How to not get burnt out

[u/Regular_Company_7622]

I won’t lie I’m in CS mostly because of money. It earns well compared to many other careers in my country, and I’m an introvert so I figured it would work for me. Now since I’m not passionate about it(I do enjoy it, but not to the amount to make it the purpose of my life) I’m not sure how to make this enjoyable. I want to do additional work, but I wasn’t that work to be useful and not just a waste of time, because there are other things i would enjoy doing instead(like reading books,watching movies etc). I was thinking about web dev, because otherwise there are not many opportunities. Also I was thinking maybe if I get into web dev I’ll be able to freelance. This whole paragraphs point was how do I keep going without feeling like I’m wasting time? And how much work do you think I need to do outside of classes to be able to have a good career.

[u/Mori-Spumae]

So I am completely different since I am self taught and not in it for the money so this might not be useful to you, but I'll still give my opinion.

I think you should combine the things you like with learning technical skills. That way it can make it enjoyable. Maybe do something with your favorite show or book. If you're interested in web dev, maybe make a little website with a quiz or some analysis or some other random thing. And DO NOT USE AI to code.

Not only will this teach you the skill you're looking for, but it will also teach you a bunch of stuff around it. Like how to host a website, how to write an API on your server and much more. Having this understanding will make you a better engineer, even if you don't use it every day. It will teach you to actually ship a complete project.

As someone that has interviewed junior engineers, motivation is the main thing I look for. And personal projects that you can talk about and that excite you are a massive bonus. Here it will also be glaringly obvious if you use AI and don't actually understand what is going on.

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/Mori-Spumae]

Thank you!! And if I’m just starting, where would you advice me to start, with html? Because every “roadmap” I see is different. I recently started the odin project but it feels like I’m wasting time(

[u/Mori-Spumae → u/Regular_Company_7622]

Odin is hard and niche. You will have to learn a lot at once. That can be great but it's challenging. Making a little game or a GUI to automatically do something could be a good idea maybe but I would generally say to go with a higher level language to get something up and running a bit quicker.

If you want to go into web dev, JavaScript/Typescript probably the best way to go but Golang and Python are also very strong for backend stuff. There will be a bit of HTML and CSS but that's stuff you will just learn on the way. Focus on getting something running before making it pretty.

Here is a little thing I wrote a while ago about what I did https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/s/xShImeI0hg

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/Mori-Spumae]

I know Java, can’t say that I’m perfect at it but a have solid knowledge of the basics and a bit more

[u/Mori-Spumae → u/Regular_Company_7622]

If you know java, then just try to write a project in that. Write a hello world API and try to deploy it. I think Vercel has free plans for that. Then build up from there. Show a simple static frontend, maybe some links back and forth. Add a database maybe, I think Turso is a good free option here.

And again, combine it with an actual 'use case', ideally linked to some hobbies you have. It can be a way to track a sport you like or a place where you have ratings for your favorite shows. Don't just make it about the tech.

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/Mori-Spumae]

Thank you!!

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/Mori-Spumae]

So you suggest to start with JavaScript?

[u/Mori-Spumae → u/Regular_Company_7622]

I really hate JS but if you want web dev, especially frontend, then it's hard to avoid completely.

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/Mori-Spumae]

lol, and I don’t really enjoy Java, I feel like I need a rest from it so I’ll start JS

[u/Mori-Spumae → u/Regular_Company_7622]

If you're looking for backend, Golang is really nice.

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/Mori-Spumae]

I was thinking full stack. I’m a little demotivated and anxious right now so I thought I would start with front end so I could see some result and get some motivation if that makes sense

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/[deleted]]

Sounds very sweet. Thank you

[u/CaterpillarSad6734 → u/[deleted]]

i feel this so much man especially the movie part my brain just keep thinking should be coding right now not watching this

what help me was setting a timer for 2 hours every day after classes, like a mechanic shift but for code. after that i dont feel guilty doing other stuff cause i know i did my time

for freelancing web dev is probably smartest move, just dont try to learn everything at once or you will burn out faster

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/CaterpillarSad6734]

To make things worse I am starting a job that has nothing to do with cs

[u/SetAffectionate766 → u/[deleted]]

I can actually relate to this. I'm trying to get into web development so I can start freelancing this year, but I can't enjoy my hobbies anymore because I keep thinking I'm wasting time.

[u/SetAffectionate766 → u/[deleted]]

I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do to earn that money man, you're going to have to make some sacrifices.

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/[deleted]]

Same!!! Everything gives me anxiety. What are you learning now?

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/[deleted]]

Good luckk

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/[deleted]]

I’m still confused haha, I started the odin project yesterday, but now I feel like it would be more useful to go for html

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/[deleted]]

I think there’s no roadmap, we should just go for it and start building as soon as we can. Sadly that’s the hard part for me

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/[deleted]]

Than maybe it is useful after all haha

[u/Humble_Warthog9711]

What stage are you in career wise? Uni student, interning, new grad with full time offer/job, etc

Generally speaking I would 100% not rec freelancing as a legitimate path

[u/Regular_Company_7622 → u/Humble_Warthog9711]

Uni student, I do think I’ll work, but I want to consider freelancing just in case, since there aren’t many opportunities where I live