Hacking at Home: Ways to Keep Building During Quarantine
Hackathons are a vibe. You spend the weekend surrounded by hundreds of other hackers in the same space, all passionately working on a project. There’s a collective feeling of support and camaraderie as you realize you’re not alone while debugging your code or playing a game of beat saber. It’s a rite of passage to sleep on the floor of the event venue as the glaring fluorescent light from the ceiling shines on. These simple moments during a traditional in-person hackathon are why we drive hundreds of miles, take trains and planes, all to be in the same physical environment, to be together. But these are not normal times. We are in the middle of a global pandemic, and as a community, we need to stay physically distant to take care of one another and stay healthy.
With the recent developments around COVID-19 and new public health guidelines set by organizations like the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, physical events and gatherings are being canceled in an effort to limit the spread of the outbreak. While we need to be physically apart this hackathon season, that doesn’t mean we have to stop hacking. Our experience of hackathons don’t have to be limited to our familiar traditional physical weekend events. In true hacker fashion, we’ll hack through this tough situation together with alternative methods like attending digital events, diving into personal projects, and exploring different ways to be creative.
Human first, hacker second
I love learning and building something new. Diving into a gazillion side projects is my kind of adrenaline rush. But we need to realize, we are human first. Tech and hackathons can sometimes have a hustle culture which can sometimes make us feel like we’re not doing enough or being productive. I am here to remind you, it is ok and valid to not work during a global pandemic.
The stress and anxieties that surround this situation is normal; these are valid feelings to experience during a crisis. Many of us have had our normal routines disrupted as schools, workplaces, and businesses suspend regular operations. As the world seemingly comes to a halt, it’s also ok to use this time to pause too. Your mental health matters. Breathe fresh air and go on a walk around the neighborhood (staying physically distant of course!). Spend an evening video calling a friend to check-in and talk about random stuff. Rest your body and mind. Experience what eight hours of sleep is like. Unplug. Simply exist. Sometimes surviving is the hardest thing to do.
Take Hacking Home
Just like fish need to swim, we need to hack. If you’re feeling an insatiable need to hack during quarantine I’ve listed some tips below to help you keep on hacking.
Virtual hackathon sessions
The best part of hackathons is being around other people while working on projects. Although we need to stay physically distant, we can use technologies like Zoom and Google Hangouts to emulate a social environment. Message your hacker friends, set up a time, and hop on an online video call. It’s a great way to stay connected while we are physically apart, but still be surrounded by your friends as you hack. These virtual hack sessions can be structured however you best like to hack.
If you’re looking for existing digital hacker communities or events, an easy place to start is visiting mlh.io for a current list of our MLH digital community events. MLH is also offering new ways for the hacker community to gather during this time with its expanded localhost workshops to teach hackers new skills and its MLH Summer League programming, ensuring a digital hackathon is happening every weekend during the summer.
People have also reported having success by looking through Reddit forums or meetup.com or simply googling “hackathons”. One of my personal favorite digital hacker communities is Bugs and Brews. This group regularly meets up Wednesdays from 6–9 pm EST over a Zoom call to work on projects or hangout. One thing I’ve enjoyed about Bugs and Brews meetings is that at the beginning of the call they ask “What are you going to be working on?” and at the end asking “What did you accomplish or learn?”. It’s a great way for people to share and reflect on the time spent together.
Even though we are in quarantine, digital events can provide a unique opportunity as it is now possible for anyone to attend since location is no longer a factor and a stable internet connection is all that’s needed. You can use this time to broaden your hacking horizons by attending events across the world or in your local vicinity. It’s a great way to meet new friends from around the world and to be a part of the global hacker community. Although you will have to be mindful of spanning time zones, digital events make it easier than ever for you to hack along with your friends in London while you’re across the globe in Seattle.
Personal project time!
Quarantine is a great time for the personal project you’ve been waiting to start. Shakespeare wrote some of his most famous plays during his quarantine, highlighting that this can be a time to dive deep within yourself to focus on projects that matter to you. Many of us are now spending more time with ourselves as we are apart from others, so take advantage of this situation by investing in yourself. Learn an obscure programming language, build a funky sonnet generator, or revamp your personal portfolio. Use this time available to build projects solely for yourself.
As you work on a personal project learn to set clear and definitive goals. This will help you make progress towards a hack. It’s easier to work towards a goal like “complete two react tutorials” rather than a broad goal like “be the best hacker”. Creating something is about the journey but having a direction or a goal in mind can help make it easier to know where you want to go.
It’s never wasted time getting to know yourself and personal projects are fantastic mediums for this. They allow you to pursue your own passions and interests, explore and try new technologies, and work at your own pace. Because personal projects usually only have one invested party, this frees you to be able to pivot quickly or simply to stop working on it because you don’t want to anymore. After this quarantine period, what projects are you going to be proud of having worked on?
Alternative forms of hacking
Hacking doesn’t have to always mean digital technology, hardware, or software. Why not use this time to learn a new skill or try a non-traditional hack? You can still apply the core foundation of the hacker ethos to a wide variety of other domains outside of technology. Sew a tee shirt quilt from all the hackathon tees you’ve collected, learn to play a musical instrument, or try your hand at painting and drawing.
Exploring different interests and passions outside of hacking is a great way to enrich depth in your life, but also can make you a better hacker by helping you think in a different manner. In a talk by David Epstein he highlights the importance of breadth in learning and skills. He found that people who maintain a wide range of interests and passions tend to be better at thinking broadly and were more creative than peers who have more specialized skills. When you explore different domains, you can draw from different and varying experiences to solve problems.
When we come together at hackathons to build, we often work on projects for our communities and other people. Knowledge from other domains, especially outside of the tech realm, can make us better hackers by cultivating different perspectives and creative solutions as we build hacks to solve increasingly difficult challenges. The potential is limitless when you keep on learning and trying new things.
Closing Remarks
Quarantine is an unusual time. It feels strange to be required to stay physically separated from our friends and communities as we do our part to prevent the spread of the outbreak. It can feel isolating being apart from others because of our natural needs as social creatures. Once again, this is your reminder that these are valid feelings. Thanks to technology, creativity, and passion we can work together to keep on hacking as we stay physically apart.
This quarantine is a phase, like all things it will pass. We will congregate again. We will be physically present at hackathons again. Our community is strong and resilient. I know we will all meet again someday, but today we need to do our part by staying physically apart until we can be together again.
