

Ask HN: how to be constantly motivated as a developer? - learner_dev

I've been a software developer for almost 10 years now, and have worked for known big companies, as well as few years at startups. After a while at any company, I noticed that I grow frustrated and just recently I understood the actual reason for that: I need to be constantly learning. I like to learn new languages, new tools, put in place new processes, improve the development, improve the code, and investigate root cause of challenging production issues. It doesn't have to be about technology necessarily, but I need to be making progress, learning more about the world in general, in a way that I can apply this knowledge.<p>I've seen that, due to business needs or other reasons, I end up doing the same things for a long time and, although there are always chances of learning, they tend not to be very frequent or as much as I would need. In spite of that, I've always been a high performer even when demotivated. I do push myself at home to keep growing, but I need to be really motivated to go to work as well, as I know I can do better.<p>It seems that, if I can find a way of leveraging these skills and will to keep learning and improving myself, I would impact teams and companies much more than what I've been doing. I thought of joining startups or starting my own, but don't know if that solves the problem. And currently I am demotivated at a new job after only a few months, what makes me worried as this cannot go on like that forever.<p>Does any have any piece of advice? Has anyone gone through something similar? Any company or position that you'd suggest I take a look at? Is there any company that really values this kind of professional?<p>Thanks.
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wallflower
Work doesn't seem like play for you anymore.

> I do push myself at home to keep growing

1) You need some side projects. The word push is a key. The key here is the
definition:

"Side projects allow programming without deadlines or restraints. Side
projects allow programming in an exploratory way."

[http://rawsyntax.com/post/5982784556/importance-of-side-
proj...](http://rawsyntax.com/post/5982784556/importance-of-side-projects)

2) Without knowing what you do in your free time, my advice is that you look
outside what you do for a living to learn something. Think of it like
diversification - you don't want to have all your stocks in technology -
consider investing time in non-technology.

What would you do if you didn't have to work? What interested you when you
were young and didn't have adult responsibilities? Combine that with
volunteering if you can. As a stop-gap, volunteer your considerable technical
skills for a non-profit who has a mission that you believe in. Or, organize a
group of people to help accomplish something. Good luck!

3) Exercise!

~~~
learner_dev
Great link on side projects - "It will remind you why programming is fun." :-)

I've been doing a lot of reading, but since a few weeks back I started working
on a side project as a way of learning new technologies. Maybe I should
diversify - I've been always interested in financing too.

Volunteering can give more purpose to life and is definitely a good
suggestion. Thanks for the suggestions.

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keiferski
Thought from left field:

Have you considered starting a _cough_ lifestyle business, or less-
controversially, working as a contractor for <20 hours/week?

The idea would be to earn a decent living from a part-time source, and spend
the rest of your time learning new languages, tools, etc. In other words,
disconnect your dreams from your job. If jobs aren't fulfilling you, change
your definition of "job" to "something that pays the bills."

~~~
learner_dev
That is not a bad idea, actually. It could be a way of having time for other
things, which could even be an idea to start a company at some point.

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vahidR
Join to Open Source/Free software community. Side projects and GitHub will
become your saviors :)

