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How to balance work, career development and personal projects (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago by galaxy_nova@lemmy.world to c/programming@programming.dev

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Hopefully this isn’t too meta for this community. It’s been about a year since I finished school and have been working. I’m struggling to find the right balance between hobbies, personal projects, and also trying to get better/ higher paying job. I find that after a day of solving issues, banging my head into the wall wondering what previous owners of the codebase have done and dealing with business users makes me desperately want to have control over my own work. Whenever I get home though even though I might be excited to code something I just never seem to find the mental energy to do anything. After the gym and cooking a dinner I simply am so wiped I can’t do anything. Instead of making software, or doing music, I just end up watching tv, heck I’m usually too dead to even play video games. I desperately am also trying to avoid the “productivity pit” that is shoved in our faces everywhere but I really don’t want to let my skills atrophy or prevent me from being able to hop to a higher paying job in an industry I’m more interested in if I’m lucky eventually. How the heck do you all manage it?

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[–] okwhateverdude@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Don't over do it. As an early career technologist, there is lots to learn at work. Yes, personal projects are great and learning about different things is nice, but look for opportunities to align your interests with work's. It is too easy to burn yourself out. Especially in the current robots-write-all-the-tedious-code-for-you present. If you can learn and accomplish things at the same time at work, that will do wonders for your CV. Your next employer won't really be all that interested in framework X or language Y other than as a baseline to get in the door. Everyone else will know those things, too. What will make you stand out to future employers is the impact of your current work projects and your ability to cogently discuss it. Software is a means to an end.

Take it from someone with 25 years professional experience in a variety of industries, languages, and tech stacks: protect your brain, man. There will always be something new to learn and some kinda project to do. Don't let the FOMO ruin you. I am currently burned out and on sick leave because I ignored this very advice I am giving you.

[–] galaxy_nova@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago

I hope you are able to take some time and recover. Honestly I experienced some burnout at the end of my MS and my brain just turned to mush. I’m honestly struggling with AI as well because although I prefer writing everything myself, web searching sucks now, and it’s very compelling to have AI do stuff like scan codebases for you and write boilerplate, but it just makes me feel like shit every time I use it. At the very least though your advice makes me feel a lot less bad about going home and just chilling out after work.

[–] vanillama@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I hope you rest and recover soon!

[–] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

Also, avoid shitty workplaces. Nobody else except you is going to defend your health. Especially companies which are unable to think farther than the end of the current quarter.