
Ask HN: What should I do when I'm bored with my career? - throwaway12JpuG
I really like programming but I quickly get bored at work. I often work on personal projects during work hours because they&#x27;re more interesting. The success or failure of a business, even one I depend on for income, does not motivate me. None of my personal projects are monetizable. They&#x27;re just things I do to learn. It&#x27;s the experience of learning that excites me. I have a little experience teaching (after-school program) and writing about what I learn. I enjoy that too. My ideal life would be one where I am free to explore things that interest me and share that knowledge with others.<p>Unfortunately, I can&#x27;t afford not to work. So I need a career of some kind and am looking for a career that&#x27;s more aligned with what naturally motivates me. I&#x27;ve contemplated going back to school but am not convinced this is a good idea. I have a degree from an art school, no formal computer science education, and no math since highschool. I also don&#x27;t have much money. If I wanted to study computer science, I&#x27;d have to start at the undergraduate level and borrow a lot of money. School as an investment makes sense to me but I&#x27;m not sure what I would be investing in. I don&#x27;t think a career in academia would appeal to me, and borrowing that much money because I&#x27;m bored at work sounds like a bad idea.<p>Does anyone have a suggestion for what I can&#x2F;should do to improve my circumstances?
======
fecak
I do career consulting (and resume writing) mostly for clients from tech. I
think some arrangement where you had multiple forms of income (or potential
income) might be a good solution for you. What might that look like?

\- Freelance software development - This would give you some control over what
types of projects you work on, and you could focus on areas that really
interest you. Maybe it would be projects that enable you to learn a new
language. You also can typically work from home, and you will be able to
balance your time between different work.

\- Freelance writing - If your writing is good you can certainly pick up some
$$ here and there by writing articles for tech sites. I've done that for tech
sites as a writer on career topics, and many of these sites are always seeking
new content. The amount of money may not be a game changer, but if you enjoy
the work you can probably make this 10% of your overall income.

Personal projects - Perhaps some of them can be monetized and you just haven't
come up with the correct concept. Or perhaps you can come up with some ideas
for projects that are both interesting and able to be monetized.

Working for yourself is quite motivating. I've done it for several years, and
when failure isn't an option you will find ways to stay motivated. I spent 20
years in recruiting before transitioning fully to my current job (resume
writing, content writing, career consulting, other freelance writing
projects), and I've really enjoyed the change.

Some people aren't cut out for a 9-5. I certainly am not, and it doesn't sound
like you are either.

~~~
smoqadam
interesting about writing, could you please mention some of the tech sites
that pay money for content?

~~~
fecak
I've been paid by Dzone.com (for both writing and editing) and TechBeacon. I
was published a few times by Lifehacker although I don't remember if those
were paid (and they aren't what I'd consider a tech site).

Reaching out to site editors with a couple samples of work could find you
getting work published. As a freelance software developer, getting paid to
write is nice, but just getting published can help increase exposure and lead
to more incoming requests for project work and improved reputation.

------
setquk
Accept it or change it.

Accepting it is transitioning from the realisation that you’re doing it
because it’s interesting to doing it because it pays the bills and funds other
interests.

Changing it is transitioning something else into the place that is currently
occupied by work.

Both of these require finding something that interests you so start there.

But remember, life is long, interests wax and wane so this is perfectly normal
and don’t sweat it as some failure or worry about it being a wrong attitude.

Edit: Just to add I’ve been through this twice. First I changed it (electrical
engineering to software engineering). Now I accept it because my interests
will never pay the bills I have :)

------
mapcars
Boredom is caused by a lack of attention. You can change your activity as much
as you want but after some time it will become boring again.

The only solution is to realize the scale of this Grand Happening which we
call as life or existence. That every day comes fresh and new, not a single
atom is the same as it was a moment ago. But if you don't have this much
attention it feels "the same", "boring". And it's not about the job only,
friends, family, movie you name it.

If you realize this you can swipe a floor for the lifetime and it will never
be boring.

~~~
barry0079
I'd love it if you could share some more information or materials on this.
It's something I've been trying to comprehend and understand in my own way.

~~~
mapcars
Here you go:
[https://www.ishafoundation.org/news/columns/Bliss/2009/Bliss...](https://www.ishafoundation.org/news/columns/Bliss/2009/Bliss-6Sep2009.pdf)

~~~
rbosinger
You're living in your own petty creation, man!

Just kidding. Aside from some of the funny wording this is a nice, simple
philosophy and I'm going to think about it today.

