A new AI model dropped last week.
Twitter exploded LinkedIn was a wall of hot takes My feed filled up with this changes everything and the future ...
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Hey Harsh. Hope you are doing well.
I believe this is critical. Yes, the tech is changing fast and yes you need to keep yourself up-to-date. However, you don't need to know everything the second it releases.
This goes with anything in life as well. If you try to learn everything and know everything, you will be tired guaranteed. There is a reason why people know a specific area more than anything else. For example, my friend knows a lot of movies that are not know commonly to people because he genuinely like movies.
I think having a mindset of choosing which area interest you the most and stick to it would benefit than learning everything. Sure, you can pop into other topics time to time, but it's not like you are missing out. Eventually, you will get to it.
Thanks for sharing your experience Harsh!
Thank you for this Filtering is a skill, not a failure that's the sentence I need on my wall the movie friend example is perfect He doesn't know every movie He knows the ones he cares about That's how expertise works.
Eventually, you will get to it the tools that matter stick around The ones that don't you didn't miss anything.
Thank you. 🙌
I feel like this is a completely normal experience for developers today. Personally, I also skim through each new tech release but I'm also not that "eager" to try it and drop whatever I was doing. Whenever I use a new tool, it's not because I want it, it's mainly because I needed it. Necessity forces me to learn new and relevant tech and I believe that pacing is much better than running towards every new shiny tech emerging in the industry.
Elmar this is the wisdom the article was missing I don't try a new tool because I want it. I try it because I need it that's the filter. Want is emotional Need is practical Want leads to burnout because there's always another want. Need leads to sustainable learning because the problem is real.
Necessity forces me to learn. And that pacing is much better than running towards every new shiny tech You've named the alternative. Not ignore everything Not try everything Try what you actually need The rest can wait. Or be ignored entirely.
This is the healthiest relationship with new tools I've heard. Not excitement. Not exhaustion. Just necessity as gatekeeper.
Thank you for this genuinely helpful. 🙌
Pretty normal
Thanks for the read Ben this comment made my day. 🙌
I recently felt the same feeling so I decided to focus on the essence. Not to focus on tools, but to focus on problems to resolve. And tools will come later. Thinking about tools is now exhausting for me, but thinking about real problems is still exciting!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts😊
I agree 💯! I built a recycling app recently using basic, popular technologies (although very new to me personally!), and what was driving me was not the tools themselves, but the goal to create something that really could solve a given problem and help people in my country. I haven't felt such excitement in a while now, staying up late and thinking about how to make the app even more usable for the users.
Thank you for you honest article, Harsh. I hope you will find your joy again 🌻
Rondo this is the reframe the article needed Not tools. Problems. Tools come later that's the order When you start with the problem, the tool is just a means. When you start with the tool, you're already lost Thinking about tools is exhausting. Thinking about real problems is still exciting Yes. Because problems are real They have stakes They have users. They have constraints. Tools are just... options. A long list of options. No wonder that's exhausting
You've named the escape: shift your attention from how to what Not "which tool should I learn? but what problem am I trying to solve?
Thank you for this — it's grounding. 🙌
No offense! When dart lang was released!
When I started learning to code for the first time, I liked web dev, like everyone.
But, I was introduced to JavaScript by the very articles of those highly experienced developers bravely fighting JavaScript since 1995 😂
I got instant fear of JS and searched for alternatives.
Guess what? I found newly released Dart lang!
I liked its syntax and tooling and learned to write some cli programs in it.
Fast forward to today, I am learning and writing NEXT js apps!
csm this is a great counter-story Not I got tired I found a different path JavaScript fear → Dart escape → Next.js today. That's not a straight line. But it's your line No offense! none taken. The article wasn't against new tools. It was against the expectation that you have to be excited about all of them, all the time You found something you actually liked (Dart) You learned it. Then you grew into something else (Next.js). That's not exhaustion. That's curiosity finding its own pace
Thanks for sharing this it's a helpful counterpoint. Not stop trying new things Just try what actually interests you, not what you're supposed to. 🙌
Thanks man! Honestly, the no offense part was for being excited for dart's release, after all, there are many people who did not like the idea of dart taking place of JS!
