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The author lists an incredible 17 different projects they're trying to build or maintain at the same time. This ranges from a new cloud platform company to a ga

The author lists an incredible 17 different projects they're trying to build or maintain at the same time. This ranges from a new cloud platform company to a game runtime to a custom IDE and more. This isn't just about burnout, it's about spreading yourself too thin. This reminds me of a lot of the enthusiastic juniors I interview who want to tell me about their 10 different side projects, none of which got further than a quick proof of concept before they moved on to the next thing. If you hire them, guess what you're going to get? Someone who wants to build proof of concept work and then move on to the next thing as soon as it gets boring. The rest of the team doesn't want to spend their careers picking up the pieces after someone did the fun part and got bored. Personally, if I'm reading an official company blog where the author is bragging about working on over a dozen different large projects simultaneously, I have zero interest in adopting the platform. It's almost guaranteed to be abandoned for the next fun idea, with features left unfinished. When I click on the "Pricing" page I'm given a placeholder that says it's free until the author gets around to building to billing part of the company. I know the author wants to position themself as a "monastic code machine", but I think the biggest thing missing from this person's life is some diversity of activities. My recommendation: Put all but one of the projects on a clear, definitive pause. Focus on the business first. Then use your free time to get out, try new activities, and meet new people. So many of the burnout stories I read online start with people who code all day at work and then come home and try to code all evening on side projects. That can be fun for a while, but if that's the entirety of your life you're going to burn out eventually. Get outside and do something else. You'll be more refreshed when you come back to these projects.

newsiehey 4y ago
Did you read the post? He obviously said that he was working on too much at once and then goes on to cut back and say he is happy and focused moving forward... That is perfectly logical and doesn't invite judgment about his daily activities or "going outside" or whatever you are talking about
- PragmaticPulp 4y ago
  > Did you read the post? Yes, which is why I cited specific details from the post in my comment. I also read some of his other posts which is where I gathered the “monastic code machine” and additional context. Please don’t jump to conclusions about other people not reading the post when they’re clearly referring to details within. HN has a guideline about this specifically https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that".
  - newsiehey 4y ago
    I didn't jump to a conclusion hence the question mark. It's seemed valid since your response whiffs on his conclusion and go off on your own unrelated tangent. Calling him a clever name and espousing some unsolicited drivel... You don't sound like you are relating at all
vlunkr 4y ago
I disagree with your point about juniors with unfinished side projects. There are fun parts of coding and tedious parts. Greenfielding, using a new language/framework/library, coming up with high-level architecture is fun. Tracking down bugs, forcing a new feature into a legacy system and writing test is not fun. I'll do it if I'm compensated, and it can be rewarding in it's own way, but if I'm coding for leisure (and avoiding burnout), then yeah, I'll drop a side project as soon as it stops being fun.
- PragmaticPulp 4y ago
  The difference is in how they’re presented. Often, I see resumes that claim people built complex things, but when I check their GitHub it’s just a few commits over the course of a week several years back. The key is in presenting it within the right context. Doing a quick architecture exploration is indeed fun and insightful, but presenting that work as if it was a usable project would be misleading.
  - vlunkr 4y ago
    Ah, yeah in the context of building a portfolio that makes sense.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
yodsanklai 4y ago
> This reminds me of a lot of the enthusiastic juniors I interview who want to tell me about their 10 different side projects, none of which got further than a quick proof of concept before they moved on to the next thing. If you hire them, guess what you're going to get? I think it's an unfair assessment. You can't compare what people do during their free time and what they do at work. That being said, one of my brightest colleague is exactly like that. He seems to have a hard time finishing projects. It's always 90% done, poorly documented. Some other engineers are slower and less creative, but they deliver. In the end, everybody brings something to the table.
mathgladiator 4y ago
Howdy, I'm the author and thank you for commenting. The core problem that I have is that I've realized that life has this rule: play stupid games, win stupid prizes. In my career, I've already demonstrated the capability to achieve. I'm a good cog, but for some stupid reason, I want some kind of something else. The best way to put it is legendary status. I've realized many things as of late, and I'm focusing hard on the core project which is the new cloud because there I can have impact and I have the credibility to do it. The new runtime is neat in a myopic way, but it's not the way. The same is true for the web IDE and more. Many of the projects are done (like the network protocol) because I just have enough experience to focus on the right things (and the more depressing aspect there is the things I have to avoid doing because I created a patent for another company) > My recommendation: Put all but one of the projects on a clear, definitive pause. Focus on the business first This is what I'm doing except I'm focus on the core infrastructure such that I can invite people to use it. I intend to work with high school kids to build games and work on the rough edges. This focus on helping kids has been very focusing as I need a body of literature to throw at them to consume (in this case, Phaser.js tutorials) while I support them on the network end and gather feedback.