~~~
mapcars
Be careful: you are going to think about something which requires you not to
think. Think twice about that ;)

------
phkahler
You may want to change your attitude toward work. There's a reason it's called
"work" and not playtime. There's a reason they pay you to do it.

I like to think about the guy stuck in a shit town, working in a coal mine.
Maybe they all drink themselves to oblivion and I'm delusional, but I envision
at least some of them this way: Guy goes down there and busts his ass all day
in the dark, getting dirty as fuck, probably doing long term damage to his
lungs and such. But it's his job and at the end of the day he goes home to his
wife, kids, and dog, and realizes that work is just something he has to do to
support the parts of his life he cares about.

>> Does anyone have a suggestion for what I can/should do to improve my
circumstances?

Yeah, quit acting like an entitled little child. Be grateful that you have a
job that often requires more education than you have. Stop thinking you can
just monetize some personal interests and retire. Life requires effort, give
it some. Once you get over that hump you may be able to consider which
alternative you're willing to put actual effort toward.

~~~
GuiA
While it might feel good to admonish people and tell them that they have to
get tough and suck it up and pull themselves by their bootstraps, it typically
does not do anything to help them; particularly if they are taking the
initiative to ask for help in the first place.

OP more likely than not realizes that they are in a situation of privilege
compared to someone working in the mines to sustain their family; if they are
posting here, then clearly that insight alone has not sufficed to help them
deal with what they are feeling.

All we know from OP is 3 paragraphs of text they wrote, asking for help;
telling them to stop “acting like an entitled little child” is downright rude
and not what HN is about.

~~~
phkahler
I realize my response may not be helpful and is not in the normal spirit of
HN. But OP said this "My ideal life would be one where I am free to explore
things that interest me and share that knowledge with others."

Look, not everyone can be an Instagram model or a YouTube star. Sometimes a
good smack in the face is what's needed to spark a little motivation.
Sometimes not, but I think it's worth putting out there.

For some less harsh motivation I'll offer this:

[https://www.ted.com/talks/mel_robbins_how_to_stop_screwing_y...](https://www.ted.com/talks/mel_robbins_how_to_stop_screwing_yourself_over?language=en)

~~~
PascLeRasc
[https://twitter.com/dril/status/473265809079693312?s=21](https://twitter.com/dril/status/473265809079693312?s=21)

I think it says a lot about your worldview and experience if you think there
are only two careers (industry drone and Instagram celebrity). There are lots
of jobs people find happiness through, like teaching or creating art. If you
have some time off work for new years, I'd recommend playing the game The
Stanley Parable.

~~~
seatdrummer
Do you think the person you replied to would really think their world view is
based off the two paths you've listed? Also deferring to a video game for
philosophical discussion....

------
bgdam
I found myself in a similar situation about a year ago. Started developing
[https://mocktastic.com](https://mocktastic.com) (REST API mocking electron
app, with team collaboration) on the side. It's kept me going through periods
of mind numbing boredom in office, even though the user growth has been rather
slow (but steady).

I'd say find an area of interest – one that doesn't have anything to do with
programming. Then learn as much as you can about it. Next, identify things you
can change with your programming skill.

Once, you've identified 3/4 things, find some people who make a living
dependent on those things. Go talk to them about how you would improve things.
If they light up, it's time to start coding. Else find something else to
change.