I was just sharing my first excitement story! 😀
"Not stop trying new things Just try what actually interests you, not what you're supposed to"
I fully agree!
Honestly the most underrated part of this is what you said about not being able to tell anymore what genuinely interests you vs what you're just supposed to care about. That line stayed with me.
That's the real damage. Not the tiredness itself. When the noise gets loud enough it starts drowning out your own instincts and you lose the ability to trust your own curiosity. That's harder to recover from than just being tired.
Shubhra most insightful comment here When the noise drowns out your instincts tiredness is the symptom. The real loss is trusting your own curiosity.
You lose the ability to trust your own curiosity Harder to recover from than being tired Tiredness goes away with rest. A broken signal takes longer.
That's not tool fatigue. That's identity erosion.
Thank you for naming it. 🙌
Yeah “a broken signal takes longer” is exactly it. That line hits harder the more you think about it.
I think the scary part is you don’t even notice it happening at first. You just feel less curious, less pulled toward things, and assume it’s just tiredness.
But it’s actually that signal getting noisy.
Getting that back probably isn’t about learning more, it’s about creating enough quiet to hear it again.
Creating enough quiet to hear it again that's the whole thing. Not more learning Less noise Enough quiet to hear yourself.
Thank you for this whole thread, Shubhra. You've made the conversation richer. 🙌
Fatigue is a natural thing.
Industry-mandated 'hype' is often mistaken for genuine passion. But being human means we don't have infinite bandwidth—we’ll always find that spark again naturally once something truly piques our interest, rather than feeling forced to keep up with the constant noise.
Ekong fatigue is natural Those three words are the permission slip We've been taught tiredness is failure. It's not.
Industry-mandated hype is often mistaken for genuine passion the hype isn't your passion It's someone else's marketing We'll find the spark again naturally when something truly piques our interest the spark isn't gone It's waiting for something actually interesting.
Thank you. 🙌
I hate whatever is happening with the release of AI. Never felt more pressure and lack of interest in tech
Nabin you're not alone Every week, something new you're supposed to know. Every release makes you feel like you're falling behind. The pressure is real And the lack of interest? That's not giving up. That's your brain protecting itself from the firehose.
Naming it saying "I hate this is better than pretending you're fine.
Thanks for the honesty. 🙌
I am one of those who genuinely want to go back to the era of StackOverflow
This feels very real. At some point “staying updated” starts feeling like unpaid homework. I think the healthier filter is: does this tool solve a problem I actually have right now? If yes, try it. If not, let it pass. Not every launch needs our attention, and ignoring a tool is not the same as falling behind.
Varsha staying updated feels like unpaid homework Perfect phrase Not learning Not growing Homework Does this tool solve a problem I actually have right now? that's the filter. Want vs need Ignoring a tool is not the same as falling behind the fear of falling behind is the trap Falling behind who? To what?
Thank you for this clarity. 🙌
Exactly. The fear is vague, but the pressure feels constant. Most of us are not actually behind. We’re just surrounded by too many launches, threads, demos, and “must learn this now” posts. Filtering tools by real use case is the only sane way to stay sharp without burning out.
From one of Scott Hansleman's talks about productivity, I've learned we're not what we consume, but what we ignore.
We're not what we consume we're what we ignore that's the skill now Not consuming more Choosing what to ignore.
Thanks for this quoting Scott Hansleman. 🙌
I used to stay up all night chasing every new framework, but now, facing the daily deluge of AI models, I prefer to retreat to my own "artisan workshop."
True confidence isn’t about chasing the latest wave; it’s about using the tools you know inside out (like my Emacs) to sculpt your own core logic. When the noise finally settles, only the real gold remains.
Andy artisan workshop That's the image to hold onto Not a dashboard. A workshop. Tools you know. Space to craft True confidence isn't chasing waves it's using tools you know inside out to sculpt your core logic Depth over breadth. Mastery over exposure.
