No More Coding in My Spare Time

I have been very focused on learning new coding skills and getting as much experience with programming as possible these past couple of years while studying Computer Science to make the chance of getting a job greater.
featured.jpg

I have been very focused on learning new coding skills and getting as much experience with programming as possible these past couple of years while studying Computer Science to make the chance of getting a job greater. However, while I got a job just after graduating. I never stopped using a lot of my spare time working on private projects. At some point, I began wanting to control everything digital in my life spending a lot of time writing code and managing servers in order to avoid using online services like Dropbox, OneDrive, and OneNote.

Reinventing the wheel

I have spent a lot of time experimenting with a lot of different solutions finding that none of them worked just right and started writing my own. I have also spent a lot of time on Linux trying to make it work for me. Why Linux? Well because all the cool geeks use Linux that is why.

When summering it all up I spent a lot of time reinventing the wheel not getting anything done. When I could have spent the time with my family and other interest of mine like blogging, reading books, drawing, and painting. The thing about writing code is that it requires a lot of concentration.

Getting in the zone

It can take me a while to load all the information into my head and get in the zone before I can even start writing code. If I am interrupted while coding it again can take a while to get in the Zone. I use a lot of time trying to get in the zone and almost no time writing code. The result is that I ended up burning out and getting stressed. I have had a problem with stress for many years and before Christmas, I was getting close to a mental breakdown. I realized that I had to do something or it would end badly.

The Change

Therefore I am changing how I do things and what I do when I am not at work. In short, all though I hate to do it I need to give up trying to control all things digital in my life and stop coding in my spare time. So here is what is changing.

  1. I am going to stop coding in my spare time and use the time on my family, reading books, drawing/painting, and blogging. All the things I love doing that are not coding. I am sorry I know some of you were looking forward to the release of Markdown Note but that is not going to happen anytime soon if ever.
  2. I will no longer waste time on Linux. Linux is awesome but I like and prefer Windows.
  3. I am going back to OneNote for note-taking.
  4. I am going to use OneDrive instead of awful open-source solutions. Sorry but I have tried them all and they all suck.
  5. For some time I have been using a static site generator (Pelican) for my blog. I am going to stop using that and go back to using WordPress. Adding content to a blog using a static site generator is a lot more work than using a CMS like WordPress. Because of the added complexity, I simply stopped writing blog posts.
  6. I am going to stop using plain text and Markdown/Latex for writing and use Microsoft Word instead. Word has some features that make the workflow of writing blog posts a lot easier for me and I actually do like to write in Word.

I started to make the changes over the Christmas holidays and I am already feeling the effect. I have a lot more energy when I get home from work and have become more relaxed and my stress level is lower.

For a long time, I have been a geek first then a father and a husband. Going forward I will be a father and husband first and then a geek.