Stressed Out

A few months ago I started on a new project at work … developing a mobile application for a client. They wanted both an Android app and an iOS app. I was happy to learn something new … something to put on my resume. Then I found out the timeline …

We decided to work on the Android app first (you need a Mac to work on iOS apps, and I didn’t have one and those who have Macs in the office aren’t programmers). The client was told that it would be done by the end of January. That gave me 2 months to get the Android app done along with a website for managing the data that the app displayed and an API to pull the data into the app. And did I mention that I had never developed an Android app before … never written a line of java?

I managed to get everything done before the deadline … 2 days early even. But I skipped out on “Team Reward Day” and put in I don’t know how much extra time (and I don’t get paid overtime). Only one person thanked me for skipping “Team Reward Day” to work on things.

A co-worker was going to start on the iOS app, but he ended up falling and breaking his kneecap and has been out of the office since. That meant that I was the one who would be working on the iOS app. A different co-worker pieced together an iMac and brought it in to the office … it’s now on my desk. I’ve been going through tutorials trying to figure out the basics for the past week or so … I’ve never written any iOS apps either.

I decided to check in with the team today to verify what versions of iOS we were going to support and if there was a deadline set yet for the app. I was told that the initial timeline for the project was to get both the Android app and the iOS app completed in 60-90 days. 2 to 3 months to develop 2 mobile applications when I’ve never written a line of code for either before. Are you frickin’ kidding me? Yeah, I do tend to pick up on things fairly quickly, but 2-3 months to write 2 mobile applications?!?! And both are native applications. And neither language is similar.

When I responded to the message about the timeline that the deadline to have the iOS app done by the end of this month (just over 2 weeks from now) was not possible, I felt like a failure … like an ass … like I was making excuses. My co-worker backed me up saying that the deadline wasn’t possible, but I still felt like a failure. I feel like I’m waiting for someone to yell at me for not working fast enough.

I only have 2 hands … and I don’t get paid overtime. And I’m still making around $2000 less per year than I was at my last full time programming job (in 2008) … and I’m doing more now than I did then.

I’m overwhelmed … I’m stressed out … and I can’t stop feeling like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Some “Fresh Start” I’ve got going, huh? 🙁