The combination of learning about a new industry you know not much about and
trying to build a solution for that industry, should keep you busy outside
office. Leverage that, and use your office time as your down time.

~~~
rboyd
great name!

------
TheRealWatson
This is just my experience and of some I observe around me. I see a lot of
very talented and passionate developers wanting to come up with personal
projects that can make them money but, because they're so deeply interested in
software engineering, the only ideas they have are related to (surprise!)
software engineering problems.

Yes, you can make money selling products or services for software development
but to really come up with something that reaches more people or businesses
you need to invest in other interests, you need to be around more non-techies,
you need to try more concrete world things.

Use your acute problem analysis and solving skills to identify and model
problems in the world "out there." Model and remodel the problem to
exhaustion, fall in love with it; think, design, experiment solutions and a
why people would pay for it.

It's possible there's a lot of stuff to learn in this whole process. And you
can do this over and over, with different problem spaces, if you become good
at it.

------
davidscolgan
In short, part time remote freelance web development. Do it for 10-20 hours a
week depending on how much money you need/want. Do whatever you want with the
rest of your time.

I've been doing this for 8 years (the entirety of my professional career).

I've had times when I worked about 10 hours a week and nomaded around Europe.

I've had times when I wanted to build a thing, so I spent 30 hours a week
working on the project and 10 hours a week on freelance. The thing didn't work
out but it didn't matter because I had "safer" money coming in from
freelancing.

I've had times when I wanted more money, so I worked about 30 hours a week on
freelance to build up some savings.

I absolutely love this lifestyle and have basically complete control of my
time now other than the time I put into freelance. I currently work about 3-4
hours in the morning in my home office and then do whatever in the afternoons.
Currently my afternoon project is a website for helping other developers
switch from full time employment to this part time lifestyle
(www.lessboring.com).

If you can succeed at full time development employment, you can succeed in
freelance, you just have to learn some social skills and some business skills
depending on how much you know about those areas. The people I see who are
struggling as freelancers seem to basically think they can operate exactly as
an employee and succeed independently.

OP, I'd be happy to talk with you specifically over email or the phone about
your situation. My email's in my profile. I've basically determined that my
life goal is to help people get better jobs they actually enjoy, and as a
developer you have way more options than most people since development is such
a valuable skill right now.

------
gdubs
There’s an old zen expression: “Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”

One benefit I’ve found from meditating is that it makes me less judgemental of
tasks and more willing to approach everything in life with a desire to do the
task well.

I’d recommend reading one of Phil Jackson’s books (the NBA coach). He’s got
some great thoughts on Zen, and it’s interesting to see how he used meditation
to help superstar athletes with big egos to focus on tasks that others might
find “boring”.

My naive impression of why this is effective is that meditation helps your
brain realize that labels like “fun”, or “boring”, tend to fall apart upon
scrutiny.

------
deepaksurti
Most of us , whether we realise it or agree or not, work for income which in
turn allows us to work on more interesting things. Some may save up some money
which lasts for a duration and go do the interesting things. You are doing it
right!

However what will help is doing it differently. Can you do time blocking? I
assume that while you are doing interesting things at work, no one notices or
cares. That is a great job! So why not block your 1st half to do the necessary
boring work, and the second half the interesting work. Win Win! I agree this
may need some discipline but think of it as a daily ritual! Btw, many greats
[1] have had rituals like this, so who knows? :-)

The other aspect you might be missing is 'when interesting things turn
boring'. Usually that happens when you want to ship the product and you hit
the long tail of shipping. Try replacing 'doing interesting' vs 'doing
interesting and shipping'. But we don't want to give up the idea of doing only
interesting? That happens when you can work through the boring parts of
shipping an interesting piece of work. Keep trying and you will find it, then
find a job in that domain or do your startup in that domain and you are set. I
realised 3D graphics was my calling the same way, so I am saying from
experience.

[1] : [https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Rituals-How-Artists-
Work/dp/030...](https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Rituals-How-Artists-
Work/dp/0307273601)

------
lettergram
I personally attempt to rotate what I do and am always trying to optimize (it
keeps me interested). An example: when I was 14 - 18 I worked in a medical
billing office scanning old documents (and new documents as they came in).

There were 3 of us working 15 - 20 hours a week. Most boring job imaginable
(I'd do it Saturday and Sunday, 10 hours each). I found I could listen to
audio books so I smashed through several hundred over the years of doing this
(as well as the Teaching Company and other lectures).

I also started to look for ways to improve the process. I spent a little time
exploring databases and OCR over my mandatory unpaid lunch and breaks.
Eventually, I realized I could rather eaisly automatically change filenames,
add to an SQL database, add a few tags, etc.

