
Ask HN: Can't code for hours since it became a job - Void_
I used to be able to code for hours in school.<p>Since I started working for money, this ability is gone.<p>The other day we played World of Warcraft in the office, and I realized I spent 4 hours in it without even noticing. It was perfectly easy.<p>Coding used to be like that. It&#x27;s not anymore.<p>One thing that changed is that I was completely careless in school. It really didn&#x27;t matter to me if I didn&#x27;t do anything useful all week.<p>What do you think I should do? Try and change my perception of coding? Should I try and focus less on the reward?
======
issa
Perspective: You are complaining about a job that somehow let you play 4 hours
of WoW while at work.

~~~
serf
Perspective: That complaint sounds totally reasonable to someone like me who
gets bored easily.

If my work can't capture my attention and use wisely the time I allocate to my
group, it's going to be a negative experience for me.

As alluring the prospect, as someone who has been paid to twiddle their thumbs
for a few hours -- it's not fun. It's boring and it feels wasteful.

In other words : I'd rather be at my own house doing nothing than sharing the
experience with co-workers, cold lighting, and substantially less alcohol.

------
meesterdude
What you're facing is resistance. The reason you code has changed, but you're
not motivated by the new reason.

Identify what matters to you in life, what you need to do to do it, and then
do that. If programming is part of that, move through it. If it's not, do
something else.

But don't wait till you "feel like it". that's a crappy driver. Stephen king
writes every day, no matter how he feels. That's what separates the amateur
from the professional.

A good book on this, is "the war of art" [http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-
war-of-art/](http://www.stevenpressfield.com/the-war-of-art/)

------
regulation_d
As someone who started writing code not that long ago, i remember pretty
vividly the first time I heard about programming “in anger”. That phrase
immediately clicked with me. Working in an environment where expectations
matter just feels categorically different.

It took me a while to learn how much distance there is between “it works” and
“it doesn’t break”. When i was first learning to code the goal was “it works”.
When i started getting paid to write software the goal became “it doesn’t
break”, which slowed down my velocity a lot, which was discouraging.

Eventually “it doesn’t break” becomes the norm and you get faster and more
comfortable. It just takes time.

------
bonesss
_" Son, there's a reason they call it 'work' and not 'blowjob'."_

And that quote is both flippant, and exactly correct.

\---

1) anxiety, impostor syndrome, uncertainty, vagueness, complexity, open loops,
etc etc all conspire to create some analysis paralysis and the general
sensation of everything else being more fun that we all know too well [0].

2) Be honest and figure out exactly what it is that is making your focus fall
off

3) Start doing Test Driven Development. It's a decent enough habit in general,
but for you specific problem it is golden because it a) forces you to define
your problems better _up front_ thereby decreasing your anxiety, and b)
contains problems requiring less overall focus to complete your tasks.

\--

[0] [http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/the-
intern...](http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/the-internet-
research-paper.jpg)

~~~
n4r9
It feels like this is about motivation/interest rather than anxiety. Your 2)
sounds useful but I doubt TDD would help regain lost interest.

~~~
bonesss
Anxiety is a broad word: what is causing the continued disruption, what is it
that is causing his brain to seek entertainment elsewhere, why is he taking
coding breaks? Genuine disinterest articulates itself a little differently,
but misplaced anxiety about solutions will come up as break, break, break,
breaks to flow.

For newer devs TDD is about removing obstacles to flow and clarifying action
as much as the design/testing benefits. It won't solve genuine disinterest,
but look at this threads title... it doesn't say "I find code boring" it says
"I can't persist with coding any more".

------
maxharris
Just force yourself to get started, without making excuses, and then you'll
find yourself in the thick of it again.

I have to do this every Monday.

------
brudgers
People change over time. Relationships with activities evolve and change. Over
the time span of a decade, there will be periods of more interest and
engagement with an activity and periods of less. Life happens and programming
or reading or gaming doesn't occur in a vacuum. Some days/weeks/months there's
more to be gained from doing, others from not doing.

Vacations, sabbaticals, breaks are good. Though taking one is a luxury not
afforded to many people in the world, it is not wrong to grasp an opportunity
to do so when it presents itself. Doubling down on burnout doesn't make it go
away.

Good luck.

------
smt88
Not every fun hobby is fun as a job. You mentioned the exact reason: when it
was just a hobby, it didn't matter if you accomplished anything _and_ you got
to decide what you worked on.

I can't tell you how to like something more, but I can tell you that most
people don't have fun or fulfilling jobs, and that's OK. The rest of your life
might be enjoyable enough that it doesn't matter.

It's also OK if you look for a career change. Just because you loved coding
and used to be easily absorbed by it doesn't mean it should be your career.

------
serpix
I've come to the realization the key difference is working code needs to be an
order of magnitude more robust than hobby projects. There is a major
difference in energy needed to get there. Spending this energy costs and there
comes a point where programming becomes taxing instead of recharging.

Take care of your recovery, have outside interests to programming and realize
as you age your ability to recover slows down even more, but your abilities
also change. Wisdom accumulated along the way make you able to use your energy
wisely.

------
badpun
Coding at work is very different than coding for yourself. At work, you need
to create code that solves somebody else's problem (that, usually, matters
little or not at all to you) and by modyfing an existing code base, using
preexisting build tools etc. There's a ton of external constraints and less
than ideal circumstances that you need to adhere to.

To me, coding by myself can feel like tending to my own beautiful garden,
while coding at a job feels more like working at a landfill.