When the noise settles, only the real gold remains.
Thank you for this. 🙌
Thank you. I truly love the 'workshop' metaphor. In this loud era of endless new frameworks and hype cycles, there is a distinct peace in being an honest craftsman—mastering your tools and sculpting the core logic. The noise will eventually fade, but the real gold underneath lasts. Let's keep crafting! 🤝
Let's keep crafting! I'll hold onto that.
Thanks for the whole conversation Andy The workshop metaphor is staying with me. 🙌
You really captured the collective burnout many of us are feeling right now. The sheer velocity of new tool drops and AI models is overwhelming, and it's exhausting trying to keep up. It's a great reminder that it's okay to step back and just focus on building with the tools we already know. Really appreciated this honest take!
Tahosin thank you for this The sheer velocity is overwhelming that's the quiet truth. Not that any single tool is bad. The pace is the problem. The firehose never stops, and we're all just standing under it It's okay to step back and just focus on building with the tools we already know.
This is the permission we don't give ourselves To stop. To ignore. To build with what we have.
Thank you for the kind words and for being part of the conversation. 🙌
This resonates. I used to chase every new framework too — spent weeks on Bun, then Deno, then whatever came next. The sunk cost fallacy is real in dev tooling.
What helped me: pick one thing that genuinely solves a problem you actually have, and stick with it for at least 6 months before switching. The productivity gain from mastery outweighs the marginal improvements from switching.
That said, some tool switching is valid — like moving from Python to Rust for a specific performance bottleneck. But most "upgrades" are just shiny object syndrome dressed up as rational decisions.
What made you finally draw the line?
Mote sunk cost fallacy is real in dev tooling That's the trap Pick one thing that solves a problem you have, stick with it for 6 months a concrete rule. Mastery takes time Most 'upgrades' are shiny object syndrome dressed as rational decisions the line.
What made me draw the line? When I spent more time evaluating tools than building with them The ratio flipped.
Thanks for the question. 🙌
I look at new tools every day, and I can tell you firsthand that 95% of it is exhausting noise. Your rule of asking "Does this solve a problem I actually have?" is the ultimate sanity-saver. Filtering isn't falling behind; it's self-preservation.
Sayandip 95% is exhausting noise feels accurate Painfully accurate.
You see it every day I see it every day The firehose never stops. And most of it? Won't matter in six months Won't even be remembered Filtering isn't falling behind. It's self-preservation that's the line We've been taught that ignoring something means you're getting left behind. But when there's too much, ignoring isn't falling behind it's staying sane
Thanks for saying this. Coming from someone who actually looks at new tools every day, it means more. 🙌
The fatigue is real but it's mostly a discovery problem, not a tools problem. Half of what's being shipped as "new" is just the same wrapper with a different name. The stuff worth paying attention to is the layer where agents stop needing you to pick tools for them — local execution, self-contained skills, no SaaS dependency. Everything else is noise with a landing page.
To answer your question directly — the last thing that genuinely cut through for me was building something with constraints. I built a PDF to Image converter last week — no framework, no npm, just PDF.js + HTML5 Canvas. The constraint of "no dependencies, one HTML file" made it feel like the old days of just staying up late to see if something worked. The excitement came back not from a new tool but from restricting what tools I could use. Maybe the antidote to tool fatigue is self-imposed scope limits, not new releases.
BlinkNBuild this is the most practical, beautiful answer in the thread The excitement came back not from a new tool but from restricting what tools I could use that's the counterintuitive truth. More freedom doesn't always mean more joy. Sometimes joy lives in constraints The boundaries are what make the game interesting No framework, no npm, just PDF.js + Canvas. One HTML file
That's not old-fashioned. That's deliberate You chose the limits. You set the rules And within those walls you got to feel like a maker again The antidote to tool fatigue might be self-imposed scope limits, not new releases.
This is going to stay with me Not what new tool should I try? what can I build with what I already have?
