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When it all gets too much...

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:04 am
by Skittlewidth
What do other people do when they have to work on a project (because it's their source of income and there's no way out of it) and they start to lose interest after a few days/weeks?
I've been working on a particular project for a fortnight now, and its not particularly hard its just DULL. Really dull. The client has been on to me 10 times today at least with various ideas, changes etc and I feel like I'm losing the will to live!

So what I want to know is, what do other people do to find their motivation/inspiration so that they can make it to the end of the project, or even just the end of the day? Bear in mind I'm trapped in an office, so taking an hour off to watch tv is not an option! Oh and coffee makes me really dizzy! :oops:

All suggestions gratefully received! 8)

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:15 am
by shiznatix
snacks. get somthing to eat from a bakery if you got one close by. munch down. its like at least you have SOMTHING good right now, makes life oh so much better. either that or start smoking cigarettes. with smokes you can be like i will not allow myself to smoke a cigarette until i finish this section so then you go as fast as you can to finish it then you get your doggy treat :lol:

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:38 am
by Skittlewidth
Hehe, you know for the first time in my life I was so fed up I actually did contemplate smoking the other day! The bakery is definately a good idea though.

Keep 'em coming!

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:08 am
by Charles256
well i tend to think.."money..money..money...money.." and then look at a 20 to remind me what money is(or any denomination of a bill) and then visualize that as I code:)

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:08 am
by John Cartwright
Don't smoke :twisted:,

but seriously the best way to avoid losing interest is to understand your limits.
You are only human, so set a realistic timeframe of how long it will take you to do a project, and how many hours you are willing to commit per day to it.

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 5:18 pm
by Hardcore4Life
i know - and have - same problem too!

we have a really hard and huge project were 3 programmers code and code and code ...
the 'big boss' isnt intrested in discussions about problems - he only wants a finished software solution to sell.

so every day we sit for this code and think "uhh - if i had more time ... i'd like to throw it away and code it new but ..." :cry:
and when we build a version so the managers can test it - they only say "no time for testing" ...
it really sucks :lol:

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 8:55 pm
by d3ad1ysp0rk
Hardcore4Life wrote:i know - and have - same problem too!

we have a really hard and huge project were 3 programmers code and code and code ...
the 'big boss' isnt intrested in discussions about problems - he only wants a finished software solution to sell.

so every day we sit for this code and think "uhh - if i had more time ... i'd like to throw it away and code it new but ..." :cry:
and when we build a version so the managers can test it - they only say "no time for testing" ...
it really sucks :lol:
Time to find a new job?

Anyways, if you're having problems with feature creep, I'd look into how your pricing is going about.

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:05 pm
by neophyte
Every project has it's "moments". I just put on some music, tap the foot, and push on.

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 1:58 am
by Weirdan
Charles256 wrote:well i tend to think.."money..money..money...money.." and then look at a 20 to remind me what money is(or any denomination of a bill) and then visualize that as I code:)
I really like your method :)

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 3:11 am
by Hardcore4Life
LiLpunkSkateR wrote: Time to find a new job?
well - were all coders and we all love this job with every ups and downs ... :roll:

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:28 am
by Chris Corbyn
There's always a few things that bug me from time to time, but on the whole I love my job to bits. Creating web forms for data input... long ones, and having to make them look nice. It's not hard - it's just hideously boring.

If I do get fed up at work I just browse the internet for a little bit or go out for a coffee (or tea if coffee makes you dizzy :P) for half an hour. I guess the difference is that I don't work for myself now though :) If I did I'd just go home early and pay someone else half the $$$ to do the work :P (maybe not)

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:35 am
by Grim...
Every hour my computer beeps at me and I put a comment into my code saying how much money I have earn't so far ;)

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:36 am
by Grim...
Oh, and I smoke while I'm working. Take that, new age health hippies!

;)

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:52 am
by Hardcore4Life
Grim... wrote:Every hour my computer beeps at me and I put a comment into my code saying how much money I have earn't so far ;)
i hope you dont really do that :lol:

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:12 am
by Grim...
<span style='color:blue' title='I&#39;m naughty, are you naughty?'>smurf</span> right I do. I have a shortcut key.

They look like

Code: Select all

//££ I have earn't £x so far
What's really bad is when I have this in my code:

Code: Select all

//££ I have earn't £x so far
//££ I have earn't £(x+hourly rate) so far
Meaning I haven't done anything for an hour (except for make some money)



I take them all away again at the end of my project by removing any lines that start with //££ .