Is the feeling of grind and struggle unavoidable?

[Andrey]

  I mean, when you are doing work, creating, thinking, solving problems, is it supposed to feel that hard all the time?

I've been coding for years and I've become better at it, it is definetly more enjoyable than at the beginning, but this feeling of
strain never went away. I often feel grumpy and iritated after a good day of work.

• Is it possible that the work doesn't feel that gruesome?

• Is it the same for everyone?
• Do you have any techniques that help you be more loving and creative during the process?

I would appreciate any high quality answers. Thank you.

[Rishabh R]

@Andrey I think it's part of the process .

[integral]

@Andrey Its unfortunate but I've been struggling codding for 10 years in the same way. The issue i think is default wiring that creates frustration to solve a problem and the entire debugging/feature implementation process is tedious/repetitive and require alot of trouble shooting (googling). Its a grind in disguise. There are programming languages that significantly reduce this grind like pure functional approaches but the industry is not there yet and probably never will be, AI will take over before then.

Part of the problem for me is the build of stress hormone over time caused by concentrating, sitting, poor breathing and coding in a negative frame of mind. So the solution is to code with out subvocalizing as that shortens breath and creates a more left brain dominant state.

A right brained dominant state is ideal where you peripheral vision is still present and you don't loss track of the environment your in. Remain in a defuse state not a focus concentration state for the codding session. It also helps if your not digesting anything heavy like meat. Also take your time and dont be rushing to get it done fast, learn to pace yourself. 

Edited June 10, 2023 by integral

[integral]

Another option is to exercise every morning before work. 

[puporing]

Depends on your priorities.. you can always work in a high paying industry and save up for some time and then transition to something that's more sustainable on your body and mind overall. I've learned the hard way too that just pushing it doesn't always work - your body (and mind) can literally break down and cause you even more problems.

So yeah my perspective is more from the "take care of yourself" first mentality now. If your job keeps rubbing up against that it's your body telling you to consider switching soon.. don't end up like some people who get early stage Cancer and early death like cardiac problems because they overworked themselves (if you can help it seriously). 

Edited June 11, 2023 by puporing