It’s easy to be interested in something, but it’s harder to stay interested. The hard part begins as you grow into something. I’m sure many software engineers can relate to the frustrations one faces with deadlines, bugs, not figuring out that one bit in a project well enough..
That’s how it’s been for me in software engineering. When anything becomes difficult it naturally causes frustrations. Frustration then becomes a false sense of perspective that what I am doing is not meant for me. It fills me with the thoughts that my career should be easier, always fun, not stressful; because I love and enjoy something then that means it shouldn’t be difficult. That’s definitely not true. These frustrations block me from seeing that the difficulty only comes because I am growing. The trick is to remember that. And yes, easier said than done.
Growth means moving forward, and for me, that’s when I start to feel comfortable with where I am.
“Getting out of your comfort zone is easier than staying out of it”
Remember that with growth comes discomfort
Like I mentioned earlier, doing this is harder than it sounds. You may ask yourself what the point of continuing is especially when it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. At some point in my career, very recently, I felt this way for a very long time. And it took all I had not to listen to the loud voice in my head that kept telling me to give up. Funny thing is, the voice kept shouting at me to give up and yet it wouldn’t tell me what to do after I gave up. There was another voice, but this one was more of a whisper. This one told me to “keep going” and many times I couldn’t hear it, but I always knew it was there. My mind was a war zone for months.
These are all the ways I managed to calm it.
Learn everyday
I have made learning everyday a habit. Could be a programming language, a framework of that language, a concept or just exercises on leetcode. Currently, I am learning C# as well as some concept in object oriented development and building a project to put these two into practice. Some days I cover a lot, while others I take my time and just get through a little in the time I had planned. I do this because I have come to realise that I learn better when I am not under pressure, for instance practicing for an interview story for another day. As expected, some days I’d rather be watching a series or just doing nothing, but then that breaks my momentum and makes it a bit harder to get back on track. Learning builds on your skills and makes you stand out. Though the results are not immediate, they are definitely going to blow you away when they happen. You could land your dream job or a promotion faster than you would have otherwise.
Sometimes I go through my personal projects in auto-pilot mode. Having a schedule and sticking to it allows me to reach milestones and keep myself accountable even on days when I don’t feel like it
Learning has made me spot my weakness before they’re identified by my colleagues or classmates. I’m able to work on them way before anyone notices they even existed.
Make time for hobbies
Programming isn’t my hobby. There are other things completely unrelated to coding that I do a lot contrary to popular belief, like reading, writing, taking walks. Having these activities in my life neutralises my emotions when work and school get intense and brings back my A-game. It’s very necessary to have one or two hobbies. Or just do something that’s not work related.
Interest will only fade if you let it. Some days you just have to put in a little extra effort to make sure that doesn’t happen.
