[freeplay]

I feel this very deeply. At the same time, I feel shame for feeling this way. I have a very high paying job, excellent flexibility, and I work from home. It doesn't get much better. Except that when I sit down at the computer, the actual work and meetings to talk about the work are unbelievably draining.

The shame is because I know others would love to be in my position and there is an almost endless list of jobs that are worse than this, but it's brutal sometimes. I workout daily and spend the vast majority of my time away from the keyboard, outside.

The worst part is, it's not just a matter of embrace the suck and push on. In a physical labor job, you can just command the body to move and push through it. In this line of work, you don't really have that option. You can't just command the brain to solve difficult problems and design complex systems.

[gushogg-blake]

Yeah, I think there's this idea of programming as something you 1) know how to do and then 2) can just sit at a computer and do some typing, and it happens. It's hard for outsiders to understand just how dependent it is on being engaged and in a position to direct your full mental attention to abstract problems for long periods.

[phlipski]

I used to tell new engineers fresh out of school, "The hardest part of this job is thinking."