Groundhog Day for Coders
Photo by Jack Bulmer on Unsplash
Let’s talk about the mind-numbing, soul-sucking, creativity-killing reality of a Groundhog Day at work. That’s the type of day where you wake, code, and then get interrupted by the same meetings repeatedly.
“It’s the coding version of Bill Murray’s worst nightmare. What’s more, it’s something I’ve been living within my current job for a long time.”
A spiral downwards
The Secret Developer is experiencing the same day. Over and over again. This speaks to a lack of their development as a software engineer, and a lack of progress in their career.
“I go to work each day at 1 minute past 9. I go to various meetings. I do coding work that is well within my capability. At 1 minute past 5, I leave.
I’m starting to realize that other developers here find this work difficult. On the other hand, I’m not learning anything and not moving forward in my career.
That’s a nightmare for me: who can I learn from? What can I learn?
It turns out I need to do it all in my own time.”
Blaming others?
The Secret Developer believes that the issue is with their employer, not them. The Secret Developer has covered this ground previously while making excuses for their poor development while not doing anything about it.
“If your employer expects no more of you then basic coding staff will become what they do. They’ll become basic coders.
This ever-repeating day is causing this to happen to me.
It is possible to motivate yourself to study during the working day. However, it can be tricky to motivate yourself. It can also be difficult to know what to study without mentoring and direction.
The solution does come from the developer. However, without support, it will always be difficult.”
What You Should Do
To avoid this situation, you should do the following:
Think about your career. Help out and do more than the minimum to make yourself useful at work (and to develop yourself in your career).
Be easy to manage. Talk to your manager and come up with a roadmap for your career.
Be a team player. Software development is a team sport, and your colleagues can help you.
What You Shouldn’t Do
In short, don’t be like The Secret Developer.
“I feel attacked. That isn’t fair, and I’m aware.”
Conclusion
This article has explained the predicament of The Secret Developer and also what they should do about it. Anyone reading this should decide whether they are in control of their development or whether to complain about it (like The Secret Developer).
“Can anyone explain to me why this blog keeps attacking The Secret Developer’s decisions? Stop getting at me.”