__Fear of Programming__

We developers spend a lot of time talking about how to improve technically at our craft, how to write better code, how to be more productive when we're writing code. But what about when we don't feel like coding? What about the emotions that often keep us from putting our fingers on the keyboard and working on that cool library we want to write or finishing up that cool side project we were so fired up about a few weeks ago?

Maybe the reason we don't create more is that we're afraid. Afraid of not finishing, afraid of what others will say, afraid we won't know how to solve a problem, afraid that we're not working on the right thing. If creating code is even partly an act of artistry, then it's worth examining our emotional connection with what we're making. It might be time to start realizing that coding productivity is affected as much by our emotional outlook as it is by our technique.

If "fear is the mind-killer", how do we overcome it? How do we get past our fear so we can create something amazing and have a blast doing it? Those are the questions that this talk aims to at least begin answering.

(This talk is a preview of my upcoming RubyConf talk - please come out and help me polish it!)

__About Nathaniel Talbott__
Wrote test/unit (no tomatoes please).
Attended every RubyConf (obvious fanboy).
Presented at every RubyConf (a bit compulsive).
Founded Terralien (get paid for my passion).
Afraid of programming (sometimes).