I then could setup a scanning job, which used to require manual data entry
after each page, to then do one massive scanning job and only edit a few
"failures" after the fact. This let me scanning 10x over the other two
employees.

It looked good for me, so I got moved into network admin (more fun), which
further kept my attention.

My point, it's up to you to find the motivation. But if you're curious and
interested in self improvement, money, moving up the company ladder, etc. Then
you can find the motivation to push yourself to at least try to change your
situation. I did it via audio books and experimenting on breaks, what you do
is unique to you.

------
tcrow
I've been there my friend. I've done as you have done. I even managed to
convince my wife to let me go part-time for 6 months to pursue my "dream" and
find meaning, you know, attempting the ideal. I eventually came to the
conclusion that taking on more responsibility in my life gave me more of what
I have been looking for than pursing only what I found interesting (remember
interest fades!).

Do not cheat your employer (if you owned the company, would you appreciate
your employees doing this?). Perhaps search for better ways to accomplish your
work duties, take on responsibility, or move on to another endeavor where you
would be more inclined to be an actual steward or leader.

Best of luck, don't be afraid to do some reflection, perhaps you will surprise
yourself in regards to what exactly you are looking for, I know I have!

-T

------
scandox
The main thing to learn in a work environment is how to finish things - or
what it takes to finish things.

I suspect (happy to be wrong) when you say you like learning you mean you like
everything about programming except the tedious task of drawing everything
into a coherent whole and polishing it.

I think if you conceive of learning in a broader sense you may enjoy work more
by finding insights in the process and in the people.

------
ConfusedDog
The problem is that you don't feel like fulfilled at your current workplace. I
can guarantee everyone had that feeling at one point or another. I have a PhD
in engineering and I'm still not fulfilled. It's not about degrees, how many
certs, how many side projects, etc. It's about life. You already answered your
own question - you'd be happier to be free to explore things and share the
knowledge. The keywords are "to be free", "to explore," "to share knowledge."
How to make them into something sustainable is the question. And I suspect
they are not the only things you want. The modifier is to be GREAT at them.

------
hackermailman
Look around your local university's external job listings to get attached to a
team as a research programmer. Often they are just looking for somebody to
build and maintain a UI the scientists can use more easily, but you'll have
lot's of opportunities to start rewriting algorithms to make them more
efficient, and you're working with post-doc researchers and grad students so
everyday is interesting not to mention some come with benefits, such as free
tuition credits so you can P/T take courses at the school. Some resources here
for teaching yourself these topics
[https://functionalcs.github.io/curriculum/](https://functionalcs.github.io/curriculum/)

You will also collect letters of recommendations from the PhDs you work with,
guaranteeing future employment on more research grant teams or for use to
apply to a grad school program. Most students and developers pass up these
opportunities because they don't pay near the same salary as industry does but
if you can live with a hit in income you'll never be bored again. Sometimes
you'll be the 'CTO', your job is to design whatever you think is the best way
to sort/access/display research data which leads into Knuth territory
generating all permutations, creating graphs, building a DSL, creating the
user interfaces for it, best way to host an interface online for remote
access, ect.

------
sigi45
Stop coding at work for non work and start coding at work for work.

Why not write something useful to help your daily work?

I can't imagine a project where i would not love to have enough time to
actually cleanup/fix/extend/create x for our project we are working on.

------
andersonmvd
People used to say that opportunity is everywhere, you just need to pay
attention. Fun is the same thing.

Some things that make every day fun

\- trying to know for who you are building your software for, talk to this end
user, get to know how useful (or useless) your construction is actually
solving something or not. I'm 100% sure that if you see many people using and
feeling thankful from what you made, that would make you feel great. Nothing
less!

\- improving the environment of your company. Look, everyone has a big
problem. They are also coming to work with some problem on the back of their
heads. If we could just light this a bit, it is immensely rewarding. We're
going to die anyway, so why not make our existence a noble one? :D

\- find a topic that you like and present it to your boss, try to find
together a way to combine both. He may have some idea, or the boss of your
boss. Everyone wins when you are motivated

\- plan your big escape: if your goal is to only study, consider making some
money, moving to a cheap place (Thailand?), and with a leeway for a few years,
you can try to experiment some ideas. Why not put some courses on udemy for
example? Teach all you could, in the best way possible and learn how to
promote what you do

Have fun!

------
charizard15
Freelance. Seriously, freelance remotely.

You will be able to find work you love. If not, you will be able to easily
switch projects and find something you will love doing. You will have the
flexibility to work when you need money and the flexibility to work on your
own projects when you have some savings in your pockets. Or better, you can do
part-time projects for clients and part-time in your own projects. You can
tailor your working habits.

