Why I don’t burnout and still love programming
If you have over 5 years of programming experience, it’s quite likely that you’ve experienced burnout at some point.
You’re facing a 10-day deadline, and you end up procrastinating for the first 8 days because you just didn’t have the mood to work. However, you managed to complete the task within the last two days out of necessity.
It’s a familiar scenario — you open your laptop, but the motivation to code consistently for the 5th or 6th year isn’t there.
I began my journey in the programming world almost 10 years ago. I have been working as a software engineer for 8 consecutive years. The last few years lacked proper vacations, and at times, I experienced burnout. Nevertheless, I still find joy in my work every day, and in this article, I will share my secret…
The Journey into the World of Programming
When I was learning programming, at some point I understood that this is the thing that I want to do every day. I fell in love with programming, and it became one of the prioritized hobbies in my life.
I got a bit crazy, didn’t sleep well, and missed my breakfasts and lunches. I was like a zombie, undisturbedly consuming new information from the internet. And it boosted my career.
You may say — we all understand that if you’re doing something too much, then you will lose your interest too early.
- Fortunately, my case is quite different.
Hobbies
I’m not quite sure why, but it feels like I have too many hobbies (magic tricks, cycling, running, podcasting, writing etc). You might think that I simply adopt a hobby for a couple of weeks and then promptly forget about it. However, that’s not the case; I genuinely strive to deeply immerse myself in any aspect that captivates me.
I spent 4–5 years learning magic tricks, 3–4 years cycling and running long distances, and so on … Sometimes I even sensed that my focus leaned more towards one of those aspects rather than on programming itself.
While having those types of hobbies, I never felt that I was losing my interest in programming. Programming still is a hobby and that pursuit helps me make money and concentrate on other hobbies.
We, engineers, spend lots of time doing the same thing every day. Even though it can be a hobby for us, we may lose interest if we do it too much.
Somehow, we need to maintain a balance, just like on the cover of this article. On the left side, there’s a large stone symbolizing programming, which often consumes most of our time. Finding a similar stone for the right side to achieve balance is challenging, as we have limited time in our day. So that’s why on the right side of the cover we have multiple stones on top of each other. Each of those can carry a different weight, and each can bring various emotions and joy to our day.
It’s quite similar to my situation; every day, I spend hours coding, but I make an effort to maintain my interest and prevent burnout through other hobbies.
If you like dancing, why you don’t practice every day?
In addition to my hobbies mentioned above, I also enjoy Latin dancing, and I practiced for 1–2 years. I prioritized it in my daily routine because I enjoyed dancing.
One day, I asked the question above to one of my friends, and he replied:
Even though I have plenty of time and enjoy dancing, I don’t want to lose my dancing interest. If I practice every day, it’s likely that I will lose the interest in dancing in a short period.
The thing is, that unintentionally, I had too many hobbies at the same time, and they all helped and continue to help me maintain my interest in programming.
Sometimes, I feel like I have a new hobby addiction. However, I understand that if I try to balance my hobbies, as my friend mentioned, I can’t get the maximum from each one, and it will definitely affect my interest in programming. Because I have some expectations from me, and I need to satisfy them mentally and not only. Just programming can’t always satisfy me. I strive to extract the most from each hobby, and whenever I feel it’s losing its appeal, I seek out another one or an old one.
I wouldn’t say that I disagree with my friend. He is right. However, each of us has our priorities and interests in life. Somehow, I ended up in this situation that magically works, and I am not displeased with it.
No burnout? You don’t lie?
I would lie If I said I never had a burnout situation. Even though I shared my story, I want to mention that I still have burnout sometimes. But the level of that burnout isn’t significant. It has a really weak effect.
We need to understand that it’s not possible to prevent burnout completely. We just need to minimize it. If it weren’t minimal in my case, I wouldn’t continue to enjoy coding, and I wouldn’t love to continue programming like some of my friends who decided to switch from programming to business or project management.
Programming as a hobby
If this is not the case, then it’s probably harder for you. Because you’re not enjoying your job. You shouldn’t restrict yourself to programming just because it’s popular or lucrative. No, you need to start loving it; you need to take it as a hobby. Otherwise, you might find yourself in a huge struggle, at least in the long run for sure.
Summary
If you are a beginner, if you have just started your journey in programming, try to gather as much information as you can. The longer you do the same thing, the more likely you are to get tired of it. In the beginning, your productivity is high, but over time, it tends to decrease. Try to understand that and pace yourself. As someone who has been in software engineering for more than 5 years, also concentrate on other things. Make sure that you are satisfying your needs.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you found it valuable. Feel free to ask any questions or tweet me @nairihar
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