Honest Question: What do you do when you lose motivation to code?
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Would this be the telgraph marker posts project Derek ?
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
No - that's all complete. (Always tweaks and stuff to add, but it's live and well!)
Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
I wish I had a good answer. After decades, it just comes and goes. If I get excited about the project I find myself motivated. But, if I get a hint of silliness, BS, etc. about the project, all that motivation goes out the window. They say the only way to get over writers block is to just start writing. Even if it's crap because you don't feel like doing it. Just start doing it. Eventually you'll get back into it. Probably works the same with code. But, all I know for me, is that with code... the industry is the same old thing. Nothing changes. So, bye bye novelty. Which is like the death of creativity. Not sure if that was a useful reply or not...
Jeremy Falcon
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All these wonderful ideas to take a break from coding - it is WORK, you probably do not have the luxury to up and take a break, you are probably dodging a deadline and have a manager in your ear to get the work done. And the wife is going "we can't afford for you not to work". Grind it out till you can get away from the desk! Eventually you can retire, look forward to that.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
Too bad you can't retire from the wife. :-\
Jeremy Falcon
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Don't know, but I wish I did! I started a side project (non-commercial, to support people with a particular pastime) about 15 months ago. It was initially stop-start due to (real) work getting in the way. It reached a point where I released it as beta, but with minimal advertising and virtually no-one has used it yet - partly because it's missing some central functionality. I just can't build up the enthusiasm to complete testing of the part I coded in October. There's a lot of use-cases for a particular screen, and it will involve setting up quite a lot of test accounts etc, and I just can't get enthused by it. Until it's done, though, I can't move on to the next feature - after which it will be in a state where I can begin promoting it properly. Partly I think it's fear - it has the potential to have a LOT of users and that could mean a LOT of support issues, at a time when I'm trying to wind down my coding activities. I've found an amazing ability to procrastinate over the past few weeks; now I'm thinking I need to wait till after Christmas, then after New Year is "out of the way". Just to test a single web page. And it's just the two of us at home for Christmas, not like we're busy! :laugh: :laugh:
Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT
DerekT-P wrote:
it has the potential to have a LOT of users and that could mean a LOT of support issues, at a time when I'm trying to wind down my coding activities.
If you don't want to support it, you can always open source it and offer it for free. Let the community support it.
Jeremy Falcon
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DerekT-P wrote:
it has the potential to have a LOT of users and that could mean a LOT of support issues, at a time when I'm trying to wind down my coding activities.
If you don't want to support it, you can always open source it and offer it for free. Let the community support it.
Jeremy Falcon
For sure, once it has some momentum I'm hoping we will have volunteers come forward to support (initially as admins but later as developers too), with the long term plan that it's supported from within the community.
Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT
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Mycroft Holmes wrote:
Grind it out till you can get away from the desk
If you're working somewhere that this is the expectation, it's time to work somewhere else.
Software Zen:
delete this;My innate desire to NOT to look for work made the job search one of my most disliked activities. It also helped that they paid well above the odds so there was fairly strong incentive to stay with the pressure. Retirement was the goal and it is wonderful, I haven't coded in 3 years now and don't regret it.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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Too bad you can't retire from the wife. :-\
Jeremy Falcon
After 45 years of marriage I have grown comfortable with the lifestyle!
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
Stop thinking of it as a creative process. Much of the time, thank goodness, it's turning a series of logical process into usable code for a job/task/etc. It's that motivation to create the code not creativeness. The creativeness comes when it needs to come. It's not on a demand basis. Most times, necessity makes it needed, other times, efficiency and/or clarity makes it happen. Does this help? Been creating/writing/fixing code for almost 50 years.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day" Badfinger
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
It's called burnout, and it's very damaging. The only remedy is to take some time off.
Paul Sanders. If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter - Blaise Pascal. Some of my best work is in the undo buffer.
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OriginalGriff wrote:
there is always something I've been putting off to do
This is why I can't work from home. :sigh:
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
Same here. I only "worked" from home about two weeks during the pandemic and went back to the office months before it was officially allowed. Even after almost three years, I am still the only one in our local team (of a large corporation) that goes to the office every day. I cannot work at home because my "office" is forced to be a corner of my bedroom, and MY BED IS RIGHT THERE! I realized quickly that it was not going to work. But, I guess I am the only one on my team that has this struggle because everyone else seems to be OK with it. Cheers, Russ
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
Take lots of short breaks doing the exact opposite. Get outside, do something physical, etc. I work from home so this is easier. Stay away from the computer/phone on weekends and evenings. Also coding in a field that you are passionate about or working with people you care about is helpful. A body can only take so much sitting motionless and a brain can take only so much focus before they say, “no more”. You have to create the balance that prevents it.
Chris
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
My father used to say that lack of motivation means you don't have a big enough mortgage yet.
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
I have this feeling with some regularity. In your case, I'd wonder what exactly you're working on or trying to. I'm very familiar with the feeling of having bitten off more than I can chew, the dread of things getting gradually more complicated and fragile. Yes it is all a creative endeavor.
