (to me) difference in my productivity level and outlook.
Well, unless the question is "I spend all my time sleeping and working out and I don't have time for a job and a life, what should I do?"
But that's not the question, so I agree.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that the original poster needs to calm down, but I get the impression you should calm down, too. I've been avoiding getting involved in the generational battle that seems to have been sparked here over the past week, since I didn't want to add fuel to the fire. But this comment struck an unhappy chord with me; it just seems a bit too indignant. I think the problem I have is that the assumption it is based on…
I'm a Millenial and didn't find the original comment all that indignant or upset. It was another side-comment that tossed in the "Millenials, eh? ;-)" and I just figured that was a humorous attempt to tie this to another discussion.
I was in a similar situation with my last employer - I absolutely loved my first project there, felt really productive, did a bang up job with it, and delivered something pretty slick. And then I got put on another project with a different toolset and absolutely hated it. I felt terribly unproductive, like I was wasting my time, and didn't believe I was learning anything professionally useful. If I were you, I'd look…
'risky code sucks up tons of time'
i don't think i have ever been on a project when expectations could realistically have been meet if i did not already do something just like that.
the current project i am on, i was hired to work on a flash widget, and i ended up working on a java applet that had to communicate with JS, and the struts backend. there was a ton to learn, and most of the time i spent looking stuff up on google.
on other programing jobs i always feel more productive when i am not spending my days on google.
This happens to everybody. I think I've commented on it here before: a lot of nascent entrepreneurs here appear to be working under the delusion that they'll redline at their peak productivity levels throughout the lifetime of their startup. Here's what you need to remember: the difference between a professional and an amateur is that a professional comes and in and delivers work they'll stand behind all the time, wh…
That's a fantastic essay. Somehow I always thought that no-one else had this problem. Seriously. I hope I can finally give up my youthful arrogance. I always believed that when people spoke about getting experience they meant learning more about writing software (and how I scoffed at that). But it's just as much, if not more, about learning how not to turn around and run away.
I eventually snapped out of it, but it took that whole week of just recharging my batteries to get back into it. I even managed to start working a few times during that drought and I always stopped almost immediately afterwards, never getting into the zone.
Maybe it's the nature of the work, maybe it's a common character flaw of people who do our work, I don't know. All I know is you're certainly not alone.
This happens to everybody. I think I've commented on it here before: a lot of nascent entrepreneurs here appear to be working under the delusion that they'll redline at their peak productivity levels throughout the lifetime of their startup. Here's what you need to remember: the difference between a professional and an amateur is that a professional comes and in and delivers work they'll stand behind all the time, wh…
The term professional is so overloaded anymore as to seem almost meaningless; I'd look at it more as the difference between someone who cares about what they do, and someone who doesn't. Depending on who you ask, being "professional" can actually imply the complete lack of passion and caring to avoid the appearance of vulnerability. Your advice is good, but wrapping it in the veil of professionalism vs. amateurish ma…
I haven't worn a tie since I worked in a supermarket, and I sure as hell wasn't a professional there.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a fantastic essay. Somehow I always thought that no-one else had this problem. Seriously. I hope I can finally give up my youthful arrogance. I always believed that when people spoke about getting experience they meant learning more about writing software (and how I scoffed at that). But it's just as much, if not more, about learning how not to turn around and run away.
I have this problem every so often; you're not alone. A few weeks ago I don't think I did any meaningful work for an entire week straight. I just screwed around each day, telling myself that the next day would be "super hardcore work day" and every following day would have to follow suit. I eventually snapped out of it, but it took that whole week of just recharging my batteries to get back into it. I even managed to…
I also have this problem. It seems like every once in a while, I get stuck in this weird anti-productivity loop. I know I should be doing things, and I'll tell myself that I'll start in just a little bit or the next day, but end up not.
I've noticed that I can put a halt to this process quickly (hopefully this works for other people as well) by forcing myself to stop thinking about whatever it is I'm doing for a while, and do something creative or intellectually stimulating that is entirely unrelated to the problem at hand.
In my case, the "recharge" activity tends to be one of:
- playing musical instruments
- reading
- drawing / painting
- going outside and doing one of the above, or thinking about nature, physics, etc.
- studying (as in going through a book that I need a pencil and paper to make sure that I am understanding what's being shown in it).
In the case of studying, the subject matter doesn't have to be entirely unrelated to what I'm doing. I've been using Concrete Mathematics for this purpose lately. Studying, however, doesn't help if I'm stuck in anti-productivity mode and feeling like my brain's a bit burnt out though.
If I don't force myself to do one of my "recharge" activities, I remain in the "anti-productivity loop" for a while, at most a week or so.
It should be noted that the "anti-productivity loop" is a powerful force. It's easy to fall into, and it takes a bit of a force of will to break out of.
Perhaps it would be more appropriately labeled "state of negative-flow".
Seriously, calm down. What's up with the assumption these days that everything done in our work is supposed to be fun? It's work. Sometimes it sucks, it's un-interesting, it's laborious, sometimes maddeningly menial. You're not always going to be learning at a fast pace. You could just quit and go somewhere else, get assigned a crappy project and find that the grass isn't any greener. Or you can suck it up and take t…
"What's up with the assumption these days that everything done in our work is supposed to be fun? It's work. " That's ridiculously self referential. It's not fun because it's something which is defined to exclude fun? It's not "work", it's "creating value" and there's no rule about creating value requiring laborious, menial, maddening, un-interesting work. Particularly not IT/knowledge/computer-based work. I don't as…
Work, in the way I use it, neither excludes or includes fun. Whether or not my "work" is fun changes from 'assignment' to 'assignment', however it does generally include some activities which I do not consider fun. Luckily, a large part of the non-fun portions of what I do can be automated.
For instance, every time I start a new cherrypy app, there's a bit of stuff that I know I'm going to do - create a certain directory structure, possibly a database/tables, put some files in said directory structure, create a python file for the main app, etc.
This is boring, but can be handled easily by writing a small shell script that accepts a few options. On my machine, I have a few cherrypy apps that are mounted at any given time. When I create a new app, I just use my little script - and if I tell it to, it will open the file that runs the main cherrypy server on my machine, add the import line for the new app, and add the part to the server configuration that mounts it under a specific URL, by default the name of the apps class.
All of the steps handled by the script are generally part of the "work" I need to do, but instead of taking 20 minutes, it takes half a second. Granted, not every boring, menial task can be automated away like this - but a much larger proportion of boring, menial tasks can be than is found in other lines of work.
One sure-fire way to keep getting projects you don't like is to accept them, let them wear you down, and do nothing to improve your situation.
and the alternative?
You need to map your way out of this situation - demotivation (regardless of the cause) is bad for you and your employer. Persisting with it is unprofessional. If you try and 'suck it up' you will travel the path to burnout and damage to your health and career.
Try and identify the cause before you take the appropriate action - it could be boring/unsuitable work, a medical problem like depression or even something like anemia, burnout, poor diet/exercise, or a lack of fulfilment from other areas of your life.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think he was joking? At least, I sincerely hope he was joking... I'd suggest doing it for a few more months, and if nothing improves after that, maybe start looking for a new job. Living for a long period of time with a job you hate might not be good for you. :D
The key to a successful seppuku is to have your trusted friend practice beforehand to make sure he really can behead you in one swing. This is one situation where being a hacker is not recommended.
I had to do a search for this word when I read the post and didnt quite get what a moral suicide means.