I’ve always been the type to share coding snippets and technical stuff here, but this is the first time I’m opening up about how I really feel. I’m not sure if this is the right place for it, but honestly, it feels like it’s time to share what’s been on my mind.
For almost two years now, I’ve been working remotely as a software developer at a small startup. The flexible hours are great, but the pay isn’t, which is probably normal for early-stage startups. Yet, what’s been bothering me more is the shift in my energy levels and focus.
Lately, I’ve become too lazy and stuck in a cycle of procrastination. I want to work on my side projects—dreams I had for so long—but when the weekend comes around, I end up scrolling through my phone or sleeping. I’ve started getting migraines on weekends too, which might be from the stress or exhaustion of the week. Sometimes, I work overtime (with no extra pay), and I wonder if that’s making me too drained to do anything else. But it’s not just the overwork. The truth is, even though I know about habits (thanks to Atomic Habits), I’m still not making the progress I want.
I should be able to dedicate at least 2 hours a day to my projects, right? But after my office work, I’m just too tired to open my laptop again. I have all these desires—projects I want to complete, content I want to create, and a vision to earn from my work. But here I am, doing nothing.
I love building products. In fact, during college, I earned good money from projects I built. Unfortunately, they eventually failed due to certain circumstances in my life. It’s a tough pill to swallow, seeing something you worked on crumble, but those experiences shaped me.
As an introvert, I also struggle with not feeling comfortable in my job. I do well enough—everyone at my company is happy with my work—and I’m proud of the good job I’m doing. But if I’m honest, I’m only doing this job because it pays the bills.
It’s frustrating because I tried building something of my own—through websites and content creation—but after graduation and job, everything was left abandoned. And now they sit there, untouched, while I’m stuck in this routine.
When will I get back in my zone?
Top comments (43)
I went through a period of time where I was feeling fatigued and unmotivated. After sharing this with my doctor during an annual checkup, the results showed I had low vitamin D and lower testosterone than the prior year. Getting a vitamin D supplement and making an effort to lift weights helped to boost my energy and focus. This takes care of your baseline health but don’t underestimate the importance of social interactions.
It may also help to start exploring some new hobbies that are social to help break up your current routine and introduce you to new people.
On the career side, you may want to start speaking with some career coaches or just more senior leaders that can provide some mentorship. This should help you to get prepared for a new role and/or a promotion.
Hang in there and hopefully one of these avenues can help!
In general, getting a full blood panel from a doctor can be useful, including some other tests depending on your situation and where you live. I live in a rural area and so I got checked for Lyme disease, which can make you exhausted (among other things). I also got checked for EBV (commonly known as "mono") because that can also give you exhaustion.
There could be other things worth checking on depending on your situation. It can be really hard to work through without help (and even still WITH help!).
Thank you so much for your valuable advice ✨
I will take your advice, althought my annual checkup was a month ago and it came back just fine, although i still feel that something is missing and that weightlifting and perhaps going for a run in the evening sound really nice.
I agree with this. I would emphasize exercise (weights) and social. Also, try to do your hobbies before work. You're the most focused first thing so don't give that time to someone else.
You said the remedy to his problems because I too have a 9-5 job that's office-based not remote😭 runs through the weekdays and unfortunately (for now) isn't in the field I'm more comfortable with, that is, tech
Despite having a whole lot of my free time eaten by the job, I still manage to regularly post on my YT channel and work on my side projects(games and challenges) incrementally(small/big) by working on what matters to you more in the morning (right after you get up from bed) with that Sigma focus like everyday or invest multiple hours doing the weekends
Overall bro, the main goal is to be better everyday 🙂
I've been doing this IT stuff (Linux Sysadmin Webdeveloper, PHP-Developer,...) for about 20 years now and in the last years I didn't have so much time for any side projects because family is the most valuable and important thing nowadays. I would give you the advice to use your free time to meet people, friends and / or family. Companies / tools / frameworks will change much more often than people you care about.
It is easy to go fast and do a lot when you're young and think it will keep going on. But we all change. The unfortunate truth is that we all have a limited mental juice. So doing extra work is okay sometimes, but it always comes with a cost: eventually you need time to recover.
So get yourself possibilities to rest, and especially sufficient amount of time away from doing anything. I mean literally anything: not watching a video, not reading news or articles, not reading a book. Just simply let your brains have a moment. This is easiest to do if you can get into a silent enough place, and human mind tends to like nature the best. Also learn to enjoy being bored for a while. Bored now equals productive later.
Even little daily things help out: allow yourself to have moments during work time that you don't really do anything productive. It is totally okay not to be doing stuff continuously. Learn to have breaks. Unproductive days are also okay, they will eventually happen. They're the cost days when you pay for being (over) productive in the other ones.
Learning not to stress and to not get frustrated when being unable is a good skill to learn. It makes it easier to become or stay able and energetic. And of course mental health overall is a good thing to maintain. We're not pure logic balls we pretend to be, feelings are what keep us going.
Then of course there's all the standard eat and sleep healthy, make sure you do enough physical activity, all that will help out in maintaining mood and good energy levels.
