Introduction
A few weeks ago, I woke up every day and every day I told me: "You should code today you have got a lot of projects to finish, you have to do this" but I didn't find the motivation to code. That wasn't the first time, but I didn't know what to do in order to get back this motivation. So, I decided to look after some "motivation stuff" on dev.to and I decided to write something about it to help other people who have the same problem, and maybe it will help me in the future.
My personal tips
- Find a community
It might be strange but taking part in a developer community help me through this little period because they inspire me every time they do or share something. Here is a non-curated list of slacks communities: http://blog.honeypot.io/21-slack-channels-for-software-developers/
- Do what you want to do
In fact, I didn't even found a comment on this but that's something I've learned during this period. It seems logical but you don't have to care about others, If you want to do something, go for it.
- Never give up
Once again it seems logical but sometimes you need to read it or you need somebody to tell you this: "Don't give up", if you believe in something just do it, if you don't find something to believe in.
- Find a project
If you don't have any idea of a project, learn something new, something it might be interesting to learn for you, a new technology, a new language or maybe something completely different like a new domain (Machine learning, etc...). If you are searching for a project, the best thing to when you need motivation is to work with other developers. You should maybe take a look at an Open Source project, OSS is always looking for new contributors and it might make you feel useful.
Comments I found on dev.to
- Be happy about little things
Small wins are super important to keep the momentum going on a project. I try to tell people about my project and sometimes involve them as collaborators. Anytime there is someone who's waiting to see what I'm working on, I find myself more motivated to work!
I think sharing work at all levels is really great for feedback, I'm definitely trying to get better at that myself.
Thanks for writing this!
Great post - starting small is more important than most people realize. Just start with something fun, silly, and unassuming! If you get really interested in it, then it will quickly grow anyway - so don't worry about that from the start.
- Take a break
I recently experienced this (to a lesser degree still do). What I do is take a break from coding (apart from my day job which requires I code). Do something, different that relaxes your mind. When your ready to get back to it, don't jump directly into coding, first plan on what you want to do/make/learn. Get a clear plan mapped out and an approach. Also have multiple items that you can work on. If you get stuck on something for a while, jump to another item briefly, but make sure you return to what you were stuck on before (many times when people jump around they lose interest in what the were previously working on). All the best man!
- My favorite
Some thoughts:
- Don't compare your brand-new ideas to other people's finished products. (As the cliche says, don't compare your "insides" to other people's "outsides".) For every project that gets finished, there are a hundred more that never make it past mile 1.
- Not every project is worth finishing. If you actually made the effort to take every idea to completion, you'd be exhausted and wouldn't have any time for the simpler things in life: family, friends, fun.
- In order for me to keep the motivation to finish a project, it needs to align with two or more of my passions. "Getting rich" is not one of my passions, so I can't necessarily reach the finish line with an idea just because I think it will be a huge success. Music and rap lyrics and fiction, on the other hand, are my passions, so projects I undertake in those categories have a much better chance at success. When I get discouraged about the process, I remind myself how much I care about the goal.
- Every project has boring and frustrating parts. Here's one of my favorite explanations of this:
Being aware of the "mid-project slump" helps a lot. Get past that and you're on your way. - Don't go it alone. Find another person who cares about your project (or even just someone who cares about you) and keep them up to date on your progress.
- Don't overdo it. If you try to work on a project for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, you'll quickly pass a "punishment threshold" where your brain will convince you to procrastinate getting back to it because it's so exhausted. Limit yourself to reasonable hours and take days off. Leave yourself wanting more.
- And the one that worked for me
Comment Not Found
Top comments (2)
Amazing post,man! It is very important share your feelings with others and your tips,cause somebody can be helped. In my case, i need give a break for be motiveted, any hobbie ( i like write and solve puzzles ). Thanks for share, friend. 😄
Happy to help you guy 😉