Hey everyone! I'm really looking for some outside perspectives on the challenges I've been facing in my programming journey. I've been struggling with burnout and exhaustion repeatedly, and I'm at a loss as to why it keeps happening. I could use some guidance to find a way forward. Here's a bit of background on my experience:
I started my programming journey in August 2022 with the intention of exploring whether I enjoyed it. I kept at it until February 2024 when I burned out while working as a delivery driver, trying to balance my job, studying, and therapy all at once. After quitting due to an injury, my programming journey hit some major bumps. I went from studying just 45 minutes a week to 10 hours a week, and finally, I was able to focus on coding without distractions in 2024. I initially enjoyed backend programming but have since found myself jumping between various subjects, feeling overwhelmed and lacking motivation.
For the last two or three years, I've been stuck in a cycle of going hard for two months then taking off for a similar duration. Each time I attempt to dive back into programming, I dread it more, feeling completely broken and uncertain about what to do next. The emotional aspect of maintaining consistency in programming has been the hardest for me, despite finding occasional joy in solving problems.
I have some exciting project ideas that I would love to tackle, but I often feel unprepared to dive into them. I wonder if I should shift my focus from studying endlessly to actually building projects, as I think that could help me regain interest. I'm also dealing with social anxiety, which prevents me from connecting with others in the programming world.
Any thoughts on how I can approach this differently or ways to overcome this dread? I'm looking for advice on maintaining motivation and finding the right balance.
1 Answer
You mentioned feeling exhausted and burnt out, which is pretty common for self-taught programmers. Instead of trying to learn everything from scratch, maybe consider leveraging existing code and modifying it to fit your projects. You'd be surprised how much you can learn just from piecing things together instead of starting from zero every time!
Got it! So, you’re saying I should focus on modifying existing code to complete my projects instead of always trying to rebuild everything from scratch. I'm definitely up for that! Thanks for the advice!