~~~
mancerayder
It's hard to find freelance work - the contract roles are guarded jealously by
recruiters and agencies (who take 30-40% of the revenue prior to giving it to
you), and anything else is extreme luck or extremely good networking. If the
latter (networking), remote is very very hard for someone who isn't already
well-known.

~~~
fecak
Based on my knowledge of the market for freelance software gigs, I think you
are grossly overestimating the difficulty of finding good work. "Extreme luck"
is not necessary, nor is "extremely good networking".

30-40% is also probably a bit of a stretch for the recruiter's take (former
recruiter here). Those numbers and higher are certainly possible, but 20% is a
bit more likely. Also, if you are getting a competitive rate for your work, it
really doesn't matter what the recruiter is taking, does it? If they are able
to negotiate a huge finder's fee on top of your competitive rate, that's their
skill being rewarded.

~~~
mancerayder
_Also, if you are getting a competitive rate for your work, it really doesn 't
matter what the recruiter is taking, does it? If they are able to negotiate a
huge finder's fee on top of your competitive rate, that's their skill being
rewarded._

Hold on - I'm not talking about "finder's fee," I'm talking about agencies
that seek consultants (W2 or C2C) that take a cut of 30-50% or more in
perpetuity. For example, a job advertised as "$80/hr" to the consultant, is
billed to the client as maybe $130/hr or more. That keeps consultant pay
suppressed. The way around that is to a) know people in companies, like CTO's;
or b) have a reputation that lets you not have to go through the consulting
agency (or recruiter, same thing in NYC) bidding process (or at least that's
what I call it).

~~~
fecak
I understand, but is in essence a 'finder's fee' that just works in
perpetuity.

When I was a recruiter, if I placed a candidate for a FTE role and get say 20%
fee (based on starting salary), I got that same fee whether someone remains in
the job for 90 days or 90 years. I don't get additional money for each year
they stay. That makes sense, because I'm not really responsible at all for
that hire once it's made.

For consultants, recruiters may play some role in maintaining the relationship
between the hiring client and the consultant. Not all recruiters do this, but
many stay in contact with the consultant (to protect their investment) and
with the client (to maintain that relationship, place more consultants, and
ensure the client is satisfied with the work).

I'm not trying to defend predatory practices by recruiters, but if a recruiter
is able to negotiate a large mark-up for their consultant, that's a skill that
they should be rewarded for financially.

To view it another way, if I get a client to pay $130/hr for an open role, and
I identify a qualified consultant willing to take that job for $70/hr, that's
a combination of A) my skill as a recruiter, and B) the consultant's inability
to recognize their own market value or inability to negotiate a higher hourly
rate.

I don't think gouging is good for the industry overall, but if the consultant
is happy at $70/hr and the client is also happy at $130/hr, what's "wrong"
with the recruiter taking that $60/hr?

Everybody is happy, no? At least everybody is happy when there is no
transparency as to where that $130 is going.

FYI, I'm playing devil's advocate here. During my career I did very little
consulting work and my margins were usually closer to 15-20% of hourly rate,
though I once worked for someone who had a 400% mark-up on a consultant for
almost 3 years (consultant was paid ~$50/hr and bill rate was over $200).

------
iyogeshjoshi
There is this very popular place earlier known as Hacker School and now known
as Recurse Center at NYC, so if you can manage to arrange some place to live
in NYC I suggest you to go and check out this place. It's community driven and
ask for no fee though is very good and worth giving a try. Here is the link to
the same [https://www.recurse.com](https://www.recurse.com)

~~~
throwaway12JpuG
Yeah! I need to save a bit more money but I would like to participate in a
Recurse Center batch. Would like to make my daily reality more like what time
at the Recurse Center sounds like.