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
Do anything but look at a monitor, maybe for a day, maybe for a week (and in that case take vacation in the Rockies). It usually means that either you've exhausted all feasible outcomes in your imagination or there are so many routes you can take that you need to mull over them away from the computer. To me 90% of coding is actually on the whiteboard (the exception being looking through the 100+ functions and classes in an API)
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
Retire. It's pretty great (except for the health care system in lolUSA#n). Seriously, do more analysis on the lack of motivation. Is it really lack of motivation to code, or is it the particular project/environment? In my example, I was at a place where they had these consultants who'd been around for years. Aggressively ignorant on doing things more right(ish)--hard coding magic values, the "new" stuff (MVC) was too hard and they didn't want to learn it, etc, etc, etc. Couldn't get the boss to move on getting rid of these people, so I left. I can't coach people to be better who refuse to try to learn. Fortunately for me, I had the resources to just retire, but short of that, I would've just found another place with more a competent staff. Wasn't demotivated to solve problems, just to be around solving them in a demonstrably terrible way.
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I keep a list of fun, side projects for those times, say, a small app or helper library.
Franc Morales wrote:
I keep a list of fun, side projects for those times, say, a small app or helper library.
Catch-22: The "fun", small apps or helper libraries (the stuff I used to do on my own time, evenings and weekends) is what caused me to burn out. On workdays, as soon as I finished dinner, I worked on my little pet projects until late at night, and I'd dedicate my entire weekends to said projects. As much as I loved it, at one point I just hit a wall and it stopped being "fun"; to this day there are periods where I've literally gone for months without writing a single line of code for myself. I go through my work stuff, sometimes begrudgingly, as it is the way I make a living, but how I use my free time is up to me, and these days I use a very tiny portion of my free time coding. It's not like I don't like coding anymore - right now I'm on holidays, and I've spent quite a bit of time going back to those little side-projects, and I'm loving it - I wished I could do this full-time. But I can't bring myself to code on a "regular" weekend, it seems, knowing I only have 2 days to wind down before going back to work on Monday... I've come to the conclusion that I'll use my free time to code if I feel like it, and if I don't, well, those will be my retirement projects. Translation: What started as a hobby in my teenage years lead me to working in this field (and I wouldn't trade it for the world), but from my perspective work is, still after all these years, getting in the way of my hobby.
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
following is 90% rant coding for a job, is a job the do what you love, and you wont work a day, fallacy is that day to day work, does not cover the reason you might have first loved to program. The "not for you", is either short term thinking. 35 and only in the last year diagnosed ADHD, learning and rethinking mind set around how I approached things, ie I am procrastinating vs PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) and yeah im mind wondering for hours on end, but once I finally kick into coding, the results are 2 or 3 steps iterated along, vs the times I have written first pass, then 3 hours of adjusting. expand this out to days, weeks, months. Is that healthy for all demands of work, no but also sometimes yes. Depression and other mental exhasutions, hyper fixations, also do not help along with the creative load that coding requires. Rubber duck debugging works for some. But explaing to a human, junior, kid, work collage how it works might be enough to get them fingers clicking.
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DerekT-P wrote:
it has the potential to have a LOT of users and that could mean a LOT of support issues, at a time when I'm trying to wind down my coding activities.
If you don't want to support it, you can always open source it and offer it for free. Let the community support it.
Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
If you don't want to support it, you can always open source it and offer it for free. Let the community support it.
I find it interesting you'd suggest this and word it this way. This is no criticism...but hear me out. When "open source" started making waves, I viewed is as kind of a "bad" thing - someone writes something, releases it to the world, and if there's problems, the wonderful thing is that you can go fix it yourself. At least that's how it had been (poorly) presented to me, and my stance against open source had often been, there's no accountability. Who in his right mind would want to commit himself to using a library when there's no-one to shout at when it's broken? Fix it myself? As a developer, I need to spend my own time writing my own software, not fixing other people's bugs. I've come a long way, but (for example) when I look at the amount of NuGet packages out there, and how often things need to be updated...it sometimes makes me wonder if this approach is really the best.
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This is one of the least talked about topic. Believe it or not but programming is hard and creating a mind-blowing software (or even going about changing/fixing an existing one) is a creative task about as difficult as creating a best selling novel or story. Irrespective of whether or not you believe software development is creative (yeah, some folks like to think of it as a purely logical "hard science" which is full of rules and no creativity), you can't deny that there are times when you feel low motivation. Even the most experienced of coders face this sometimes. A problem here is that you can't ask this on any forum because the most usual reply you get is, "Programming isn't for you dude, just choose any other field"! This, I think is both uncalled for and inhumane. If you have nothing positive to offer, at least don't demoralize further an already troubled soul. Well, coming back to the title, what do you do to motivate yourself when there is a project ahead but you just don't feel like working or you sit on the desk and start typing but nothing gets typed there, almost like a "Writer's Block"!
I totally get you. I started coding around 11 - I’m now well north of 50 and I’ve probably thought about coding almost everyday since. It’s obsessed me, it’s a beautiful activity that is also hard, frustrating but rewarding. I’ve often blocked for different reasons:- - the requirements were vague - deep down I didn’t think the feature was valuable (to the user) - I didn’t know where to start - I was burnt out (often because of the above times 100) Depending on above:- - go and do something else (cycling, swimming, etc) - go speak to the (REAL) end user. It will either give you purpose or prove its not valuable - write a failing test for the new feature. Then make it pass! - write a todo list for the feature. Here’s the thing, though, make the next action really, really small so you could just do it will zero effort. Then make the next task that small. Keep going (read “getting things done” for more on this) This should get you going. But remember to look after your mental health x
