Over the past decade, I have been developing software. Sometimes, I wonder what I enjoy about it.
As software developers, what is it that motivates us to get up in the morning and come to work?
The following items keep programmers going, based on some serious reflection and discussions with other developers.
1. The compensation
Most software engineers are extremely well paid, depending on where they live.
There are places like Silicon Valley that pay senior engineers very well.
Getting more money has never been a problem, and this alone is very motivating.
Imagining how much money you can make in an hour or thinking of all the wonderful things you can buy is a wonderful thought.
2. Fear of Losing Your Job
Developers tend to have a very comfortable job market. That is, good engineers have highly sought after.
As a result, you might feel you're hanging on to your job for whatever reason.
Perhaps there aren't enough programming jobs in your area, or you just like working at your current place of employment.
A real possibility of being fired can motivate you to work harder.
3. Respected by your coworkers and manager
There is a special culture among programmers. We tend to judge everyone on the basis of their programming skills.
This suggests a good programmer believes he is smarter than most lawyers and doctors.
Feel free to explore that thought on your own.
StackOverflow's survey of 2019 found that almost 70% of respondents consider themselves above average, while less than 10% believe they are below average.
This is statistically unlikely.
The determination to be regarded as an excellent developer can drive you to write faster and better code because you want to be respected in your team.
4. Working with Amazing People
There are times when you get to work with incredible people, and you become friends, the atmosphere becomes magical, etc.
Then, coming to work becomes a pleasure. You might even take the job more seriously, or work an extra hour or two.
However, this sort of interaction may lead to non-productive chit-chat and too many coffee breaks.
5. Learning new things and growing
Even for the best programmers, learning new code, working with a new framework, and exploring a new API is never enough.
In terms of self-improvement, you become smarter every day.
As with a video game, every new thing you learn increases your experience points.
6. Challenges
There is always something new to learn in software engineering.
We are thrown into the water constantly, having to learn life lessons all over again.
Sometimes you have to develop a complicated application in a short period of time or you have to develop a complicated algorithm.
Perhaps you have to troubleshoot a bug you have never encountered before.
The more challenges you meet, the more interesting they are, and they are also very rewarding once you overcome them.
That can be difficult, but it can also be very interesting.
7. Completing Tasks
We can always be building or fixing stuff as software developers.
We might be implementing new features or fixing bugs, but we're continually making progress.
Our bodies receive a healthy dose of dopamine whenever we mark a task as done.
Completing tasks is a constant motivation for you.
The harder the task, the more rewarding it feels once you finish it.
You become addicted to getting things done.
8. Improving Your Self-Value in the Workplace
By learning more about the domain of your company and your specific technology, you will gradually improve your value.
Perhaps you will become an authority figure. Someone that everyone looks to for advice.
It could be that you are that guy who knows everything and everything in your company looks up to you.
Alternatively, you might believe that your knowledge and experience make you a better engineer and cause fantasies and delusions.
There will be great opportunities next time you apply for a job, companies will offer huge amounts of money, and recruiters will leap at your feet.
That would make a nice work environment.
9. The ability to influence others
It's common for senior members, technology leads, and team leaders to hold influential positions in the company.
Power is a powerful thing, and you will find yourself in meetings influencing the company's future.
10. Have Confidence in Your Product
There are times when you get the chance to work for a company that has a product that you truly believe in.
It may be the product that will save the world from poverty one day.
Or perhaps it will simply become extremely successful, making you incredibly rich.
In any case, believing in your products gives you a sense of objective, which is highly motivating.
Many engineers, I'm sure, are willing to accept low pay and perks in order to work on such a product.
Summary
After reading this, I hope you did some deep thinking of your own and discovered what it is that motivates you. Good Luck!
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