I think part of it is the “need” factor as opposed to the “want”. It doesn’t seem like you “need” to work on side projects so when the weekend comes around, there isn’t an incentive to do that work… and that’s completely fine! I’ve been in mental ruts like that and there just wasn’t enough pressure to take action. In fact, sometimes I’ve only started working on side projects when I get sick of procrastinating on them - that’s the pressure kicking in. I wonder if others agree, but I think it’s as simple as that - we have pretty nice jobs, we make more than the median income (usually) so working on side projects is just not as motivating… which again is totally fine and makes sense! But it’s good to be aware that you’re not doing anything wrong, there’s just not enough pressure or actual “need” to build outside of work sometimes 🤷
To me, it sounds like burnout: getting overworked and not having much time to do what you want to do outside of work.
I empathize with this soooo hard.... I'm not a professional developer, just a hobby one. But even then I've fallen into ruts. What I've found is that I use programming as a creative outlet. Which is fine, but that means its inspiration driven. I find myself riding waves of inspiration which creates waves of productivity when I'm on. However, the valleys I fall into creates almost a catatonic state of staring at the keyboard and screen and doing nothing. I've learned to identify these periods, call them for what they are, and fight to find the next spark of inspiration.
I share same experience.
I was working with a company managing a couple of apartments as an AirBnB property Manager and host. Yes the job was taking care of my bills and more and my bosses were happy with my effort but I was over working myself. At first I didn't realize it. I was just working and trying to please my client and be productive.
I handled the business as if it was mine.
We were a small team. While my bosses focused on other aspects of the business, I was handling bookings, maintainance, social media, customer relationship (enquires and complains), financial reports, among others.
I was putting in the hours, for the 2years and 4months I worked with them, I never had a holiday nor break. I worked even during the weekends and on holidays. My phone was always active and I cannot silent it even at night because I need to always respond to calls to guests.
I did all these but never asked for a raise nor overtime. I saw it as an opportunity to learn. But then I was hurting myself.
I have been trying to learn Full Stack web development, but I always never could. Whenever I wanted to learn, there must always be a disruption. The only time I could squeeze out to learn was early mornings between 4am and 7am. But then most times I coundn't as instead I will just sleep.
Because I knew there would be disruption, whenever I had free time during the day, I will end up watching NetFlix.
I became overly fraustrated and depressed. I couldn't take it anymore. Towards the end of last year I noticed it affected my productivity and my relationships.
As an introvert too, I found it hard to speak to someone or to seek professional help. I kept my issues to myself and my journal.
Then I decided to quit and just focus on my dream of becoming a Software developer.
So I informed my bosses on first week of December last year, and gave the 6months to get someone to replace me (The company ended up employing 4 people to handle the workload I was handling) and then I left the company the end of last May and took a month off to clear my head before now studying full time.
I suggest you have a talk with the company if possible and discuss your situation. If they are interested in your well being they will understand.
Take sometime off work (some days) and disappear to a place where all you do is reflection and healing. Detach yourself from your phone during this period.
From my experience, you will get back your productivity and drive to focus on your personal projects and stuff.
hey bro it's ok to not be productive all the time, you never know what can happen tomorrow so don't worry about it you are still an individual with skills and that will never be erased, when the moment comes to learn or make something new then you'll know that it's worth it because it ignited the inspiration back in you, so don't sweat it you'll be fine it happens to the best of us and it's completely normal
also the world we live in kinda forces us to feel like this because of production focused upbringings, it's ok to just chill sometimes
Everyone has their own way of navigating challenging situations, and here's how I managed mine:
Back in my college days, I had a packed schedule. I worked from 8 am to 6 pm, attended classes until 11 pm, and when I finally got home, instead of resting, I’d dive into unpaid overtime for my job. The sprints were intense, filled with urgent tasks that would pop up out of nowhere. On top of that, I had to juggle studying, homework, and presentations for college. It was overwhelming, to say the least.
The best advice I can give you is to see a psychiatrist if possible. If you can afford a session every 15 or 30 days, I highly recommend it. Therapy helped me so much in understanding what was really going on inside me, and that understanding gave me the clarity to take steps towards my happiness.
For me, one of those steps was changing companies. I realized my previous job wasn’t making me happy anymore. I had been there for eight years, and while I thought I was part of something amazing, it turned out I wasn't as valued as I believed. When I resigned, all they said was, “Good luck,” without any effort to keep me. But it was a blessing in disguise! In my new role, I was earning double, with half the pressure. I even had the energy to work on side projects, contribute to open source, and mentor junior developers. The best part? I was doing better in college and didn’t have to work overtime anymore.
Amazingly, after just a year in that job, I moved to an even better one. “But why leave such a great company?” you might wonder. Well, as good as it was, I found a company that fit my needs even better—better policies, a fun product to work on, a higher salary, remote work, and more. One thing I learned is that no company will meet 100% of your expectations, and that’s okay. But there’s always a better opportunity out there—one that aligns more with your goals, work style, and values. So, keep searching! Do your research, ask questions on LinkedIn, and make sure the company knows exactly what you're looking for during interviews.
Lastly, don’t forget to take care of yourself. Whether it’s exercising, going to doctors, therapy, spending time with friends, or working on a personal project over the weekend—do what makes you happy, even if it’s just recharging on your own.
I hope my story encourages you and helps in some way. Wishing you all the best!
Just like you, I used to worry about this. But going to the the gym changed everything:
You don'thave to be a hustler, life is not Instagram, take it easy.