The latest articles on DEV Community by Jamie Cropley (@jamiecropley). https://dev.to/jamiecropley https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3954286%2F18bb88f9-3e68-4e56-b30f-9e7f7fecd124.png https://dev.to/jamiecropley en Jamie Cropley Sun, 07 Jun 2026 16:55:03 +0000 https://dev.to/jamiecropley/the-hard-part-of-programming-isnt-what-youd-expect-5ggf https://dev.to/jamiecropley/the-hard-part-of-programming-isnt-what-youd-expect-5ggf <p>As a university graduate in Artificial Intelligence, you would think at this point I am programming anything and everything, any side project I can think of from anywhere at anytime. The reality is, life can always be difficult no matter what you do of varying angles away from any digital device.</p> <p>I try and look forward, and plan slots to practise and learn programming more and more, it never ends.</p> <p>The truth is, a degree doesn't hand you endless free time. It hands you a head full of ideas and a life that keeps getting in the way of them.</p> <p>So the side projects sit half-finished. The clever app I designed in Figma stays in there. And that's fine. Learning isn't a race to ship something every weekend.</p> <p>What matters is that I keep coming back. A spare hour here, a stubborn bug there. Small, steady steps add up far more than the heroic all-nighters we like to imagine.</p> <p>If you're in the same boat, take the pressure off. You don't need to build the next big thing. You just need to keep showing up, keep curious, and keep chipping away.</p> <p>Life will always be difficult, in one way or another. But the code will still be there when you're ready. And so will I.</p> ai programming productivity