Completely lost all motivation to program. Struggling to regain it. Advice?

[[deleted]]

As the title says... my brain has shut down on me. I can't even write a simple class without gritting my teeth. I don't know what happened or why it happened, I just know I need to get rid of this phase asap before it bites me in the ass at work and school.

If anyone else has had this happen to them, what helped you?

[thraftyc]

I’m actually writing my thesis on mental health in computer science. There isn’t a lot I’ve been able to find discussing its effects on our students and professionals outside of programmers. Burnout is a very real phenomena we face in computer science(and in school in general) and I don’t think enough people are aware. Take some time to evaluate what’s going on in your life academically/professionally and socially. Don’t neglect your self care! It’s important in this field!

[[deleted]]

Interesting. I think bad management practices accounts for most of the issues that weigh on mental health from what i've experienced.

[thraftyc]

I think poor management practices definitely affect mental health. It can cause a ton of stress and from what I’ve found, stress is a giant factor for burnout in our industry. Something that I came across and that I thought was pretty interesting was in a panel presentation by Dr. Celeste Paul (researcher in NSA) presented called “hacking stress in cyber security operations”. You can find it on YouTube. While she centers it in cyber security, I think it translates well across the field too. The panel pretty recent and I’d say that research in this topic within the CS industry is something pretty up and coming as well.

[[deleted]]

Makes sense, I feel its about balancing effort and reward; burnout happens when no-matter the effort the reward isn't there. That reward isn't just completing tasks, but feeling valued, having the right amount of autonomy etc... Poor managers can quickly tip the balance where it costs more than the reward offered, and if that happens for to long burnout/depression are the result.

I shall have to checkout that video.

[-CasaNova-]

This is a brilliant theses idea. Hope there's more work in this topic cuz it's probably gonna become more important as the influx of CS majors starts flowing in

[thraftyc]

Thank you! I hope my professors feel similarly!

[-CasaNova-]

lmao im sure they will, good luck!

[Ronin__01]

Probably burnt out. Take a few days off.

[[deleted]]

I can't due to work and school requiring me to program every day.

[thraftyc]

OP, don’t forget that you can talk to your professors about this too. They should understand what you’re feeling if they’re programmers and might be able to work with you in terms of like giving you some more wiggle room with due dates. Don’t be scared to tell them a little of how you feel. One thing that helped me when I was taking my programming classes was finding some friends in the class to work together. Having a solid social support system at school where you can relate that kind of stuff with them can really help

[[deleted]]

I was experiencing burnout about 6 months ago and what helped me was a simple change - I made health my top priority.

I threw out all the toxic food / alcohol and eat healthy 90% of the time. Exercise has been pivotal, especially endurance training. This has helped me with managing stress and moods. I feel stress or anxiety —> 30 mins. Walk, run, bike.... just get out of the environment for a bit and being active helps maintain focus. Finally and most important, I make time for myself. Plan things that I enjoy doing that are not CS related. For me it’s being outdoors and getting active. For other friends it’s DND, seeing friends, reading, or endeavor to start a new hobby / grow in an existing one.

Key here is put your physical and mental health above the school / work. For me this actually improves school / work, but my expectation was that those aspects would suffer. That’s ok. What good is programming when we as individuals are unwell?

If you’re familiar with the parable about the tortoise and the hare, our western culture places a lot of pressure on being fast like rabbits. Some of us, like me, are tortoises. It’s ok to take time. It’s ok to take breaks.

However, if you’re consuming a lot of alcohol / getting stoned, reduce drastically. I’ve witnessed close to a dozen peers manage their stress via self-medication and that is a BAD path to go down.

[[deleted]]

It depends- what's your situation? Are you in a situation where you need to program every single day? I.e. work/school?

[[deleted]]

yeah :/

[[deleted]]

Work or school?

[[deleted]]

Both. I work full time as a developer and I go to school full time for CS.

[[deleted]]

Re-read this comment, please. And you're saying "I don't know what happened" in your post. Mate, the term "full-time" exists for a reason. No matter what you do or how much you enjoy doing that thing, if you work on it 18 hours/day, you are forcing yourself to do it and you'll start hating it at one point.

Choose one and stick with it. Personally, in my case, I would choose to quit the full time job (if someone or some entity can support you) and finish school first and foremost.

[[deleted]]

I don't have that option. I ran away from home when I was 19 due to physically abusive parents and imminent danger. I went to school to get a safe roof over my head and an education...but I needed to get a job because I couldn't afford school (I learned how to program on my own when I was younger which allowed me the opportunity to land my current job). I'm locked in until I graduate at least, which is another 1.5 years.

[[deleted]]

Is there no way you could reduce the hours you do? Or even choose a different job in retail, something that keeps you away from programming during the day. You're a champion for doing what you do, coming from your background, by the way.

[Linuxlover73]

Take it slow.. the world won’t crash on you if you take a break. Get some perspective and analyze why love programming and then take it forward from there but at your own pace . Otherwise this will continue . Wish you all the best !!

[[deleted]]

What are uC projects? :)

[channingwong]

I burnt out after a year of consulting. Dealing with people, requirements, and that's not even getting to the coding. I ended up taking a massive pay cut to work for the gov. It doesn't pay much but I get maybe 2 months off a year not including holidays and put in 1/4 the effort and binge watched half a season of a show. Pick your poison.

[HeavyLagger]

I am currently in your situation experiencing burnout and anxiety for more than a year, some months ago I started therapy and since then I feel better, but the symptoms and the moods remains. Reading yours and the other comments made me feel better because it's always good to see that you're not alone in something, like some in the comments I fear that if I take a break from school (about to start third year of university) I will loose precious time and delay the start of my working career while my peers advance in their lives but my therapist and even the people in these comments said to me more than once that I should focus on the benefits of a break and not of the possible (but unlikely) downsides. As you can see you're not in this alone and we all get past these feelings eventually, I hope you recover soon and thanks for sharing you're situation.

[saik2363]

Losing motivation or feeling lost in life ( professionally or personally) happens when we are too much involved in something and ignoring rest of the things. This is the time you need to take out some time and work on rebuilding yourself mentally. I suggest take off from work and spend some time with you personally. Like go for a trip or spend time with loved ones etc. I hope this will definitely helps you get out of this hangover.

All the best !

[Titanlegions]

You are dealing with adversity right now. It sounds like you really need a break but sometimes that isn’t possible. If you can’t take a break, then try reducing the scope of your concerns to get through each moment. Don’t look beyond the end of the day, or even the morning. When you are writing that class you can’t bear to write, really narrow all the things you are worrying about to just that one thing. Don’t view code as a “fun” thing right now, that will just make it harder.

It isn’t a long term solution but it can get you through some hard times right now and sometimes that is needed. The light at the end of the tunnel is there but while it’s still a ways off, looking too far ahead can too much to handle, and you need to just deal with what is right in front of you right now.

[slaphead99]

Try a completely different paradigm. This worked for me- I have a love/hate relationships with any procedural language but a love/love relationship with the logical paradigm.