# Never Stop Hacking

By Randall Degges · April 16, 2012 · https://rdegges.com/2012/never-stop-hacking/

> A short note to myself: what makes programming fun isn't finishing tasks, it's the problems themselves and the process of learning. Never stop hacking.

![Grim Reaper Sketch][]


This is a quick post, something that I have to get out of my mind and onto
paper (err, the internets!).

I was thinking earlier today about what makes me happy--really, truly happy.  I
had just stopped coding, and was feeling frustrated that my builds weren't
working like I had hoped.  I decided to go onto [IRC][] for some
procrastination, and ended up chatting with a really good friend.

My friend (who will remain unnamed), is an extremely smart fellow.  One of the
smartest I've ever had the pleasure of talking to.  He's a fucking amazing
programmer, always positive, and constantly learning new things.  As we were
talking about programming, I started to feel better.  I started to feel
excited.  My frustration began to melt away, and all that was left was desire.

The desire to learn new things.  The desire to build something that has never
before been built.  The desire to hunt down problems--and then solve them.

It was at this moment I realized something.  Something which, to me, is an
incredibly powerful revelation.  Often times, I find myself hunting for
solutions.  I find myself desperately trying to figure out what I should do
about X, and how to optimize Y.  I find myself searching for solutions to
problems, hoping to get them out of the way as quickly as possible so that I
can move onto the next thing, the next chore, the next item on my TODO list.
It was in this moment that it all became clear to me--

I enjoy the problems.  I *crave* them.

The more I focus on solutions, the more I treat them as a chore, as a task that
needs to be finished--the more stressed and frustrated I become.  It is only
when I focus on the *experience*, the act of learning something new and hunting
down problems, that I feel really, *truly* happy.

As programmers, we're given a unique gift: the ability to spend a majority of
our time learning things and solving problems.  The next time I'm feeling
stressed, frustrated, or even angry--I'm going to remember that it's the
process I really enjoy--that the process of learning new things is what really
motivates me, and makes me love what I do so much.

**Never stop hacking.**


[Grim Reaper Sketch]: grim-reaper-sketch.png "Grim Reaper Sketch"
  [IRC]: irc://irc.oftc.net/#heapify "#heapify"