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Ask HN: Trouble focusing on improving outside of job

5 points by batt4good ↗ HN
Fortunately, after a 6-month bout of unemployment after leaving a BigCo (on neutral terms that I could not control) I luckily landed a job at a fantastic startup in NYC in February. Given the current circumstances I cannot express how thankful I am to currently be employed in an org that supports me.

However, ADHD and covid WFH aside I'm having a lot of trouble gaining the energy or focus to continue improving as a developer. During my job search I was mostly studying for interviews which didn't really improve my generalist dev skills.

I primarily work in elixir but have side-project aspirations in JS and react. I'm scared now, because my skills seem to be growing slowly at work but otherwise be stuck in "tutorial hell" as is sometimes discussed elsewhere on HN.

I have the chops but I think my approach to side-projects / improving has just been too scattered.

I cannot emphasize how scared I am that I will become a complacent engineer that doesn't in time either start their own company or continue to move up the latter.

For context, I'm two years out of school.

Any help is appreciated. The startup I work for is also actively looking for React and Elixir devs - more than happy to make introductions.

8 comments

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heldrida
It's very beneficial to do something else that is not related with code or tech outside work, even if just enjoying your life.

Do not feel that you have to code 24 hours a day or learn everything that comes up, it's not possible.

Do you!

batt4good
I totally agree, and most of what I do outside of work isn't directly work related (even though that's been very challenging during quarantine). The most fun I've had in a while is coming up with an idea and banging on the keyboard until it comes out haha.

However, that said. Code could help some of my non-work related projects.

I actually really enjoy coding outside of work - just having trouble even with ADHD meds getting properly focused to learn code related things I guess?

deallocator
Hey, can you email me some more information about the startup? wannes.gennar [at] gmail [dot] com
batt4good
I should add, we are only hiring within the NYC metro area.
davidajackson
Does the startup you work for allow you work time to learn new skills? You could mention what additional areas you could contribute in if you had skills XYZ, and here is your path to learning them.
batt4good
They've been very supportive, however I usually like to have delineation between work and side projects I stand to profit from.

I have had some time to learn a bit about React and TypeScript from our front-end people. It's hard to communicate over slack, but it's cool to have pro's I can bounce questions off of.

Jugurtha
>I primarily work in elixir but have side-project aspirations in JS and react. I'm scared now, because my skills seem to be growing slowly at work but otherwise be stuck in "tutorial hell" as is sometimes discussed elsewhere on HN.

If I were in your situation, I'd drop the side projects and totally commit to the work codebase and own it all, build tooling for the team, add in whatever is missing: from issue templates to tests, from docs to monitoring, from automatic deployments to refactoring. Then think about the whole product, from design to the value it creates. Think of how you can build that organization and make it a success. Hiring, operating. Divided attention seldom gets you anywhere, so focusing on what will make that startup a success, whatever that is, is the way to go in my opinion.

You'll get good faster and, ironically, you'll have more time for other activities. But the other way isn't that effective: being spread too thin, not up to the task at work, and wanting to improve at something else. Being good at things compounds and frees up time to expand and explore more meta things.

It's hard to be on multiple fronts, especially with your predicament. Sequential gets things done.

You'll also be given more latitude in your job because you deliver and add value.

Yes, this may be terrible career advice because one might argue that side projects are good for a résumé and you want to start a company. I'd argue that being distracted is harming both your career and your prospects of starting a company.

I'd say commit. Commit to doing a great job with the company you're in right now. Climbing up the ladder, as you say, will be a consequence if you're at a good company.

throw51319
This is def solid advice. Once you have a good idea of the codebase, going hard like this would be like a few months of investment? Which I think pays more dividends unless you have a burning desire for something on the side (mastering interviews, project, side business, etc).