Great site. Spot on in terms of trying to tackle the problem of preparing in a more sane way, and countering the beliefs we have that we need to be able to do XYZ to get a job.
I think the reason that leetcode is so popular is because of so many software engineers underlying anxiety, sense of being unprepared, imposter syndrome. And when that’s already present, we look for solutions that flow into our emotional story. If I already believe I’m underprepared and that the goals I have are hard to achieve, I’m more likely to believe I need to solve 500 leetcode problems.
I help software engineers resolve your underlying interview anxiety and stress around things like interviewing and preparing. If this is you, come talk to us :)
"I would read articles about a 26-year-old entrepreneur with a billion-dollar company or a 16-year-old kid who invented a new kind of fusion reactor and a slow creep of panic would start to rise in my chest."
Great description of how we notice our stressful emotional responses in our bodies.
I agree with the article, and also know how hard it can be to "just stop" thinking those thoughts or having that physical response.
I'm launching a service to support software engineers in resolving exactly this kind of response!
Check out www.tinyurl.com/happyhackers if you want to learn more!
I recently worked with someone who described "paralyzing jealousy" when reading about companies that raised a ton of money -- pretty much the same thing described in the article. We resolved it in one session so that response no longer comes up for them. No more slow panic in the chest :)
So good to see a story about the physical aspects of anxiety at the top of hacker news!
I’ve struggled with anxiety my whole software career. I finally identified the big triggers for me - morning standup when I was late on a ticket, when a test would inexplicably fail, when a coworker wound comment in a PR asking me to redo a chunk of work that I knew would take more time. And I identified them based on how my BODY felt.
And once I could identify the actually environmental triggers, I could start to resolve them.
A lot like this article talks about! My conscious mind wasn’t in control of my anxiety, and the looping thoughts in my head didn’t even have much to do with the trigger. They were the symptom, not the cause.
Another software engineer friend and I are starting a company to help software engineers reduce stress and anxiety! We’ve seen some pretty miraculous results so far.
We’d love to hear from all of you anxious software engineers :)
So good to see a story about the physical aspects of anxiety at the top of hacker news!
I’ve struggled with anxiety my whole software career and finally found something that really worked for me —- identifying the triggers of my anxiety, and focusing on my physiological sensations after I recall them, much as described by Pat Ogden in the article.
Another software engineer friend and I are starting a company to help software engineers reduce stress and anxiety! We’d love to hear from any of you.
Stuph (https://angel.co/stuph, https://stuph.co) is building its founding team! We are a stealth startup creating a consumer product fueled by data mining and information extraction. We are well funded and backed by top VCs. Our office is located in San Francisco.
Our founder is an ex-googler who created Google Trends. Our team consists of graduates of MIT, Cornell, RPI, and top international universities. Between us we have worked at Google, Twitter and Amazon, and won a Kaggle competition. We love math, algorithms and machine learning.
Do you like functional programming? We're using Clojure for our backend and ClojureScript for our frontend. Knowing either isn't a requirement, but be excited to learn!
We are looking for:
- Frontend engineers with strong CS fundamentals
- Experienced backend engineer with excellent system design and architecture skills
- Engineering interns who can hit the ground running.
Stuph (https://angel.co/stuph, https://stuph.co) is building its founding team! We are a stealth startup creating a consumer product fueled by data mining and information extraction. We are well funded and backed by top VCs. Our office is located in San Francisco.
Our founder is an ex-googler who created Google Trends. Our team consists of graduates of MIT, Cornell, RPI, and top international universities. Between us we have worked at Google, Twitter and Amazon, and won a Kaggle competition. We love math, algorithms and machine learning.
Do you like functional programming? We're using Clojure for our backend and ClojureScript for our frontend. Knowing either isn't a requirement, but be excited to learn!
We are looking for:
- Frontend engineers with strong CS fundamentals
- Experienced backend engineer with excellent system design and architecture skills
- Engineering interns who can hit the ground running.
Contact: artem@stuph.co
Stuph (https://angel.co/stuph, https://stuph.co) is building its founding team! We are a stealth startup creating a consumer product fueled by data mining and information extraction. We are well funded and backed by top VCs. Our office is located in San Francisco.
Our founder is an ex-googler who created Google Trends. Our team consists of graduates of MIT, Cornell, RPI, and top international universities. Between us we have worked at Google, Twitter and Amazon, and won a Kaggle competition. We love math, algorithms and machine learning.
Do you like functional programming? We're using Clojure for our backend and ClojureScript for our frontend. Knowing either isn't a requirement, but be excited to learn!
We are looking for:
- Frontend engineers with strong CS fundamentals
- Experienced backend engineer with excellent system design and architecture skills
- Engineering interns who can hit the ground running.
I think the reason that leetcode is so popular is because of so many software engineers underlying anxiety, sense of being unprepared, imposter syndrome. And when that’s already present, we look for solutions that flow into our emotional story. If I already believe I’m underprepared and that the goals I have are hard to achieve, I’m more likely to believe I need to solve 500 leetcode problems.
I help software engineers resolve your underlying interview anxiety and stress around things like interviewing and preparing. If this is you, come talk to us :)
tinyurl.com/happyhackers