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Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

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Re: Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

#71

Post by nchelluri »

endymi0n wrote: post #32

For me, the major insight was to realize that the best of the best are struggling just as much as myself. I often come back to this diagram for relief, and it's true. http://www.invokemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/venndi... It's really all about focus. Learn one thing at once. Rinse and repeat, and come back to the topic later for more insight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_approach Don't be afraid to s…

> In the end, if you're not embarrased about the code you wrote half a year ago, it's a sign you're not progressing.

I just can't agree with this statement at all.

I have written loads of code years ago that I am not embarrassed about, but I feel that I am definitely a better developer than I was some years ago.

I really liken code to writing of any other sort. I don't feel embarrassed about everything I wrote from a few years ago. My opinions and styles may have changed, but it's not all crap. Some of it definitely is crap, though.

Re: Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

#72

Post by eru »

d-equivalence wrote: post #55
Jugurtha wrote: post #30

I can relate, except that I still stuck. 1 - What has helped me is to categorize my insterests. Sure, they're connected in my brain and it's not like x is disconnected with y, we can always find a connection.. but I needed to separate them into categories to be able to manage them more easily because I don't need to tell you the state of the brain if you dump all of them in the one and only category most of us have w…

Doing ten pages of mathematics a day is not realistic. Unless you already have been doing mathematics for years and are still relatively young. How about a paragraph per day ?

Depends on how dense your source material is.

No matter your level of sophistication, if you are making it through ten pages a day, you should probably switch to harder material.

The specific number doesn't matter too much, though.

If you get through one page of dense math an hour, you are doing well.

Re: Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

#73

Post by VaidasC »

deckiedan wrote: post #24
prostoalex wrote: post #11

Focus on one. Finish it. It will feel like an accomplishment. Genuine interest in things is certainly better than lack of it, but ability to say "no" to an interesting thing is a skill that needs learning on its own. Also, this http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2015/06/19/why-successful...

Yes. Do one project completely to a state where you feel proud of it, and like you've mastered what you can in that realm. Write a production-ready library in a language you are interested in, complete with unit tests, follow best practices, write a set of good documentation, etc. for it. Put it on github, in the language's package management system, and see what happens. Finishing stuff does really feel good.

I would like to put forward another perspective.

I notice that in software industry there is common recommendation of doing some project (or just hack something) to to learn or get better at something. This advice I think is solid and is generally good for many people.

However, I feel that it is not valid or valid only in very limited way to some people. This all depends on character types I guess. E. g. myself, if I ever tried following it I would not get anywhere, because projects for the sake of projects is something my mind has big problems with. It's simply not in my nature. I would argue that regarding this point I am part of silent minority in IT industry since I noticed quite a few developers who are similar in this regard.

So what is alternative if projects/portfolio/... might not be a thing for you. What works for me:

1. Concentrate on Theory. This addresses few things: I must understand theory to not get frustrated, I m more interested in theory than practice in general, Often theory is just enough and mind will just find solution when you need.

A. Concentrate more on studying theory.

B. Use micro-projects just for testing and understanding concepts, not something useful by itself.

C. Study "best practices". To compensate for project problem.

2. Look for a way to have goals (projects) forced on you. Addresses few things: it frees your mind from over-thinking (e.g. "whats the big purpose of this?"), it must be done - you cannot just quit when lose interest/reason-to-continue.

A. Hobby. Join online courses with assignments, university (if it allows).

B. Job. Try to look for positions with more "projects".

Re: Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

#74

Post by tonyedgecombe »

amelius wrote: post #40
mikekchar wrote: post #23

You make 2 interesting statements: - I realised I was a mediocre programmer - ... (I) find that my desire is driven by fear ... The first is a good feeling :-) Too many programmers don't have this realisation. Embrace it! The second is something that worries me slightly. All of the programmers that I know who are driven by fear let it chase them into failure. Getting the "joy of tinkering back" is what you need. Forg…

> Getting the "joy of tinkering back" is what you need. That would be pretty hard if you'd be working on a 20+ year old legacy system written in COBOL.

Then it's all about the domain.

Re: Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

#75

Post by ransom1538 »

Studying a language is probably the worst way to learn it.

Languages are so simple to pick up these days: stackoverflow, teamtreehouse, git, etc. Latch onto a fun project with a fun mission, learn languages on the fly, and finish it. In a book, you wont learn how to debug that broken ruby gem. This will guide you in the right direction as well, it will force you to pickup pragmatic practices. [As opposed to sitting in the break room debating abstract factory patterns vs factory pattens]. After 13 years of coding, I just code on projects I enjoy now. I have to learn Go? Meh. Whatever. As a side note on php (my true love), I encourage the hate - it helps my pay.

Java? Not until it gets the basic web functions, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/832620/stripping-html-tag...

Re: Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

#76

Post by cobweb »

I feel the same after doing web programming for over a decade. I started out doing database stuff and actually with hindsight I think I could have quite happily narrowed my focus towards being a db specialist, and avoided that feeling of treading water. People say it's great to be an all rounder but it's only when you are focused you excel at one thing. After grappling with an ad-hoc task, I master it after a day, only to forget it by the next time I need to use it.

Re: Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

#78

Post by eljimmy »

I am the exact same way. I find it difficult to want to specialize in a certain area. I always want to learn everything. Xyz company is using Go? I should learn Go. Abc company is using RoR? I should learn RoR. It can be a bit of a perpetual drive which may at times be mentally exhausting but I think it's good to have that and to not be complacent.

I find it overwhelming at times. But I think uniclaude said it best, you just need to jump into it and make something, build something and don't be afraid to write shit code. Afterwards you can step back and have a look at what new knowledge you've just acquired and begin to fine-tune any rough edges if it still interests you.

Re: Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

#79

Post by readme »

I don't actually think there is anything wrong with being a generalist. If you're starting your own company or you're going to be the CTO or first technical hire of a startup, general knowledge is the best kind.

You can always find specialists later. If you know a bit of everything, you can set up your solution by yourself. Maybe it won't be perfect. Maybe it will have to call someone's API that's too expensive, but later your specialist will rewrite that code, for example.

Re: Ask HN: I am busy with too many things at once

#80

Post by brianwawok »

mseebach wrote: post #44
collyw wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't get as many job offers by becoming an expert in one area though.... How many job offers do you see looking for a smart Perl programmer. How many do you see listing 10+ technologies, plus experience in scrum? (Does doing a stand up every day make you better at it? )

You don't want those job offers anyway, so don't worry about it. Finding a good job is not a numbers game. (Anecdote: I rejected an offer from a YC startup once because ~60% of the process was them fretting about me not having Ruby on Rails experience. I didn't (and don't) want to work for a CTO that doesn't understand that fundamentals travel between languages.) As the GP said, any CTO or dev lead worth their salt w…

> As the GP said, any CTO or dev lead worth their salt would hire a dev with good fundamentals in the 'wrong' language over one with poor fundamentals in the right one.

For sure. You can learn a new language in a few months, but not how to think like a programmer.

However, there could be an argument to be made for holding out for someone who is a good programmer AND knows the right language. Especially if it was a future leadership position. In the busy world of a startup, I may not have 3 months for you to learn Ruby / whatever language of the day.

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