Just another motivational speech for those unmotivated software engineers
Short answer: yes. I have been there too. I was there when I was sick of my work. When I felt I was stuck in a job that was not giving me any motivation or expectation to keep progressing. I thought my boss was a fool who had no idea what their ideas implied or even how they could be implemented.
Feeling unmotivated is a common sign of tiredness when working as a Software Engineer, and it usually shows up when you think you don't have enough expertise or don't perform as much as you would like. I have been there too.
But this is not the end of the world. And you can recover from all these bad feelings if you remember a few key points that brought you to that position and company where you are.
I hope these tips help you stay motivated as a software engineer!
1. Remember that you are constantly learning and growing.
The field of software engineering is constantly changing, so there is always something new to learn. Embrace this opportunity to grow and improve your skills.
Invest part of your time in keeping yourself up to date with the latest technologies, programming languages and frameworks. This will help you to stay motivated, and it might open new job opportunities in the future.
One of my first decisions was to learn how to work with TDD and BDD, as no one taught me how to use them until I found myself needing them if I wanted to progress in my career.
2. Think about the impact of your work.
You can create and build things that can significantly impact the world as a software engineer. Whether working on a small project or a large-scale software system, your work can make a difference.
It doesn't matter if you have just built a simple corporate website to provide an online presence, an e-commerce website to ensure a small business can offer a 24-hour service, to implement a crowdfunding platform that allows the company to support many entrepreneurs to achieve their goals, to develop a global communication system using satellites or if you end up working in a big tech company that leads a product everyone uses daily.
These projects or tasks you are working on seem trivial, but they are a lifesaver to someone else. So, please, don't overestimate your hard work and how it helps everyone.
3. Set goals for yourself.
Having specific goals to work towards can give you direction and purpose. Set short-term and long-term goals for yourself, and celebrate your accomplishments as you achieve them.
Even such a small reward as eating some chocolate when a merge request is approved and merged into the project's main branch might make a difference.
4. Find ways to stay engaged and motivated.
This could mean joining a community of like-minded individuals, finding a mentor, or setting aside time to work on personal projects.
One of the first things I did when I was demotivated was to check one of my project dependencies, pick a few packages and browse their GitHub pages. Then I decided to fork them and start working on bug fixes and new additions.
Getting feedback from other maintainers and knowing that a bit of my code was merged into that project, which was going to be used by millions of projects, made me feel realised and motivated again.
5. Remember to take breaks and take care of yourself.
It's essential to take breaks and recharge for your physical and mental health. Make sure to prioritise self-care, whether exercising, spending time with loved ones, or simply relaxing.
This is easily achievable if you take short breaks while working (such as 50 to 55 minutes working followed by a 5 to 10 minutes break), by talking to or by meeting with your family and friends (instead of turning on your Play Station after work), going out to get a massage, and so on.
