r/AskProgramming • u/tuser-reddit • 2d ago
Other Man, I love Programming, but there is something holding me everyday
As the title says, I really like programming but man, everyday I tell myself I will do such and such, but I end up watching youtube or reading political news and when I want to go and learn something I get disgourged and I feel like it's stupid, but sometimes I feel like I can fucking write the next facebook application but when I put my hand on that keyboard, it's like a debt installed on my mind.
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u/Numerous_Economy_482 2d ago
put an alarm, program for 5 min... if you want to go back to YouTube, go. don't need to be productive everyday. Just try for 10 min, you will see that some days it will make you stay hours, others won't make you excited. Accept the flow of the river
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u/Numerous_Economy_482 2d ago
sometimes I open vscode and it makes me feel sick, and then I just go to some book, or anything I can do at work
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u/IKnowMeNotYou 2d ago
What you encounter is your social programming. There are some books that help with that. A great book was and still is Brian Tracy's 'Rules of Success' It contains 100+ things you want to do in your life (like planing your day etc) and how to apply it. You simply chose one at a time and at the end of day check what you have achived and how much 'waste' of time you produced.
Your goal is to simply gradually increase the amount of time you work towards your goal and reduce the time you need to waste.
What you are basically training is understanding what you have to do and when while removing idle time (aka waste). You learn self dicipline which is the most important skill / ability that determines if you are successful or a have lead a life well wasted...
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u/grantrules 2d ago
Browsing YouTube: easy
Programming: hard
It's just your brain wanting the instant gratification. Use productivity tools to block that stuff.
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u/Suspicious-Bet-3078 2d ago
sounds to me that you have a issue to get started. i get this too from time to time.
As someone who works as a developer i noticed one thing that works as a charm in situations like this: that being pair programming.
i know what you might think. i don't have or cant have someone else everytime i code.
you don't have to but can instead imagine what you would do if you had. that can be simple things as:
- explaining the issue or task before a key is pressed
- time framing the issue to a "call" of 30-60min
- no multitasking
- taking things one step at a time.
and on and on.
i don't know how well i can get the point across. but in a way you can take the environment of pair programming without needing the other person. since it seems to me that it's more at work then "just" another person.
personally i can often start my tasks with writing in notepad, explaining to myself as i go.
also sometimes the silence of solitude work can make me restless. music can help me with that but i cant have vocals. that would make me unable to explain to myself what i am doing. i recommend music like this:
https://youtu.be/UpPmnnJcy6A?si=qiZX4dAQ89iwiEmj
in the end it's a dance with yourself. And you need to learn yourself and what works for you.
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u/JacobStyle 2d ago
Yeah, it's hard. Do a little bit at a time until you get stronger, then do more at a time. You have to build up the self discipline gradually, starting with short sessions and small projects, then progressing to longer sessions and harder projects. It's just like if you decided to start lifting weights. You wouldn't immediately go for the heaviest weights. You'd build up to it with smaller weights first.
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u/jenkstom 2d ago
There is a subreddit for ADHD programmers. Sorry, on mobile now and can't remember it, but this would be pretty normlal there. You might find some useful ideas there.
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u/Intelligent_Part101 2d ago
Programming is one of those things where you really have to put in the time. You have to do this because most of your job will be futzing with stuff to learn by trial and error and last minute focused research why something isn't working or how it must be configured. It's all 1,000 little details you have to figure out as you go. And the only way to do that is to commit time to doing the programming.
For motivation, I suggest setting a small, achievable goal to accomplish. It helps to have a clear, achievable, immediate target to work towards. Don't get stuck thinking about the final result and how far off that seems.
It's not only ADHD people who have an issue with this. Programming doesn't provide inherent rewards as you work through the process for most people. They only like the end result.