6 ms·

I've been trying for the past 6 months, but I keep coming back to programming. Old habits die hard.

jbpetersen 10y ago
What of complementary hobbies? Digital signal processing and music for example.
pelhage 10y ago
Keep trying new hobbies until one of them sticks! There will come a point where you find a hobby that will fulfill you in ways that programming can not. For me that is writing poetry and making music for myself, which I randomly stumbled upon after having had so many other hobbies in the past besides programming
thirdsun 10y ago
Don't think about it as sacrificing programming, but as an extension or alternative to your favorite hobby. As for concrete suggestions: - sports is an obvious one. Bonus points for team sports where you'll get a different community / social circle for free - as others suggested music is great way of playfully easing into different activities. A fun start would be Melodics ( https://melodics.com https://melodics.com ). If you'd like to keep it close to programming take a look at Max/MSP. Play around with a software synth, or get a hardware one like Korg's entry level offerings. If you'd like to move up to advanced levels, take a look at Ableton Live + Push, which is a very play- AND powerful way of learning a DAW.
mattlondon 10y ago
It is totally ok to just enjoy programming! Do all people who paint water colours also have some other totally different unrelated hobby they are just as passionate about, like motorcycle restoration? I'd wager not. For me, running became a sort of "hobby" as such - I guess you could call that "sport". What were the other things you were thinking about at school when you "played it safe"? Never too late to learn/relearn things.
retro64 10y ago
It is also good to acknowledge to yourself, who you are, and stop looking around at others, feeling guilty and making excuses. If you want to code 12 - 18 hours a day, and you are not neglecting other responsibilities, then go for it. Don’t apologize to yourself that you aren’t into biking, marital arts, cooking, or skydiving. I’m speaking to myself, BTW. I have spent a good portion of my life of explaining it to others and questioning it myself. I started programming in the 80’s though, and I had to fight through a wall of people with the mindset that computers were inherently “evil” and treated with high suspicion because they were not commonly understood. Yes, I grew up in a backwater.

What of complementary hobbies? Digital signal processing and music for example.

Keep trying new hobbies until one of them sticks! There will come a point where you find a hobby that will fulfill you in ways that programming can not. For me that is writing poetry and making music for myself, which I randomly stumbled upon after having had so many other hobbies in the past besides programming

thirdsun 10y ago

Don't think about it as sacrificing programming, but as an extension or alternative to your favorite hobby. As for concrete suggestions: - sports is an obvious one. Bonus points for team sports where you'll get a different community / social circle for free - as others suggested music is great way of playfully easing into different activities. A fun start would be Melodics ( https://melodics.com https://melodics.com ). If you'd like to keep it close to programming take a look at Max/MSP. Play around with a software synth, or get a hardware one like Korg's entry level offerings. If you'd like to move up to advanced levels, take a look at Ableton Live + Push, which is a very play- AND powerful way of learning a DAW.

mattlondon 10y ago

It is totally ok to just enjoy programming! Do all people who paint water colours also have some other totally different unrelated hobby they are just as passionate about, like motorcycle restoration? I'd wager not. For me, running became a sort of "hobby" as such - I guess you could call that "sport". What were the other things you were thinking about at school when you "played it safe"? Never too late to learn/relearn things.

retro64 10y ago

It is also good to acknowledge to yourself, who you are, and stop looking around at others, feeling guilty and making excuses. If you want to code 12 - 18 hours a day, and you are not neglecting other responsibilities, then go for it. Don’t apologize to yourself that you aren’t into biking, marital arts, cooking, or skydiving. I’m speaking to myself, BTW. I have spent a good portion of my life of explaining it to others and questioning it myself. I started programming in the 80’s though, and I had to fight through a wall of people with the mindset that computers were inherently “evil” and treated with high suspicion because they were not commonly understood. Yes, I grew up in a backwater.