being a bum and getting stuff done

I have been a bum. 

Ever since I came to college I've had spontaneous ideas and desires that excite me, and ever since I came to college I've managed to avoid acting on them. This is how it infallibly went: I would imagine how very grand this latest idea would be, I would imagine how much work it would take to make said idea grand, I'd tell myself that I'd get back to it later .... and then I'd proceed to play games on my computer until the idea fizzled away. And though I've nothing against playing games in moderation, I wasn't happy with what I was doing. The months passed, and though I regretted stifling myself with my own laziness, I was too apathetic to to do anything about it. As a result, I became increasingly despondent about ever becoming a true hacker. 

Desperate to break the nasty cycle, I finally reached out to Harper Reed (one of the key figures in running the tech side of Barack Obama's 2012 election campaign) after reading an article on The Atlantic about some of the awesome stuff he's done. Here's the email I sent him:

Hi Harper,
I came across the article The Atlantic did about you and your team during President Obama's campaign, and you seem like a pretty chill guy who's been coding his entire life. I'm a 21 y/o computer science student right now and, though I've got more than a few ideas on things I'd like to build, I always found myself getting bogged down by lack of motivation from gaming or hanging out or whatnot. So a quick question for you: if that sort of thing has ever happened to you, how do you go about getting out of it? How do you motivate yourself to push forward and just get stuff done?
Best,
Kevin Today

And his response:

Getting stuff done. 
This is really hard.
Honestly, the best route is to just find something that matters to you and do it. i don't really play games, so i can't talk to that insanity - but there will always be distractions.
here is my rule of thumb: touch code everyday.
that is the best plan.  

That was it. But somehow, this little piece of advice clicked with me: if you want to do something, go and do it. I would work myself up thinking about all the time I'd spend on my new idea and fall back on gaming because it was just easier, but amid all the tallying of potential hours lost I'd lose of the real goal of having fun through learning. 

In the days going forward, I resolved to make a change - and only a tiny one at that. If I ever felt the urge to do something, I would simply go and get started on it. If that was learning a new language then I'd install the compiler. If it was building an app then I'd pop into Vim and start building a skeleton. Amazingly, that little resolution worked: I found myself wanting to continue my projects, and my desire to go and waste time began to subside. I even began to feel better. I stopped beating myself up over lost ambitions, and I started acquiring the gumption needed to getting something going in any aspect of life. 

Now, if something bothers me I try to fix it. I am more productive and less complacent. I feel energized, in control, and proud. And in the sixteen days since November 20th when I received Harper Reed's response I have pimped my Ubuntu to where I finally want it, started building my own network-attached storage box, taught myself basic competency in Ruby on Rails, Python, and Bash scripting, and coded up a hundred-odd-line Bash script that will be my first finished Github project. In short, I feel that I've taken the first baby steps on the road to becoming a true hacker. 

So though I'm undoubtedly preaching the same thing self-help gurus have taught since time immortal, I beg anyone who has a similar story: just jump in and do it. I promise you won't regret it.

Photo courtesy of rubybgold on Flickr