When my husband switched careers and became a web developer I noticed a number of changes in him. He attributed them to his new life as a web developer, I thought he was just being a jerk…. Until I started switching careers and began to show some of the same alarming behaviors! Since I enjoy analyzing things, I looked a bit closer at what was going on and found that learning how to code and becoming a web developer comes with side effects that people should be warned about.
1. Coding is mood altering
I am sure that no matter what kind of work we do for a living, we probably all experience good days and not so great ones. We are happy when work goes well and feel successful when we solve problems and master challenges. And, yeah, sometimes work sucks and we might be a bit grumpy for a while. But let me tell you, nothing in my previous professional life has prepared me for the extreme mood swings that I have been experiencing since I have started to seriously work on my career change. Here is a little picture for illustration:
This diagram sums it up very nicely: the high level of motivation when I start out in the morning, the ups and downs throughout the day and then at least one long stretch of utter despair. The day in the diagram is a good day, though: it ends on a high. A bigger person might manage to not let the coding success or lack thereof impact their mood that much, but I am certainly not that person. If the code doesn’t work, I will be somewhere between depressed and angry. But wait for when I actually solve a problem: my family reports they can hear loud shouting and cheering from my office at those times. I think you get the picture!
2. Writing code is intense
In my previous life as a translator I had days where I had taken on a huge job and where I was just translating away. PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB! My husband would call me the “Troll” whenever I was in one of those phases. I was in the zone. But only the translating zone. The coding zone is worse! Once you are in it, your code is everything there is. I think since writing code requires such a high level of attention and focus - especially when you are trying to solve a problem - it is very hard to come out of it and to let that focus slip away again. Both my husband and I have noticed that after a period of intense coding, everything appears to be overwhelming. People in particular. It’s like you need to consciously re-set your mind, before you can go on with your day and be among other people again. A few quiet minutes of fresh air outside usually do the trick.
3. Time flies when you are in the zone
This side effect is closely connected to no. 2, the intensity of writing code. I am a very organized person. I have my day planned out. I know what I have to do at what time, and I usually have no problem with sticking to a schedule. Enter the coding zone … Time works differently here. The 20 minutes you had before you needed to go pick up the kid from school fly by in what feels like one minute. On the bright side, I’ve gotten some extra cardio workouts in when I had to sprint down the road to make it to the school on time …
4. It is incredibly hard to let go
Once again, this is likely a result of no. 2. Focusing so hard on something makes it hard to stop. Often, my mind will just wander off and still try to solve some coding-related issue, while I am actually trying to achieve something else, like a conversation, a shower, or a workout.
5. The code will haunt you in your sleep
I am not a good sleeper. I have difficulties falling asleep. And now sleep has become even more difficult an endeavor. As soon as I close my eyes, my mind wanders to code again. Especially if there is a problem that still needs to be solved. I have dreamed about code. I have woken up in the middle of the night with code on my mind and I have woken up before my alarm in the morning just because I was already excited to get back to my computer.
6. Code is not conductive to your social life
First, as described in no. 2, above, it makes functioning as a human being and hence being among other human beings hard. And second, when code is all that’s on your mind, it’s hard to not talk about it all the time. Unfortunately, most people do not get excited about functions and schemas and testing … they’ll get bored.
7. Code is not conductive to your love life
It is very hard to get into the MOOOOOOD when you are in the ZOOOOONE !!!
8. The self-doubt
Throughout the past months, self-doubt has been my steady companion. It shows up at night, when I question my decision to change careers, fearing that I will never be able to make it. During the day it takes the form of procrastination: sometimes I delay working on a given task, just because I fear I will not be able to achieve it. Part of it is certainly that career changes in general are scary. But I also think that the unpredictability of my days and the frequent ups and downs that I encounter are playing a role as well. There are just so many times when something just doesn’t work. Times, where one little problem leads to the next and before I know it I am down a rabbit hole trying to find the solution to a sub-problem in order to then be able to get back to my original problem. And all of a sudden all I can see is problems without solutions and so many things I do not understand or still need to learn. That can be very discouraging. While I am planning to write a detailed post about how I deal with self-doubt and coding problems that I cannot solve right, I’d like to point out two strategies that work really well for me: 1. walking away for a bit and tackling the problem again at a later point with a fresh mind; and 2. breaking the problem down into little steps.
Final thoughts
To end this post on a positive note: I love writing code! Yes, the side effects described in this post are real. But I believe that being aware of them and finding ways to manage them will benefit me in the long run, not only in terms of my career, but in general. As they say: every challenge is an opportunity.