I kept hearing influencers say you need to love coding to succeed in tech. Otherwise, you’ll burn out and fail.

Honestly? That kind of scared me. I've been learning for a while now—about two years—and sometimes just the thought of sitting down to code stresses me out. But I still do it. In small chunks I can handle. And when I feel like I’ve done enough for the day, I stop.

So does that mean I don’t love coding? Am I not cut out for this?

Turns out, it’s not that black and white.

You Don’t Have to Be Obsessed

Not everyone in tech lives and breathes code 24/7. Some people treat it like a job—and that’s valid. You don’t need to be building passion projects every weekend or getting high off JavaScript to belong here.

What you do need is:

Curiosity
Problem-solving skills
Some consistency (even if it’s slow)

I realized I actually like coding when it feels like solving a puzzle. I don’t love every moment of it, but that’s okay.

Burnout Is Real

After finishing bootcamp, I took a break. I had to. Coming up with project ideas? Building from scratch? That wasn’t exciting to me. It felt draining. So now, I’m taking a different route.

Instead of forcing projects, I focus on:

1 LeetCode or Codewars problem a day
Structured challenges (like Frontend Mentor or JavaScript30)
Short review sessions on JS fundamentals

I’m learning, but in a way that works for my brain.

It’s Okay If You’re Not “The Project Person”

If you don’t enjoy learning code by making stuff from scratch, you’re not alone. Some people build, others solve. You might just like:

Debugging
Fixing things
Guided learning

That’s just as valid as building the next big app idea.

My Go-To Plan (Low Pressure, High Impact)

If you’re like me, try this:

Week 1-2: JavaScript Refresher

Day 1-2: Solve one easy problem (arrays or strings)
Day 3-4: Review basic JS topics (DOM, functions)
Day 5-7: Do a mini project or challenge (Frontend Mentor, JavaScript30)

Then repeat with slightly more challenging tasks. Small steps, steady pace.

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to love coding every day. You just need to care enough to keep going in a way that fits you.

If you’re still showing up, even when it’s hard? That’s love in its own way.

And that’s enough.

Do You Really Need to Love Coding to Be a Software Engineer?