~~~
elderK
This, exactly. :)

------
jjeaff
This might be a controversial answer, but one of the symptoms of adult ADD is
the inability to focus on things that don't interest you, even though you may
hyperfocus on a specific task or project that you are interested in "like
WoW".

The currently available prescriptions for add are extremely effective and even
help you take pride and get focus in even menial tasks that previously were
nearly impossible.

If it's affecting your work, it's probably worth talking to a psychiatrist.

------
andrei_says_
Given that rewards kill intrinsic motivation, it’s a good idea that you focus
on coding for its sake.

------
Chyzwar
I had a short period where I had trouble being productive. It was a
combination of technology that I was no longer interested and lack of product
vision of the company.

You need to find your drive/motivation. Some programmes are excited by
technology - specific programming language or tech like ML/Cloud/OS. Others
are creators that want to build things, deliver new features and seeing others
benefiting from their work. There are people that code for money, selling
their craft for as much as possible. There are even people that are more
interested in teaching/mentoring.

When you find out what motivate you. Then it is "just" matter of finding a
right place.

------
ekr
Sounds like the overjustification effect
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overjustification_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overjustification_effect)).

------
late2part
It’s clear in my opinion that you don’t like what you do. If you were
gratified and enjoyed it you would not have these opinions. I recommend you
look into Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. And determine why you chose this path.
Determine if it is indeed gratification that is lacking or something else.

It seems to me you may have never really hit rock bottom and known what it’s
like to lack basic requirements.

This seems to me like an existential problem - you find world of Warcraft fun
and passable but not Your work. Ask yourself why - not how to fix it. When you
know why the action will be clear.

------
bartvk
A friend of mine covered a scientific study with a solution to this problem.
What it comes down to, is that you shouldn't program for money. Instead, look
at it how the money enables you to be a programmer.

[https://medium.com/@robwolfpetersen/the-passion-problem-
and-...](https://medium.com/@robwolfpetersen/the-passion-problem-and-what-to-
do-about-it-9f12d162e498)

------
heldrida
You can work on your side project, or contribute to open source project(s)
that you may use personally or at work. You're lucky to have enough time to
play WoW, but you can use that time wisely. Appreciate it and use it for your
personal development to help you contribute back to the company!

------
mwj
Find an industry that interests you. Focus on the delivery of your projects.
There's more to finishing than just churning out code. You'll get the same
reward you used get from hobby coding. Make the financial reward is a side
benefit.

------
zupa-hu
There is nothing wrong with you. Your primary motivator is not money, which is
actually great for you. You should be involved in something that interests
you. Maybe starting a startup would be your thing.

------
carlmr
I think the problem is you're just looking at the faraway deadline and getting
demotivated. One book that helped me is _One Small Step Can Change Your Life:
The Kaizen Way_ by Robert Maurer.

------
snissn
It's called work for a reason!

------
some_account
Be a programmer because you like to write code. The reward is the running
software. The salary is the compensation for your time spent working for a
company.

Time is much more valuable than money, but society needs you to want money,
appreciation and things so you feel it's a reward. :)

