I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do? • Hacker News Board

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#81

Post by dsuth » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 10:18 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #44

I'm going to say something that's a little tough but it's meant as advice coming from years of mistakes before I finally got my head on the right way: Part of growing up is learning to prioritize what you need to do, even if it isn't fun, over what you like to do. This is how the real world works, and it's what you'll spend the rest of your life doing. Learning to do it when you're young, when mistakes are smaller, w…

I think this is key, and it's important to understand that the self-discipline you are required to learn to excel in school and university is a large part of the reason you're there in the first place. It's not just about learning what's being taught, or even 'learning to learn', it's about conditioning your brain to function while withholding rewards for significant amounts of time.

I can spend hours and days programming incredibly boring, repetitive code, because the end result is valuable. Teaching your brain to understand this is the struggle the OP faces.

BTW especially with maths, teachers mostly fail at providing any context above 'learn this rule, so you can apply a slightly more advanced version of it next year'. There is a huge amount of context and thought around the mathematics that's being taught, but little effort ever goes into expounding it. If you're struggling with maths in particular, try reading up on some of the history of the topics to find out why they were invented, and what problems they solve. It brings an incredibly richness to what can be a fairly dry, abstract subject.

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#82

Post by greggman » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 10:22 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #44

I'm going to say something that's a little tough but it's meant as advice coming from years of mistakes before I finally got my head on the right way: Part of growing up is learning to prioritize what you need to do, even if it isn't fun, over what you like to do. This is how the real world works, and it's what you'll spend the rest of your life doing. Learning to do it when you're young, when mistakes are smaller, w…

I feel incredibly blessed that I never had to do any of this. I enjoyed computer programming. I learned to do all the stuff because it was fun. Learned to read and write files, learned to sort, learned to write languages, etc etc.

All of it was almost always in pursuit of some goal. I want to create ABC I needed to learn about DEF. etc.. Very little of it was just learning for the sake of learning.

I can't remember ever doing a boring thing related to programming off the top of my head. I can remember automating repetitive things but even that was fun.

I remember working lots of overtime but I don't remember disliking the work.

I don't know what to take from that. I've kind of assumed it's been the same for all the programmers I respect. I see them code as a hobby just like me. I assume they keep doing because they love it.

Maybe if you don't love it you're doing the wrong thing? Maybe if you don't love anything then your advice is true?

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#83

Post by iyra72 » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 10:26 PM UTC

msutherl wrote: post #70

ef4 wrote: post #39

> Are there any ways by which I could motivate myself to study more? Probably not, if you're asking the question. But I don't think you should study more. I think you should program more, since it's already something you enjoy enough to do for fun. It's a question of playing to your strengths. Put in the 10,000 hours of sustained effort that it takes to truly become great at it. Prove your abilities through open sour…

I'm not sure it's advisable to encourage somebody not to do well on their A-levels. It's not like the US where you can get low marks in secondary school and be fine. He won't be able to attend a decent university, ever. Correct me if I'm wrong.

This is true, sadly.

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#84

Post by JetSpiegel » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 10:31 PM UTC

greggman wrote: post #82

bane wrote: post #44

I'm going to say something that's a little tough but it's meant as advice coming from years of mistakes before I finally got my head on the right way: Part of growing up is learning to prioritize what you need to do, even if it isn't fun, over what you like to do. This is how the real world works, and it's what you'll spend the rest of your life doing. Learning to do it when you're young, when mistakes are smaller, w…

I feel incredibly blessed that I never had to do any of this. I enjoyed computer programming. I learned to do all the stuff because it was fun. Learned to read and write files, learned to sort, learned to write languages, etc etc. All of it was almost always in pursuit of some goal. I want to create ABC I needed to learn about DEF. etc.. Very little of it was just learning for the sake of learning. I can't remember e…

That's some powerful drugs.

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#85

Post by danpat » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 10:50 PM UTC

mistercow wrote: post #61

If you spend your free time programming or researching, and aren't motivated by academics, then you might want to reconsider academic direction you're going in. For someone who has the motivation to learn programming on their own, I seriously question the value of a formal education in anything like CS or math. You already know you can learn that stuff more easily outside of a classroom, so I would argue that taking…

> Programming is a wild card - you can play it to improve any hand you have.

This is the truth. Every success I've had has been where I've applied my computing skills to an environment where no-one with those skills had yet appeared. The efficiency gains you can make to mundane, non-computing tasks by applying a bit of programming knowledge will often knock the socks off people who've been doing things the same old way for years.