------
swsieber
Do you get enough sleep? I know sleep makes a world of difference to me when
it comes to working on less than exciting things.

~~~
justwalt
This is really true for me, great point. There have been days where I had less
than 6 hours of sleep and it’s made me very easily bored and disenchanted with
the work that I had previously enjoyed. When I’m very well rested, I could
probably enjoy most things for a little while.

------
LeanderK
I always advise to really reflect your current situation and think what
changes might be possible. Work is a big part of your life. It depends a bit
how willing you are to do more risky stuff, but the great thing is that
skilled programmers are in demand. You can always go back to a boring job.
Freelancing is an option, but you probaly need to aquire the gigs yourself.
Might be an option. But you have total control over what you're working on.
You can also work part-time and persue more finanically unrewarding in the
remaining time, like teaching. A friend of mine is working 80% and painting
the remaining 20%. Are there part-time study options? I would not recommend an
online-degree. Have you contemplated working in a startup? It's risky, but
there are a lot of different challenges and you can branch out of your
technical role.

------
gumby
I have chosen to steer my career in a “suboptimal” way: I have changed from
field to field (literally having been a software developer, pharmaceutical
chemist, machinist...).

I have pals who’ve stuck to being a lawyer, banker, programmer, etc and they
are also happy, but that would not have worked for me. Over the decades they
have risen higher in their fields, and almost certainly earn more salary than
I, but I am happy, looking backwards, regardless.

So it’s possible you don’t need a “career” if you can be happy regardless.

I don’t know about art school but a humanities education can be more powerful
than an engineering education in some domains — both teach you a mode of
thinking in addition to a domain specific skill set.

As it happens I always put “programmer” on visa forms and the like as that is
how I think of myself.

------
dwaltrip
Discover what is meaningful to you. It may take some years.

Once you have ideas about what is meaningful, try to make your work more
connected to these things.

If not directly, then indirectly. For example, your work could support your
free-time hobbies that you love. Or, of course, the classic of supporting your
family and community through a job that you may not love but can tolerate.

Try to cultivate a sense of pragmatism in your life. It is fun to hide in the
clouds -- I've done it before as well -- but unfortunately you can't stay up
there forever. People (and yourself) will very much enjoy what your pragmatism
can accomplish, and it is nice to see that.

I once heard a quote that happiness isn't what people want. It is meaning that
we want. This idea rings true to me.

~~~
schizoidboy
I think this gets to the heart of it. Some places to start:

Meaning in Work TED talk by a researcher in the field:
[https://youtu.be/RLFVoEF2RI0?t=177](https://youtu.be/RLFVoEF2RI0?t=177)

Happiness vs Meaning:
[https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.830764](https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.830764)

My favorite survey of the field:
[https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1137623](https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1137623)

------
salamanderman
I highly recommend some bootcamps if a proper degree is too much time or money
investment right now. They have a real impact on skills, and how your resume
is perceived. Also, as far as career advancement is concerned, if you're bored
at work and you can't get them to give you more, or at least more interesting,
work then it is time to move to another company. Apply for something higher
than your current role; there's a good shot you'll get it. Some companies
promote, eventually, but the fastest ladder climbers I've seen promote
themselves by going somewhere that needs them as soon as their current job
isn't rewarding them, financially, intellectually, emotionally, etc., enough.

------
blackSnake
Learn to live conservatively. In other words, lower your expenses as much as
you can. It will allow you to be more flexible because you can work a part-
time gig and use the rest of the time to explore.

Some posters are right that you should appreciate that you have a well paying
job, or even a job to that.

I would say, though, life is short and you were fortunate enough to be born as
a human being! One of the most conscious beings on the planet. Human potential
has not been tapped. Explore it because one day, not too far from now, you
will be old(if you make it) and wonder why you spent your energy the way you
did, in a cubicle inside for half your life.

In my opinion, the risks are worth the reward. You can always go back to the
programming.

------
paraditedc
Work or hobby, you can only choose one for each type of activity.

You need to decide if you want to do programming as work, or hobby.

If you decide to do programming as work, go find another hobby that keeps you
interested and treat programming solely as revenue source and don't devote too
much into it.

Otherwise, you get to enjoy programming a hobby, and you need to find a source
of income. This can be from the hobby, but it kills the fun of it.

------
rajeshmr
Save up a bit for say 6 months and take a break. Explore your interests and
see if any of your exploratory projects can be monetized.

------
eabraham
I felt the way you did a few years ago. There are a couple ways to navigate
around this type of block. First, try to connect with the customers/end-users
of your code. Receiving positive or negative feedback is a great way to become
more engaged with your work. Knowing that you make someone's life better can
imbue your work with more meaning. Second, if you are interested in a
profitable side business approach your side projects with monetization in
mind. Learning something outside programming but tangentially related has
helped me stay interested in my day job. Researching the depth and breath of
the space (competitors, CPC for popular keywords, payment processing) can be
very stimulating. Two years ago I started
[https://www.delayforreddit.com](https://www.delayforreddit.com) and its been
a great way for me to explore a side business and work towards fulltime self-
employment.

