There are several fears that can keep us from making this break with programming. The first fear goes by the fancy name of the "sunk cost fallacy". The sunk cost fallacy is the belief that the time and effort we spent learning and developing is an investment, and that investment will be wasted if we quit. Thus, in order to preserve our investment we must keep programming. The problem with this fallacy is that it assumes you have not already received the benefit from that time and effort. I'd argue that learning any sort of programming is not a wasted skill. Programming can be applied to many facets of our lives, such as simplifying tasks into manageable steps, structured thinking, and basic Boolean logic. Many other fields have also adopted computers so having computer skills can be helpful for yourself or other colleagues who are struggling to learn the technology. The knowledge you have will not go to waste.
-The second fear is the fear that we'll let down our fellow programmers and others in our organization if we stop programming. This one is tricky. It's tricky because it includes others in our decision-making process. We might be in an organization that has a large load of tasks to complete. Our decision to quit will mean these tasks won't get done the way we wanted them to get done. It's not hard to imagine our absence causing harm to the entire enterprise and result in its eventual collapse. Is this scenario true? It's up to us to tease out whether our absence will truly let everyone in our organization down. This puts us in a situation where our fear leaves us feeling stuck. We feel stuck because our fear has created a situation where we're choosing between our own well being or the well being of others. But this can be a false dichotomy. Our absence might be the catalyst for someone else to pick up our tasks and work on them. We need to ask ourselves if we are really irreplaceable for this organization or could someone take our place? The answer might be "Yes, I am irreplaceable, but I need to leave this situation or I will cause harm to both of us if this continues". It's up to us to review if we are helping ourselves and the organizations we serve, or if we are harming them and ourselves by continuing to delude ourselves that this is working.
+The second fear is the fear that we'll let down our fellow programmers and others in our organization if we stop programming. This one is tricky. It's tricky because it includes others in our decision-making process. We might be in an organization that has a large load of tasks to complete, and our decision to quit will mean these tasks won't get done the way we wanted them to get done. It's not hard to imagine our absence causing harm to the entire organization and resulting in its eventual collapse. Is this scenario true? It's up to us to tease out whether our absence will truly let everyone in our organization down. This puts us in a situation where our fear leaves us feeling stuck. We feel stuck because our fear has created a situation where we're choosing between our own well being or the well being of others. But this can be a false dichotomy. Our absence might be the catalyst for someone else to pick up our tasks and work on them. We need to ask ourselves if we are really irreplaceable for this organization or could someone take our place? The answer might be "I am irreplaceable, but I need to leave this situation or I will cause harm to both myself and others if this continues". It's up to us to review if we are helping ourselves and the organizations we serve, or if we are harming them and ourselves by continuing to delude ourselves that this is working.
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-The third fear deals with our own personal fears of identity and the memory of our community. If we decide to stop being a programmer will that somehow erase a part of our identity? Will our community stop identifying us as a programmer and will we lose contact with folks that have become friends, colleagues, and such? Again, this fear is tricky to overcome because programming may be a large part of the identity you have crafted for yourself. Letting go of that can lead to feeling less like yourself. And the fear that folks will stop calling you for programming projects can be compounded if you decide to take a break from programming (especially if this break is temporary).
+The third fear deals with our own personal fears of identity and the memory of our community. If we decide to stop being a programmer will that somehow erase a part of our identity? Will our community stop identifying us as a programmer and will we lose contact with folks that have become friends, colleagues, and such? Again, this fear is tricky to overcome because programming may be a large part of the identity you have crafted for yourself. Letting go of programming can lead to feeling less like yourself. And the fear that folks will stop calling you for jobs or other programming projects can be compounded if you decide to take a temporary break from programming. If the break is temporary will people move on from thinking of you as a programmer during your absence.
Each of these fears is a valid fear, but they may not be the truth. We can't control how others perceive us or how organizations move on without us. What we can control is our participation in each of these communities. We can determine if a hard break from programming would be better than gradually easing ourselves out of our commitments. We can clarify to others what our current status is and if this is something that is permanent or temporary. But what is most important is that we don't let others persuade us into doing something that is not what we want or is harmful to us. If we need to stop programming because we are emotionally drained and burned out then we need to make it clear to others that we will be doing as disservice to them and ourselves if we continue.
-Mature communities will understand the need to take a break and stop programming. They will understand that your mental and emotional well-being is more important for you than their need for you to continue. And they will be able to piece together what needs to be done and heal from your absence. It is natural and normal for folks to move on from organizations and pursue other priorities.
+Mature communities will understand the need to take a break and stop programming. They will understand that your mental and emotional well-being is more important than their need for you to continue. And they will be able to piece together what needs to be done and heal from your absence. It is normal and natural for folks to move on from organizations and pursue other priorities.
What's important to remember is that it's OK to turn off that portion of your being and stop being a programmer. Whether or not you make that a permanent change is up to you and your desires. Feeling emotionally drained, uninspired, and burned out is counterproductive to your programming practice --- programming is hard enough. Taking a break from programming to explore other interests is natural and doesn't mean you're less of a programmer for wanting to do something different to recharge yourself. If you find that you're happiest when you're not programming then pursue whatever else has your attention with wild abandon. If you decide to return to programming after being away for a bit then you can return and pick up your learning practice. Remember: our lives take many different turns and paths. The best path for you is the one you make yourself, regardless of where that might lead.
projects / themediocreprogrammer.git / commitdiff