--- date: "2026-09-25T22:40:22.000Z" title: "2026-09-25" draft: false --- import LinkedInPost from '@components/LinkedInPost.astro'; Because it's Friday, let's talk about the fatigue caused by building software with AI. Whether it's the cognitive whiplash of the rapid change of the project or the slowly sapping dopamine loop of getting exactly what you want over and over until you are exhausted, it's easy to do what used to be a month of work in a day. My theory is you still spend roughly the same amount of energy completing a project as you used to, but the expenditure of that energy happens all at once. It's like being transported to Saturn having grown up on Earth. Everything feels heavy. Your (mental) muscles aren't used to this kind of work. The good news (as long as your oxygen supply is reliable, among other things) is that you can build this muscle. I've found with practice and building better habits, I no longer get as drained as I used to building with agents. Here's what helped. 1. Work on one project at a time. This one might be controversial, but if you are building something you care about, it deserves your focus. You might work on different parts of it like building, testing, and prototyping at the same time, but stay within the same project or you'll exhaust yourself context switching. 2. Have a place to enqueue tasks. When I work on a project, I always have more ideas for one more thing that would be great to add. Add these to a task queue. Keep your attention focused on what you are working on and grab the task off the queue later when you are ready to focus. 3. Take bigger swings. Agents are improving so rapidly it's hard to keep track of what they can and can't do independently. Periodically, I throw something at the agent I don't think it can do to see what happens. Often, I am pleasantly surprised. This reveals a new level of abstraction you can operate on. It keeps you out of certain problems that required your attention before, allowing you to preserve your attention and energy. If you're drained after a week (or day) of working with agents, you're not alone, but I've found by being a bit more thoughtful about how I work, and with some time to adjust, the load becomes more manageable.