41–50 of 56 posts
Any advice for someone that really enjoys the work, but has been at the same place 5 years and is underpaid?
I've been programming for over 2 decades and had 2 bouts of burnout. The first was around the dotcom bust, when I thought my career was over because all the jobs were going to go overseas, and the second after a too-long stint at a shitty well-known enterprise software company where I felt useless and worthless. I didn't take a break during the first one, which took a toll and probably had a hand in my subsequent div…
[1]: http://sdegutis.github.io/2016-04-10/looming-shift-in-power/
I really appreciate posts like these. Alot of posts that get popular on hacker news are about the struggle between management/developers and the best practice for success. This on the other hand is far more relatable to me. I am a developer that gets burnt out on jobs quickly and don't have a mentor I can look up to. A post like this gives me actions/patterns/history of someone that is still working and still wants t…
I don't know if this will help you, but in my case the only times I've ever felt like I was heading for burnout were when I was when I was writing fairly mundane code under time constraints. If you can move into a job role where you spend more time learning and solving problems than coding everything will get a lot better.
Good tips for preventing burnout before it happens! Anyone have any tips for how to recover from burnout _after_ it has already happened?
E.g. no bacteria infections, no sleep apnea, and no food intolerances that make you chronically tired. And many other possibilities.
"(thankfully I'm not a Javascript programmer)" As being a js programmer, i had to laugh at this :) Nice article anyway, the sad part is, that i nearly had all those points at once, at one job(unpaid overtime, the management part, and so on...). The last 3 months i spent there was only because they asked me, and i was dump enough to say yes (they actually offered a 'bonus' to stay, but don't think anything big). Somet…
It feels like something new. I really enjoy this feeling!
I've been programming for over 2 decades and had 2 bouts of burnout. The first was around the dotcom bust, when I thought my career was over because all the jobs were going to go overseas, and the second after a too-long stint at a shitty well-known enterprise software company where I felt useless and worthless. I didn't take a break during the first one, which took a toll and probably had a hand in my subsequent div…
I learned to back off and enjoy my life outside of work. Life is just too darn short. I still stay relevant by learning at least one new thing each day. Will I ever use all of the tech I learn on personal side projects? Probably not, but I get a kick out of designing things on my own schedule without any corporate constraints by some manipulative middle manager.
So today I broke out my old electronics kit and taught my young one a bit about adjustable voltage regulators. Could have caved to the guilt of work and VPN'd in to code some stuff, but that just isn't worth spoiling my time with my family.
What I wonder about is how to be a programmer for 30 years and not become an architect or worse.
What's wrong with being an architect?
I went into consulting and have found the very same things. Before consulting, I was never burned out, and loved my job a lot. I could imagine doing it forever. Now, I can't wait for it to end, am in a consistent state of burnt out. I have to work infinite hours to keep up. I didn't really understand this before I took the job, would have been good reading as I tried to decide what was next in my career. At the same…
Link your arms and make a circle, that's the biggest income stream you can capture. Now take ten people and have them join hands to form a circle and that's the biggest income stream they can capture. Obvious a small group can capture much large income stream per person than one guy by himself. Difficulty, keeping them all holding hands in a circle.
You by yourself also have the problem that the stream you're trying to manage is often too big, or too small. Too big you can't keep up with it and burn out. Too small you starve.
One advantage of having been a consultant is your bosses can smell it on you. They treat you differently.
I went into consulting and have found the very same things. Before consulting, I was never burned out, and loved my job a lot. I could imagine doing it forever. Now, I can't wait for it to end, am in a consistent state of burnt out. I have to work infinite hours to keep up. I didn't really understand this before I took the job, would have been good reading as I tried to decide what was next in my career. At the same…
- Never work without a contract or at least a clear statement of work. Ever. So much pain will ensue otherwise.
- Take up front payments whenever you can. Ideally, 50% or more. Liquidity takes a lot of weight off your shoulders. Don't let customers get in the way of liquidity. We learned this the hard way and almost went bankrupt - never again.
- Trust your gut feeling regarding your customers - if your gut says no, don't do it. Again, a lesson learned the hard way.
- Adopt GTD or a similar methodology. The vast amounts of information you are bombarded with (especially if juggling 5 projects at once) need organizing. If you haven't read Getting Things Done yet, just get a free Audible trial at Amazon and listen to the first chapters of the audiobook on your way to work.
- Try to develop actual love for your customers, or their end customers. Or else, you will feel empty inside, and the time spent in the office will feel wasted. If you cannot love them because they treat you badly - talk to them about it or leave them.
- Tell clients to the face if you think that their reasoning or assumptions are wrong. This feels harder than it should be, I think that's because of BS mantras like "customer is always right".
- Insist on your own side of things. You are your own business' only advocate, and you must take a stand for it. No one else will. Everybody tries to push their own agenda. So push yours.
- Don't be a code monkey, but be an actual consultant. Code monkey freelancers are bound tightly into their client's development process, and only churn out whatever code is required of them. They don't get to adopt the purpose the client creates for a project. Consultants help the client transform their purpose (business goal) into a vision, and ultimately into a product. Adopting the actual purpose for your work is so important for not burning out.
I'll save this list as a reminder for myself now.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's wrong with being an architect?
More responsibility. I've taken it as a given that it's part of career advancement and I take on progressively more and more responsibility and authority to earn more money. There's nothing wrong with that, I'm just jealous some people can code and code and code and still have a successful career.