Thank you for this. Genuinely helpful. 🙌
Your line about losing the ability to tell interest from obligation made me stop scrolling. I've been building software for close to two decades and I noticed the same shift in myself around 2023.
I spent a year chasing new AI tools and framework updates. I wrote about this calling it the "token grind," the developer treadmill where you run faster to stay in the same place. Conference speakers and hiring managers frame it as curiosity and continuous learning. It's unpaid R&D that benefits your employer more than it benefits you.
Your "problem-first filter" fixed it for me too. I stopped evaluating tools and started asking one question: does this solve a problem I have right now, in a system I'm responsible for? That filter eliminates 90% of the noise. The tools that pass tend to be boring and well-documented. The flashy ones don't survive contact with production.
That junior developer moment you described goes the other direction too. The 2 AM excitement is real, but a 20-year career can't run on adrenaline from new releases. I've watched developers who chase hype cycles burn out in three to four years. The ones who learn to ignore things early tend to last longer, even if they look less impressive on Twitter.
Thank you for this genuinely one of the most thoughtful comments I've received Token grind is such a perfect term for it. The treadmill analogy is exactly right. You run faster the scenery doesn't change, and somehow you're more exhausted than when you started The problem-first filter changed my career. Hearing that it worked for someone with 20 years of experience that's validation I didn't know I needed.
And your point about Twitter? Painfully true. The most impressive-looking careers on social media often burn out the fastest. The developers who quietly ignore the noise, solve real problems, and go home at 5 PM? They're the ones still building stuff 10 years later.
Thank you for adding token grind to my vocabulary. And for taking the time to write this. 🙌
The fatigue isn't the tools, it's that evaluating the new thing became a permanent unpaid job nobody put on your calendar. I tried six AI tools in one month and kept exactly zero. Curiosity only came back the week I let myself skip a launch instead of reading every announcement on day one.
Hello Everybody and Hello @harsh2644
Some Post here on DEV.to do are Just beyond Development, and that is a Good thing to notice, some may believe, that Development of Software, Tools, APPs, and so , are just Dry and unemotional Work, but Post like this one here, cleary show, "We are All Humans" and that is Very important in Times of "AI Hype" and some may State "AGI RELIGION"
Your ÜBERSCHRIFFT = TITLE : i-used-to-get-excited-about-new-tools-now-i-feel-tired .
Well just hit me, because i do can Relay and fell it,
To be honest Iḿ even to to tired to Read all of your Post, it just do READ in a FLY Over, for a long time now, to much input, to much feeds, to much of everything , every day... Some things do lose there Specialty, there uniqueness i guees. AI EVERYDAY, new Tools, EVERYDAY.
Well I am Tired.
Sincerly
Patrick R Miller (Iinkognit0)
Patrick this comment is the article.
Too tired to read the whole post That's evidence You're living the exhaustion right now.
Some things do lose their specialty, their uniqueness.
Yes When everything is game-changing nothing is When every release is revolutionary the word stops meaning anything The tools blend together The announcements blur And you stop being able to tell what actually matters.
That's not a failure That's a symptom And the fact that you shared it honestly that's what makes this comment valuable.
Thank you for the honest reflection Rest well. 🙌
Rest well ..... ;)
This is so relatable. Earlier I'd jump on every new tool that came out Now I feel exhausted just reading about another framework You've perfectly described the tool fatigue many of us are going through.
Thank you Urmila
Earlier I'd jump on every new tool Now I feel exhausted just reading about another one That's the shift, isn't it? Not from curious to bored from curious to exhausted The curiosity is still there somewhere It's just buried under the weight of too many releases, too many must-learn announcements, too little time the fact that so many of us feel this and don't say it is exactly why I wrote this.
Thanks for reading and for saying it out loud. 🙌
This honestly felt too real. Somewhere along the way, “learning” started feeling less like curiosity and more like unpaid homework. The excitement is still there sometimes, just buried under the pressure to constantly keep up.
Learning started feeling like unpaid homework that's the whole article in one line.
