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Lost interest in programming

25 points by lost_interest ↗ HN
I currently have a job with a big company with a decent income. I do my job pretty well, but it is clear that I lack initiative and could be more proactive. I can implement and build things fast, solve complex bugs and problems, but all I want is to get it done - I don't do anything extra to make it better, or find out if what I am asked to do makes any real difference, or find new things I could work on to make an impact.

Over the years I have sort of lost interest in technology. I know enough to do my job well, read hn and news and stuff, but that's about it. I don't try out new things. I have an attitude that it is mostly just the same 1s and 0s that I can figure out if I really want to.

I am actually going to join a startup for a lot less pay soon, but I am just joining for the experience, hoping a change of environment might help with my general apathy. I am not sure though.

Anyone else has this feeling, and how did you resolve it?

10 comments

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[dead] hockeybias
I have had that feeling, it was related to a serioud non-work semi-crises/distraction.

Is there anything troubling you that your 'lost interest' may be a more-or-less symptom of?

alttab
I had the same lack of motivation to program at my previous job. Changing to a start up environment makes it feel much like your project and not someone else's.

If your passion lays in programming and you have this problem then a change in scenery will help a whole lot - it did for me at least.

dstik
I also felt very similar to this at my previous job, it was a software engineering position at a very big corporate company. I went from frustrated to burnt out, working endless hours on work I didn't care about and generally wasn't proud of; I was pretty miserable, down and out. I was losing my mind, considering moving across the country, looking for jobs abroad (not that these are necessarily bad ideas)..

Switching to a start up completely changed my life. I completely agree with alttab, I feel more ownership over the projects I work on, definitely more pride and excitement. I think you need a change of pace, a start up would be a great idea. Try to take a week off to clear your head in between jobs though, you'll want to go in with an open and clear mind without thinking about or being depressed about your previous job.

Also, don't get too focused on the salary. As some recent HN posts have also outlined lately, there is much more to life than your salary and I think you'll really begin to get your excitement and life back.

devmonk
Join the crowd. I used to work with a guy that said he'd rather be a groundskeeper and mow grass. I totally sympathized with him then, and somewhat felt the same way. But at this point am so burnt out and bored with development that I am seriously considering changing careers.

There are a number of problems with this though. Go to Indeed.com and type in the name of the language you know. Look at the many opportunities and how many of those fall into respectable salary ranges. Now type in other occupations. Not quite as good, huh. On the bright side, Indeed.com mines Dice, Monster, and other tech-oriented jobs, and many opportunities are duplicates because different recruiters are advertising the same opportunities.

Anyway, let's assume you are still burnt out and the reality that you will probably make less money doesn't scare you. I am also in that situation, so I understand.

Here's some stuff to look at:

Skim down this list: http://www.daveramsey.com/store/cBOOKS-p1.html

Read 48 Days to the Work You Love

Do the PrincetonReview Career Quiz: http://www.princetonreview.com/CareerQuizResults.aspx

Don't feel shame for wanting to do something else. It is normal.

If you are so hateful of your current job and work, it could just be the environment too. But for me it isn't. I like coding, but it gets boring. And technology for the sake of technology is lame. Whoopie- So there's xxxx (name your favorite new tool, programming language, etc.) Who cares.

That's as far as I've gotten though. Just don't jump off a cliff. You should take risks, but just quitting is probably not the right answer. Although I've thought about it. A LOT. And I think this job is affecting my health (random abnormal head pains, etc. that don't match any known description of disease I've seen, that went away mostly while on vacation).

solus
This is a normal feeling. I think that everyone goes through the apathy stage when they get "comfortable". The trick is to figure out your motivations and use them to get yourself feeling less secure. Sometimes, I confront my ignorance of topics outside my work scope. I look at the amazing work people are doing in Haskell or read about a new startup. Thinking about how much I don't know and all the things I haven't accomplished but would like to keeps me going.

If that doesn't work - go to the gym and workout as hard as you can. You'll remember what it feels like to put your full effort towards something.

pizza_
Why would you join a startup if you don't get an emotional thrill from your job? I thought that was the point.
udzinari
Try Lisp! I was much like you, Lisp brought back the fun for me.
dstein
I starting learning how to program just to "see if I could do it". Once I became a good enough to code anything I wanted, programming became boring. There was really no satisfaction in coding something that I already knew how to do.

I think the trick is to keep finding problems that you don't know how to accomplish, and would like to learn/hack a solution.

For me, I eventually started trying to tackle problems from a completely new approach, it got me really excited, and I am now developing my own programming language and start-up around it. And now I have never been more interested in programming in my life. I am completely fascinated with boolean logic and number theory and spend way too much time reading Wikipedia articles on a wide range of nerdy things. Programming became fun again because I was learning again.

gruseom
I reached the point where it was either quit the software industry or work on something I could be passionate about. I chose the latter.
mattm
Give back. Try teaching what you know.