------
ajani
Improve one thing. Begin there.

Improve another thing. And repeat.

Fix a broken latch in your home. Improve your code a few lines at a time. It
adds up.

------
agentultra
Maybe you're focusing on the wrong problem. Without knowing what "naturally
motivates you," one thing that does motivate most people is helping others and
feeling important. Look up from your monitor at the business around you. Your
job isn't simply to sling code all day: you're a problem solver. If you can
write a little script that removes a small inefficiency in the sales teams'
process you'll be their hero. If you start adding some code to ship usage
metrics that help your team adopt a feature that improves your users' workflow
-- you'll be a champion. Follow this path and you'll come across interesting
problems to solve.

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mongol
I thought I liked programming as day job but realized I never was happy doing
it. So I transitioned, first to self employment and then to requirement
analysis, which gave me plenty of other interesting opportunities. It depends
on where you work, but the fact is that much of the programming that pays is
boring. Interesting, challenging programming of course happens at the
companies that are technology leaders and is a different thing so I am not so
much speaking of that.

In any case, my advice, don't take for granted that programming as an
occupation is the right thing just because you like it when you can choose
exactly what to do.

------
joubert
> I really like programming

What about programming do you like?

------
dnlsrl
I don't have a college degree and yet I just got a junior developer position
at a company. I'm probably not the best to give you this advice or am
misunderstanding what you're trying to achieve but as somebody who has changed
between professions, I can say it's feasible.

I went from tech support to translation and now to programming. Being self-
taught shouldn't stop you from trying to get a job in a field you're
interested in. Sure, a degree might be something a lot of employers look for
in a person, but if you can prove you can do the job, then go ahead for it.

Best of luck.

------
pasta
What helped me is to focus on the end user. Those are the people that you are
working for!

Once I realised that I quit my job and started working for a company with real
end users...

------
langitbiru
You said you like to explore things and share that knowledge with others.

The things that you can do is becoming a tech blogger. You can explore the
latest JS frameworks, Robotics, AI, blockchain, mobile apps and put your
exploration in a blog.

You can monetize it by creating an ebook and sell it in your blog.

But writing is hard. So you must be patient. For now stick to your job and do
the blogging part-time.

------
orasis
“Just keep doing what you’re doing, but weirder.”

~~~
colinwilyb
I'm replying to this comment in the hopes of getting your attention.
Hackernews has no DM system – could you shoot me an email if you have a
moment? cbol###ton242#@gmail#.com

------
almightysilence
Watch this video, it might help you:
[https://www.ted.com/talks/emilie_wapnick_why_some_of_us_don_...](https://www.ted.com/talks/emilie_wapnick_why_some_of_us_don_t_have_one_true_calling?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare)

------
sky_projektor
Wish I had an answer to your question. But, you can try living alone in a
jungle & do the necessary things for basic survival, cultivate, hunt, cook,
tailor, etc. Those activities can help you get a new interest in regular
things & after a period of such stay, mundane things would appear interesting
to live for.

------
Tempest1981
There is a big push to pursue your passion, which could become a trap.

Mike Rowe has a different angle: "Don't Pursue Your Passion. Chase
Opportunity."

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NT1i26RbrhM](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NT1i26RbrhM)

Not sure I fully agree, but I appreciate the different perspective

------
downrightmike
I had a guitar teacher who put it like: When you're learning to play a song,
eventually you'll hate playing it, but you need to keep practicing to get
better and get back to liking the song again.

------
werber
Maybe try to pivot into a less technical role, like a developer advocate where
you need to be technologically current, but also have a social teaching-esque
component to your role.

------
martin-adams
What I would do in your situation is start with reading books. If you’re not
into reading, try Audible.

What you mention feels in line with the book Start with Why by Simon Sinek.

------
excitednumber
What do you work on in terms of passion projects?

------
naringas
reflect that on how that is a privelge for a lucky few. practice feeling
grateful about it.

or go on a party binge so your job becomes harder to do, more challenging due
to tiredness.

------
InGodsName
Exploring and making money can be one and the same thing too.

I was exactly feeling like this before i started budiness then i found friends
to take over the boring parts.

------
sys_64738
I recommend you tell your immediate boss that you are bored with work and not
motivated. They'll quickly help you out.