Curiosity is joy Homework is obligation. The excitement isn't gone It's just buried.
Thanks, Madhav. 🙌
Something similar happened to me in the past, where I was in a dilemma where I felt a constant need to know everything and stay up to date. I believed that to call myself a web developer, I had to be familiar with every tool, library, and framework, and understand them thoroughly. However, I soon realized that my foundational knowledge was weak. As a result, I decided to stop chasing every new tool and instead focused on mastering the basics. Since then, my life has been much more at peace.
Saad the quiet wisdom most people miss I believed I had to know every tool to be a web developer that's the lie. No one knows everything My foundation was weak. So I stopped chasing tools and mastered the basics that takes courage. Surface vs depth.
Since then, my life has been more peaceful the best outcome. Not more tools. More peace.
Thank you for this. 🙌
You don’t miss the tools. You miss the feeling of discovery before everything became a race.
The people who last longest in tech aren’t the ones who chase every release, they’re the ones who learn selectively and stay curious without letting the industry turn curiosity into exhaustion.
Michael You don't miss the tools. You miss the feeling of discovery before everything became a race That's the line. The tools were never the point. The feeling was Discovery becomes a race the feeling changes Not curiosity anymore. Competition Stay curious without letting the industry turn curiosity into exhaustion.
That's the balance.
Thank you. 🙌
After some time you start seeing history repeating again. New hype, new way to build things, new hotness. It is like a mouse wheel. Need to learn how to pace yourself
Mouse wheel perfect metaphor You run. You stay in the same place New hype New hotness Same pattern Need to learn how to pace yourself not stop running Just pace.
Not every sprint needs to be a sprint.
Thanks. 🙌
I too have been feeling the same since the last 18 months or so.
But then, this week I discovered JDK 25 had released with the ability to
But Java 25 had released last September, & hadn't even showed up on my feed.
CitronBrick this is the perfect example of the problem JDK 25 released last September You discovered it this week Eight months later Not because you're not paying attention Because the firehose is so loud that even significant releases get buried Java 25 with classless functions and module imports that's genuinely interesting That's real progress But it got drowned out by the weekly AI hype cycle Hadn't even showed up on my feed.
That's not your fault. That's the signal-to-noise ratio collapsing.
The tools that matter are still there They're just harder to see Thank you for naming this it's the most concrete example in the thread. 🙌
I say, try to get a bit off the AI hype train and do some development again in the "old fashioned way" - it might largely cure your "ailments" ...
Leob you might be right The fatigue isn't from all tools It's from the pace of AI tools.
Getting off the hype train sounds like the cure. But is old fashioned way even possible anymore? The hype follows you even if you ignore it, your team doesn't.
Maybe the cure isn't getting off the train It's learning to sit in a quieter car.
Thanks for this. 🙌
Yeah in a work environment you can't just "do what you want" - but in a side project (own time) it's different ...
Also it's not "all or nothing", of course ... anyway, best of luck!
Side project own time it's different You're right That's where the old fashioned way still lives.
Thanks for the conversation, Leob. 🙌
why this article sounds Ai written to me
I really feel the same. Something new is coming every day these days
Every day that's the exhausting part. Not that new things exist That they never stop coming.
Thanks for reading. 🙌
Just stick to one AI. You can stick to CHATGPT unless you want an AI perfect on one NICHE.
We can't consume everything online and some AI applications made ain't worth at all.
Allan there's a certain peace in just picking one Not which AI is best? just this one works good enough We can't consume everything online, and some AI applications aren't worth it at all That's the filter. Not is this tool good? but is this tool worth my attention? Most aren't Sticking to one AI (ChatGPT, Claude, whatever) and going deep on it that's not being behind. That's being focused.
Thanks for the grounded take. 🙌
I agree! So many development tools have come out that it's even scary now.
Scary is the right word. Not just exhausting actually scary.
Because every new tool feels like something you should know. And when you don't, it feels like you're falling behind. Not because you're lazy. Because the pile keeps growing and you're still human.
Thanks for naming the fear most people don't. 🙌