I am currently working as a contractor in vertical advertising, sports betting specifically. Initially, the job was exciting, but now its gotten to a boring point, and on top of that I am the only developer, hence there is zero time to chill-out. Occasionally, I get to respond to support issues on my days off.
My client is a start up with little to no organisation, they want me in the office, and want me to get things done by verbally asking me, constantly changing their minds and, and most times I'd have to switch context constantly.
While the pay is relatively aright, and I have bills to pay, I have lost all motivation to keep on working. I stare at the computer but can't think. I really want to get my motivation back, but don't know how.
Can you share your experiences on how to keep on how to rapidly re-boot?
Never give up on life.
Stay positive. Negative thoughts make you perform worse. You have to believe in yourself and tell yourself that it's okay if you miss something but fix it next time.
*Recognize what makes you unhappy and try to figure out why.
Beware of sappers, or people who don't like to see others get ahead. They are the people that come around in an attempt to assert control over you during one of these activities. For instance, let's say that someone sees you reading and then asks you to mow the lawn. Most people, to avoid argument, just go out and do what they are told, There are times however when that is a poor precedent to set. It says that whenever your task is enjoyment, anyone can come around and override that task. Not only can that lead to resentment, but it is also the beginning of habitual unhappiness.
"Believe in yourself", entire books can be summed up in those words... The "power of belief", or "power of prayer" or "placebo effect" are all words that have the same general meaning, and all can be scientifically demonstrated to have a real effect(positive or negative) on people's lives. Basically it is using one's imagination to manipulate oneself or the world around them, and the longer and more one believes something to be true the greater the effect and or likelihood. And also believe in others a little, allowing others to be free can sometimes free oneself.
Develop a non-defeatist attitude toward life, start looking at your life as you in control of everything, no matter how out of control your life truly is, pretend it's all up to you, use your imagination... no one is controlling your destiny you make your own destiny you are the master of you life, and everything depends on you to praise or blame. It is very common for people to unknowingly develop a defeatist attitude toward life and give up or say things like "it's all in god's hands", or it's genetics, or it's destiny, karma etc., or to have been belittled by others into believing there are things one can't do, it is easier to assume a defeatist attitude based on bad, unlucky, or inaccurate experiences and subconsciously and automatically assume we can do nothing so why try in the future, this is a good way to save needless effort that we would perceive to be wasted based on our experiences, it is learning, and it saves time and energy if this is the attitude one wants.
Unfortunately there is no recipe for rapidly re-booting yourself, your motivation or anything about you.
There are some red flags here. The request of your presence in the office, not having a roadmap, missing features / bugs list, etc. What I'd do is to get rid of them asap.
But.. There is zero time to chill-out? There is always time and it is flowing. At this point, it doesn't matter if you sit in front of your computer for 12 hours; it's what you've done on your time. Stop. Take 2-3 days off and tell them to organise in the meanwhile. Tell them about how they are consuming you and when you get back at working you want to do things better.
Go out to the nature on your off time. Go to a swimming pool or swim in the sea if you can, ride bicycle, run, read something you've enjoyed in your childhood. Take the computer out of your sight. Spend time with your family, the ones those make you just happy. The idea here is remembering how it's to be happy and productive. Also some thoughts will occur such as are you doing everything as you should? are you alright with the outcome of the work you've completed so far? etc.
Sounds like the advise is obvious: Change jobs! "Vertical advertising for sports betting" sounds like the definition of useless to society. The management issues don't make things better. No pay is worth working at a job like that.
That being said, if changing jobs is not an option in the near future, here are some tips:
1. Take pride in what you do. Try to write the most beautiful code. Learn new technologies. Make Easter eggs.
2. Remove friction and sources of frustration. For example if you write tests, you don't have that felling that you might have broken something after you made a change.
3. Communicate. Explain people how you fell. Probably, people don't realize they are disturbing your concentration. Maybe they can send an email or make an appointment.
4. Plan a vacation.
5. Accept things the way they are. If some days you are not as productive that's okay and ultimately not your fault.
Unfortunately there is no recipe for rapidly re-booting yourself, your motivation or anything about you. There are some red flags here. The request of your presence in the office, not having a roadmap, missing features / bugs list, etc. What I'd do is to get rid of them asap. But.. There is zero time to chill-out? There is always time and it is flowing. At this point, it doesn't matter if you sit in front of your com…
Well actually there is a recipe for getting your motivation back, and TheSmoke has pointed the way.
[1] Take a week-long break from work and do something enjoyable. If you can't take a break, go to step [2].
[2] In the long-term you need to either fix your attitude to your job, or change your job. If it's a contract job, see if you can last until the end of the contract, then take something else.
I suspect you will need to ditch the job. If you do that, make sure you try to take a break before starting the next time, to give yourself time to reboot your motivation.
If you're starting to experience any kind of serious depression or burnout, you really need to quit the job pretty soon before it gets out of hand (I've been there).
Just remember there are always other opportunities out there - you are never as trapped as you think you are.
Sounds like the advise is obvious: Change jobs! "Vertical advertising for sports betting" sounds like the definition of useless to society. The management issues don't make things better. No pay is worth working at a job like that. That being said, if changing jobs is not an option in the near future, here are some tips: 1. Take pride in what you do. Try to write the most beautiful code. Learn new technologies. Make…
>> "Vertical advertising for sports betting" sounds like the definition of useless to society.
I work in the same 'industry' and equally dislike it as a whole and also completely lost my motivation.
>> No pay is worth working at a job like that.
Not when you have a family to raise or bills to pay, the thing with this betting industry is that it pays as said relatively to very good. There is also an overload of jobs, and if you are anywhere smart and in this stuff for a bit you can get a pretty good salary. I made a salary jump of about 80% in 3 years working in this industry.
What I hate the most about this industry is that there are some very talented people working in here, which could do much better things then programming systems to make people loose more money then they already do. Makes me sad.
What I do? I am working on some side projects, and just 'grind it out' during the office hours and do what I have to do, time goes by faster. Hoping to get one of my projects off in the next months/years and leave this industry behind for once and all.
I run a website which aims to motivate/inspire people daily by showing simple inspiring quotes and videos each day. If you're after that type of reboot - something that will just give you a brief lift, then check it out. I won't post it's name as i don't want to spam - you can see it in my profile. Thanks
This sounds like depression/apathy/burnout. If it is just work related, remind yourself that is completely within your power to fix.
Two suggestions:
1) Make sure your human interactions are actually positive. If your clients keep pointing you in different directions and making you context switch, fix that. Spend an hour thinking about how that interaction could be better, and some steps towards making that happen. I've had success with writing down requests on a shared whiteboard, and making sure the people asking understand what you would have to de-prioritize to work on the new shiny thing they are asking.
2) If the job was initially exciting, it can probably be exciting again. You should take a break, or find something not-work-related to spend our time doing (e.g. a hobby).