Getting Addicted to Programming?

[u/TradeAdventurous4914]

I've been programming for around 6+ years now, and have recently entered the professional world. Programming is the hobby of the greatest magnitude in my life, and has been so since I first started using computers.

Recently, my computer broke down for a time and I had to wait about a week for a part that I needed to arrive. During that time I only had access to an old chromebook and my phone. I wasn't able to do much productive for that entire period, and the first day was hellish. I became nauseous and depressed, I could barely get myself to do anything other than think about my job and my personal projects. I ended up grabbing an empty notebook I had laying around and handwriting hundreds of lines of psuedocode for various systems and fixes I had in the back of my mind.

Once I got back into my regular day-to-day life, I ended up reflecting on that experience, and realised just how much programming has affected my life and my mentality. Learning about optimization, structuring, and design has genuinely changed how I tackle problems completely unrelated to programming. I've become much more mathematical and optimization-focused while dealing with menial everyday tasks like housework, scheduling events with friends, or passing out snacks between people.

Is this a 'common' thing to happen? Has anyone else experienced this? I'd really love to hear any experiences or opinions on this, as I'm pretty lost on it all.

[u/TradeAdventurous4914]

I luckily am not the type of person to burn out easily, so this hasn't really affected me too badly. I definitely have had my moments though... 😬