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Ask HN: Burned out 21 year old software developer, what's next?

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Re: Ask HN: Burned out 21 year old software developer, what's next?

#101

Post by vong »

zaccus wrote: post #92
amorphid wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

College is a huge waste of money for someone who doesn't value it. Debt sucks.

100% agree. I hated it. It was expensive, stressful, and unrewarding. My loans won't be paid off until I'm in my mid 40s. I feel like a sucker who fell for a scam. It's objectively the biggest mistake I ever made. I'm sure my perspective will be soundly dismissed on HN. I'm sure I must have done college "wrong" or something. Whatever. I'm not trying to blame anyone else. My choices seemed like good ones at the time;…

Where / what did you study? Asking because I'm half curious and half astonished that college can cost so much (coming from someone outside of the US).

Felt like I did college wrong too, and it cost 4 years and ~22k USD, in return for .. nothing much really.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out 21 year old software developer, what's next?

#102

Post by romanovcode »

speedplane wrote: post #15

College college college college. Your 20s are when you figure out what you want to do. College is expensive but a great way to dabble in tons of stuff, socialize, and get ready for the next step. Being 21 isn't too late, plenty of people go to college at 21-22 after stints in the military. You'll be popular as you'll be able to buy your friends beer (legal disclaimer: don't do that).

> College college college college. Your 20s are when you figure out what you want to do.

This is ridiculous advice for someone who is in U.S. So you want him to get into a huge debt w/o even knowing what he wants to do?

OP, if you want to find what you want to do or just "find yourself" don't bother wasting money and time at college and just travel for 6 months to some remote place and live there with locals.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out 21 year old software developer, what's next?

#103

Post by nestorherre »

Travel, take some time off and enjoy life (for a while). It will help you put things in perspective and maybe get clear about what you want to do next.

I quit my job last year and backpacked 2 months around Europe and it was a very richful experience.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out 21 year old software developer, what's next?

#104

Post by LansanaCamara »

bambataa wrote: post #93
LansanaCamara wrote: post #86

I'm in a similar boat as you. I just turned 22 and have been working as a software developer for the past 3 years as well (interesting coincidence). I noticed that I get the feeling of "burnout" when I'm doing things I don't enjoy. For instance, I can spend a couple months straight working on fun personal projects of mine all day every day, like the Medium.com clone I built, but if I'm spending two weeks straight fix…

I also would not call that burnout. It sounds like you're realising that work sucks. Going to work is fun the first few months when you're all 'look at me going to my big job!' and you probably feel richer than you have ever done before. Then after a while you realise you're not loaded after all, the novelty wears off the work and you find yourself repeating tasks again and again. The challenge then becomes to work o…

Thanks for this. I agree with your statement about the value system. Mine has already changed dramatically. I went to college for two years while working full time, and eventually dropped out. It just wasn't for me; already knew what I was being taught, and ultimately got denied entry into CS major cause of poor high school grades. And ironically enough, I was working in the marketing department on the school website at the time they denied me. Go figure.. >.>

School, for people like me, is just a waste of time and gets you in needless debt. I learn better on my own anyways.

As for doing things outside of tech, I also dabble in many other things. I have been bodybuilding since I was 18 and an an avid gym goer. I'm also big on philosophy and science (quantum mechanics really excites me). There are plenty of things I am interested in...the hard part for me is figuring out which of them I really want to dedicate my time and effort to, so I can take it to the next level. I lack the ability to make that decision right now, and as a result I'm just sort of a generalist.

But you're totally right. Spending time doing things I don't enjoy will now produce a happy life. I'm growing more and more aware of this every day.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out 21 year old software developer, what's next?

#106

Post by jklein11 »

HiroshiSan wrote: post #50
funfunfunction wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never been to college, but I guess I would say it seems like college is as much about figuring out what you want in life and finding people who can offer perspectives you may not have considered as it is getting an education. I grew up in small town and this sort of thing is attractive to me.

