So, to not be left behind, I got into AI coding. I had a lot of reservations because I always felt like AI was just a tool for non-coding people to feel special. Very similar to the days of WordPress and other website builders back then.
But I had a problem. Without going into too much detail, the geopolitical situation combined with work-related stress really burned me out. I couldn’t, for the life of me, touch a line of code.
So I decided to just “cheat” and use it as an excuse to familiarize myself with vibecoding.
And oh boy. What a world just opened up.
But this isn’t an “Oh, vibecoding is the future, embrace the AI overlords” post. It’s more of a rant / expose of what I’ve learned (and yeah, of course, SEO).
My Productivity
I have three side projects and a main job. Juggling these is really hard sometimes. I wasn’t able to push out the features I wanted for OpenStuds and BrickTreasure because the time just wasn’t there.
So my first move was to take one of the projects (the one I cared the least about) and throw AI at it to see what it could do.
And my god, it was impressive.
In just two days, I added most of the features I had been pushing off for months because I either didn’t have time or was just too lazy to do them.
That’s when the addiction started.
If you look at my GitHub commit graph, you can clearly see where I started vibecoding. Daily pushes. Changes I wouldn’t have even attempted before. Even while writing this, my second screen is running a T3 Code instance.
The features ranged from small and boring, like better user feedback on login screens, to bigger changes like replacing the markdown parser and WYSIWYG editor with an in-house solution.
So yeah, productivity is ramping.
My Mood
Here’s what I’ve noticed.
I’m easily 10x more productive. I’m working on three projects at once. I can watch Season 5 of The Boys while still being productive.
And yet, I feel kind of empty.
I’m in this weird limbo where I can’t not use AI, but every time I use it, it fills me with a mix of dread and motivation.
I don’t know if I (and the AI that will definitely proofread this article) can fully translate that feeling, but when I talk to others, I usually describe it like this:
When I was younger, I played Borderlands 2 and quickly learned that with Cheat Engine you could get unlimited Golden Keys and the strongest weapons in the game.
At first, it felt insane. I felt unstoppable, running around with overpowered gear.
But then it quickly turned into “why am I even playing?”
And that’s kind of how I feel right now with AI.
Even though I’m pushing more than I ever have, it doesn’t feel like my achievements.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m financially invested in my side projects, so I’m glad I can improve revenue and ship features faster. But that feeling of “yeah, I did that” is gone when I’m mostly orchestrating instead of building.
What now?
For me, the next step is changing how I think about this.
It’s not all doom and gloom.
I’ve found ways to get something close to that old “8-hour programming session” feeling again. I’m building tools I would have never touched before because they were too niche or I was too lazy.
For example, my MakeMKV to Jellyfin pipeline (with AI involved). That one actually makes me happy.
I think I’m starting to see a new source of satisfaction.
It’s less about “I coded this line by line” and more about “I had this idea, and now it exists exactly how I imagined it.”
Let me explain.
Before, I had a vision in my head, worked on it for days or weeks, and in the end it never quite matched what I imagined. I adjusted my expectations and was still satisfied.
Now, what comes out at the end is much closer to that original vision.
And that gives me a different kind of satisfaction.
I think long-term, this is how I’ll adapt.
My personal take: the “code monkey” role will fade over the next few years. What matters more is architecture, the bigger picture, and how you approach building things.
Outro
I mostly wrote this article for myself.
If you made it this far, thanks for your time.
If you want to share your thoughts or talk, my socials are linked on this site.