newsiehey 4y ago

Did you read the post? He obviously said that he was working on too much at once and then goes on to cut back and say he is happy and focused moving forward... That is perfectly logical and doesn't invite judgment about his daily activities or "going outside" or whatever you are talking about

PragmaticPulp 4y ago
> Did you read the post? Yes, which is why I cited specific details from the post in my comment. I also read some of his other posts which is where I gathered the “monastic code machine” and additional context. Please don’t jump to conclusions about other people not reading the post when they’re clearly referring to details within. HN has a guideline about this specifically https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html > Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that".
- newsiehey 4y ago
  I didn't jump to a conclusion hence the question mark. It's seemed valid since your response whiffs on his conclusion and go off on your own unrelated tangent. Calling him a clever name and espousing some unsolicited drivel... You don't sound like you are relating at all

vlunkr 4y ago

I disagree with your point about juniors with unfinished side projects. There are fun parts of coding and tedious parts. Greenfielding, using a new language/framework/library, coming up with high-level architecture is fun. Tracking down bugs, forcing a new feature into a legacy system and writing test is not fun. I'll do it if I'm compensated, and it can be rewarding in it's own way, but if I'm coding for leisure (and avoiding burnout), then yeah, I'll drop a side project as soon as it stops being fun.

PragmaticPulp 4y ago
The difference is in how they’re presented. Often, I see resumes that claim people built complex things, but when I check their GitHub it’s just a few commits over the course of a week several years back. The key is in presenting it within the right context. Doing a quick architecture exploration is indeed fun and insightful, but presenting that work as if it was a usable project would be misleading.
- vlunkr 4y ago
  Ah, yeah in the context of building a portfolio that makes sense.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

yodsanklai 4y ago

> This reminds me of a lot of the enthusiastic juniors I interview who want to tell me about their 10 different side projects, none of which got further than a quick proof of concept before they moved on to the next thing. If you hire them, guess what you're going to get? I think it's an unfair assessment. You can't compare what people do during their free time and what they do at work. That being said, one of my brightest colleague is exactly like that. He seems to have a hard time finishing projects. It's always 90% done, poorly documented. Some other engineers are slower and less creative, but they deliver. In the end, everybody brings something to the table.

mathgladiator 4y ago

Howdy, I'm the author and thank you for commenting. The core problem that I have is that I've realized that life has this rule: play stupid games, win stupid prizes. In my career, I've already demonstrated the capability to achieve. I'm a good cog, but for some stupid reason, I want some kind of something else. The best way to put it is legendary status. I've realized many things as of late, and I'm focusing hard on the core project which is the new cloud because there I can have impact and I have the credibility to do it. The new runtime is neat in a myopic way, but it's not the way. The same is true for the web IDE and more. Many of the projects are done (like the network protocol) because I just have enough experience to focus on the right things (and the more depressing aspect there is the things I have to avoid doing because I created a patent for another company) > My recommendation: Put all but one of the projects on a clear, definitive pause. Focus on the business first This is what I'm doing except I'm focus on the core infrastructure such that I can invite people to use it. I intend to work with high school kids to build games and work on the rough edges. This focus on helping kids has been very focusing as I need a body of literature to throw at them to consume (in this case, Phaser.js tutorials) while I support them on the network end and gather feedback.