As others have pointed out it's a very expensive place to figure out what you want in life. I feel like figuring out what you want in life is just a product of growing up and being open to different experiences. College is probably a very good bubble to experience a lot of things in a safe environment where room for error is high (and I don't mean not passing your courses). But you could probably replicate this in ot…

I think its possible to replicate the college experience outside of academia, but I think its a good way to take the risk out.

In college, you are in a cohort of peers who are prioritizing growing/learning over most other things. In the workforce, that is not a guarantee.

Sure you may be lucky enough to join an organization that is willing to take risks for the sake of learning, but I would argue that this is incredibly rare as companies are motivated to make profits and the ROI is not always clear.

This doesn't mean that college will automatically make you adaptable and intellectually curious. You will only get back what you put into it.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out 21 year old software developer, what's next?

#107

Post by akulbe »

zaccus wrote: post #92
amorphid wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

College is a huge waste of money for someone who doesn't value it. Debt sucks.

100% agree. I hated it. It was expensive, stressful, and unrewarding. My loans won't be paid off until I'm in my mid 40s. I feel like a sucker who fell for a scam. It's objectively the biggest mistake I ever made. I'm sure my perspective will be soundly dismissed on HN. I'm sure I must have done college "wrong" or something. Whatever. I'm not trying to blame anyone else. My choices seemed like good ones at the time;…

I completely agree with you, and I'm in my mid-40's still paying off college debt for a degree that hasn't helped. (I was a business management major)

Unless, you're going to be a doctor/lawyer/engineer/$FIELD_THAT_REQUIRES_LICENSING... then college is a scam, and a waste of time and money.

Don't be fooled, education != college. You CAN get educated for much less, in MANY other ways, for much less money (if not free).

Re: Ask HN: Burned out 21 year old software developer, what's next?

#108

Post by sova »

newbear wrote: post #75
outworlder wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To the OP: Burn out is not really something physical. You probably need some rest, but it is less than what you think (measured in days). Your own mind is dissatisfied with some of what you are doing and it is raising red flags. You need to figure out what is it. Do you like writing software? This is the first question. If you do, keep going, but you need to focus on something else. Maybe a slightly different industr…

I heard burn out is actually and unfortunately physical. Something happens to the adrenal gland and cortisol levels.

As a dabbling neuroscientist I'm very skeptical! Why? because Cortisol levels fluctuate based on exercise, diet, and perceived stress. If you go jogging every day and follow that up with 30 minutes at the riverside thinking -nothing- your cortisol can drop dramatically in 2 weeks.

Adrenal gland.. Mostly relies on good neurochemistry, which relies on 2 things: good diet, and good gut health. Meaning: eat your yogurt (and bio flora for your tummy) and get all your amino acids! Good gut health = great digestion -> what you eat becomes good neurochem -> happiness and clarity.

Re: Ask HN: Burned out 21 year old software developer, what's next?

#110

Post by amorphid »

akulbe wrote: post #107
zaccus wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree. I hated it. It was expensive, stressful, and unrewarding. My loans won't be paid off until I'm in my mid 40s. I feel like a sucker who fell for a scam. It's objectively the biggest mistake I ever made. I'm sure my perspective will be soundly dismissed on HN. I'm sure I must have done college "wrong" or something. Whatever. I'm not trying to blame anyone else. My choices seemed like good ones at the time;…

I completely agree with you, and I'm in my mid-40's still paying off college debt for a degree that hasn't helped. (I was a business management major) Unless, you're going to be a doctor/lawyer/engineer/$FIELD_THAT_REQUIRES_LICENSING... then college is a scam, and a waste of time and money. Don't be fooled, education != college. You CAN get educated for much less, in MANY other ways, for much less money (if not free)…

I'm in my 40s and still paying off the debt incurred to get 2 business degrees. Maybe the advice should be "don't major in business!" :P
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