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Discussion on: What stands in the way of learning the things you really want to learn?

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lorenzomarsicano profile image
Lorenzo

Lack of willpower, time, motivation.

I started studying programming and computer science in High School because I wanted to become a game developer. Never done that.

I recently got my degree and moved to another city to work as an embedded developer, but guess what, I don't really like this job.

But after 8h in the office, sitting in front of a screen, banging my head on the desk, I really don't want to come home and sit again in front of a computer. I want to work out, I want to cook, to bake bread.

And because of that I cannot really leave my job, I'm too afraid of interviews as there is nothing I'm actually good at (well, my sourdough bread and my pastries are quite good...) and I do not have the will to study.

About developing games... I'd love to work as a game dev. I read books about frameworks, try out engines, listen podcasts about game design. Problem is that there isn't really a market for it in Italy and I don't have the creativity to create something myself, but to find work or even just an internship you need to prove that you can publish something.

Sorry for the depressing answer :P

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nford88 profile image
nford88

It's not a depressing answer, it's an honest one!

It' a two sided coin working in software development. On the one hand you get buzzed about learning a new skillset. This is always a great feeling, especially when it lands you a new job or pay rise. On the other hand, things can quickly become outdated if you stay doing one thing for a long period. People have lives and nobody wants to do more work after they have finished their day shift, especially if their brains aren't in it. That's not fun nor productive.

After being in my first job for a while and knowing my tasks inside out, I was completely thrown back when the time came to started interviewing again. Dedicating a 10-15 hours a week for a month or two on micro projects, the fun came back into coding which I probably had lost in the monotony of the day job. Interviews were much less intimidating at this point plus I wanted to talk about what I had made. These were just tiny projects, glorified CodePen demo's but it was enough to put myself down the path of learning something new.

As someone else has said, don't judge your learning by the rate that others learn. Do what you can when you can and more importantly, enjoy it.

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practicingdev profile image
Practicing Developer

I understand the feeling. Sometimes it's easier to start with trying to improve the state of things during the work day, rather than burning energy you don't have at home.

To that end, this other article I wrote may help some:
dev.to/practicingdev/a-dozen-ways-...