Learning programming: Rediscovering motivation for a project

Every project has the moment when you've burned through all the original excitement and your motivation wanes. You now see the size of the task, or the original exciting work that captured your attention is over, or things are getting tougher and a bit of doubt is creeping in about whether this is for you.

I've been feeling this the last couple of weeks of my programming journey and used a trick I call talking to “The Kid" that is both simple and rooted in deep psychological truths (i.e. not a hack).

Video transcript

NOTE: The video transcript was run through ChatGPT to fix grammatical errors and improve readability. It may not be exactly as spoken but should be more readable.

I've been struggling with motivation a bit on this programming journey of mine. Every project reaches a moment where the initial excitement fades. You've burned through the intriguing parts, and now you face the tougher, less appealing tasks. This is a critical point in a project because it's easy to start giving up, either slowly or completely. Right now, I'm feeling this, but I've learned a little trick to work through it, which I think might help. I call it 'talking to the kid'. It might sound silly, but it really works, grounded in deep psychological principles.

Basically, we're all like kids when learning new things. Imagine a child learning to ride a bicycle, awkward and shaky. Now think of yourself riding a bike, stable and confident. This analogy applies to any skill. Reflect on your early days in your current expertise – how awkward and shaky you were. It's the same with anything new. Even if you're a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company running your first marathon, you're still a kid in marathon terms.

Recently, I looked at my computer and just didn't feel like programming. Recognizing this as a critical moment, I decided to 'talk to the kid'. I said to myself, 'Okay, kid, this isn't fun, but we need to make progress. What do we want to do today?' The kid in me wanted to sketch new features at a coffee shop. So, we did that. The kid also wanted McDonald's for dinner and to watch a motorcycle race, which seemed fine. That evening turned out great, and the next morning, I had more energy to tackle the less enjoyable tasks.

This interaction with my inner kid was crucial. Often, we try to grind and force ourselves to work. While necessary at times, this can be harmful if overdone. It can poison the whole project, making it feel like a constant grind. This is especially important to remember when working with teams. You can push them sometimes, but not always, or work becomes unfun, and you risk losing people.

The big unlock here is recognizing the 'kid' part of you. Even if you start by half laughing at yourself, connecting with this part can tap into the core of your motivation and excitement. When something new excites you, like this programming project did for me, it's the kid speaking, not the serious, adult part. It's about excitement, curiosity, and play. Connecting with this inner child is meaningful. If you need to laugh at yourself, then do it. It's worthwhile. The kid is a big part of this project, and as challenges arise, finding ways to work with this inner child is key to keeping things fun.