Posted: 11/27/2021
Note: these are just random ramblings and I am just going to type whatever I think of :)
Lately, I have been struggling with developer burnout. I cannot seem to find the motivation to work on things that I used to find joy in. There was once a time where I used to be able to stay up for hours and hours happily working on different projects without even noticing what time it really was. I have so many projects I want to work on like building a game, finishing the cryptocurrency I created, helping my cousin on his personal project, and many others.
I always want to learn more things and keep up with the latest technologies, but putting my learnings into something I can show for is definitely a struggle.
I am even starting to notice this in my daily professional work. Some days I find myself staring at the screen not really sure if I want to continue working in this profession or not. Do not get me wrong, I love my job and love the people I work with, but sometimes the work just does not seem to spark my interest. I am not sure if it is the minor repetition every day or just my lack of motivation to follow through with finishing a task so I can move onto something different.
Finishing a task, outside of work, seems to be where I really struggle. So many of my past projects or ideas go unfinished and are just sitting here waiting for me to regain interest in them again. I do not think there has been a time where I have ever completed a project from beginning to end without losing interest. This is something I want to change.
I need to start adjusting my everyday workflow so that I can become better organized and work on projects in smaller pieces. By breaking down the projects into smaller pieces, it will allow me to work on things one step at a time so that I hopefully can finish and move on, giving myself a better sense of accomplishment to keep me motivated. Another thing I need to start doing is documenting the project work, and the ideas behind the work, so that things are more thought out ahead of time. Doing this will help avoid jumping right into a project without having a clear direction or plan to execute upon and wasting time when I hit a roadblock or something I never foresaw happening.
I am not sure if starting to implement these changes to my everyday workflow will help with my sense of burnout, but it cannot hurt. If anything, it will help my process as a whole for when my burnout is gone and I get my passion back to work on personal projects again.
I got this and things will get better!