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#86

Post by crazygringo » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 10:55 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #44

I'm going to say something that's a little tough but it's meant as advice coming from years of mistakes before I finally got my head on the right way: Part of growing up is learning to prioritize what you need to do, even if it isn't fun, over what you like to do. This is how the real world works, and it's what you'll spend the rest of your life doing. Learning to do it when you're young, when mistakes are smaller, w…

First of all, I want to say that this comment is completely spot-on, and it also took me waaay too many years to learn it as well.

The other thing is, because so many things are such a slog, to get to the good parts, you've got to figure out what it is deep-down that does motivate you. The truth is, it's not going to actually be motivating you most days, but since you're going to be slogging regardless, you need to make sure you're slogging towards something that you consider to be worthwhile.

For some people it's family, for others it's money, for some it's a particular sport, for some it's owning their own business. For some it's writing, for others it's photography, or music. For some it's being a respected member of their community.

Think to yourself, who are the people you most respect? When you're 40, what kind of a person do you want to be? What kind of success will be most important to you? The answer might not always be immediately clear or obvious, but a vague idea can still help point you in the right direction.

But also: nobody can slog away at the same thing all the time, so make sure you make plenty of room for friends, fun, exercise/sport, romantic attachment, and whatnot. As long as you have those kinds of things, you'll find you can deal with the slog after all. And in the end, they're really what life is mostly about. :)

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#87

Post by lgieron » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 10:59 PM UTC

greggman wrote: post #82

bane wrote: post #44

I'm going to say something that's a little tough but it's meant as advice coming from years of mistakes before I finally got my head on the right way: Part of growing up is learning to prioritize what you need to do, even if it isn't fun, over what you like to do. This is how the real world works, and it's what you'll spend the rest of your life doing. Learning to do it when you're young, when mistakes are smaller, w…

I feel incredibly blessed that I never had to do any of this. I enjoyed computer programming. I learned to do all the stuff because it was fun. Learned to read and write files, learned to sort, learned to write languages, etc etc. All of it was almost always in pursuit of some goal. I want to create ABC I needed to learn about DEF. etc.. Very little of it was just learning for the sake of learning. I can't remember e…

Do you code for a living? If so, I think your experience ("no boring task ever") is pretty unique.

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#88

Post by cjfont » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 11:01 PM UTC

jborica wrote: post #56

dominotw wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently saw this documentary, 'Who gets the best jobs'[1]. It overwhelmingly supports OP's stance. 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bD7U8kqI8A

I find anecdotal evidence to be more valuable.

Statistical evidence is always the best (assuming it's done right)

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#89

Post by banachtarski » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 11:12 PM UTC

greggman wrote: post #82

bane wrote: post #44

I'm going to say something that's a little tough but it's meant as advice coming from years of mistakes before I finally got my head on the right way: Part of growing up is learning to prioritize what you need to do, even if it isn't fun, over what you like to do. This is how the real world works, and it's what you'll spend the rest of your life doing. Learning to do it when you're young, when mistakes are smaller, w…

I feel incredibly blessed that I never had to do any of this. I enjoyed computer programming. I learned to do all the stuff because it was fun. Learned to read and write files, learned to sort, learned to write languages, etc etc. All of it was almost always in pursuit of some goal. I want to create ABC I needed to learn about DEF. etc.. Very little of it was just learning for the sake of learning. I can't remember e…

It's the gen x vs gen y philosophy at work here.

Gen X is about putting the time in and reaping the rewards. Gen Y is about finding passion in the work itself and thus is more willing to "soul search" when it comes to doing work.

It's certainly an interesting dynamic and recruiters/HR/managers have needed to shift their mindset to accommodate the new school approach to finding work.

Re: I'm completely demotivated to work; what can I do?

#90

Post by eropple » Sat, Feb 22, 2014, 11:18 PM UTC

Aqueous wrote: post #12

It's nice to chip away at programming but if you don't have an academic basis to guide your studies it is going to keep you out of a lot of jobs when you get out. Take it from someone who knows - I've programmed useful things in just about every language, but because I didn't major in Computer Science (Physics/Philosophy instead) I'm unable to compete for the top tier of jobs. Hopefully this isn't permanent, as I'm t…

I don't know where you are, but if you're in the U.S. (or even if you're not), feel free to drop me a line. Some of the best developers I know come from non-CS backgrounds and I know folks who are always looking. Email's in my profile.