Dear Dev, What Are You Coming Back To?

I've been noticing more conversations lately about burnout, losing motivation, and starting over in tech.

It's not just about being tired.

Sometimes people still want to code. They still want to build things. They still want to be part of technology. But somehow, they don't know how to get back to it, or even what they are trying to get back to.

And I think that's an important distinction.

The usual advice for burnout is familiar:

• Take a break
• Go for a walk
• Do some stretching and yoga
• Eat well and get enough sleep
• Spend time away from the computer

These things can absolutely help in the short term. Sometimes you really do need to step away and recover.

But they don't necessary always resolve that deeper, unsettling feeling.
You can rest and still feel restless.

You can take time away and still wonder:

Why don't I feel motivated anymore?
What am I actually coming back to?
What do I want to do next?

Maybe the problem isn't always that we need another productivity system or another break.

Maybe sometimes we need to reconnect with why we wanted to be here in the first place.

Consistency Isn't Enough

This made me think about my own approach to staying involved in tech.

When I started One Commit a Day project, the idea was simple: Show up every day, Make a small contribution, and Keep moving forward.

That helped me build consistency.

But over time, I started asking a different question:

What am I actually showing up for?

Because you can have a daily goal, a GitHub contribution, a learning plan, and a list of things to build, and still feel like you are moving without really knowing where you are going.

Maybe the goal isn't always to find the next job, learn the next framework, or complete the next project.

Sometimes we need to step back and ask:

• Why am I in tech?
• What still interests me?
• What kind of problems do I want to solve?
• What do I want my technical work to mean?
• What kind of technical person do I want to become?

That's what led me to add journaling and reflection to One Commit a Day v2.

The project is still about showing up and making meaningful contributions. But now there's another side to it: thinking about the direction behind those contributions.

Not a perfect career plan.

Not another productivity system.

Just a space to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what matters.

From TO-DO to TO-BE

This is where the idea of TO-BE came in for me.

I was inspired by Japanese journaling approaches that focus on how you want to be, not just what you want to accomplish.

We spend a lot of time thinking about To-Do:

What do I need to get done today?

Learn this. Build this. Fix this issue. Apply for that job.

Those things matter. But there is another layer of question that is easy to forget:

What kind of technical person do I want to become while doing all of these tasks?

That's the difference between TO-DO and TO-BE.

To-Do is about what you need to accomplish.
To-Be is about your direction, your values, and the kind of person you want to become.

And I don't think To-Be needs to be perfect five-year career plan. It can simply be a way to pause and ask what still matters to you, especially when your circumstances change.

That's one of the biggest changes in One Commit a Day v2.

The project started as a simple framework for showing up and making small contributions. In v2, I added journals and reflections to give that consistency another dimension.

There is now a Technical TO-BE Journal, along with journals for AI and Technology, and technical practice.

The goal isn't to tell you what career path to choose.

It is to give you a small space to step back and ask:

Why am I here? What matters to me? What do I want to move toward?

One Commit a Day v2. on GitHub

Consistency helps us keep moving. But reflection can help us make sure we are moving in a direction that still feels like ours.

What Are You Coming Back To?

I don't have a perfect answer to these questions myself. That's part of why I build this.

One Commit a Day v2 is my attempt to create a little more space for that reflection alongside the act of showing up.

If this idea resonates with you, take a look at One Commit a Day and the new journaling features in v2. Maybe some of the questions will be useful for your own journey.

And I'd love to hear from you:

What do you want to come back to?