--- title: I'm addicted to being useful | daily.dev description: Software engineers are often driven by internal compulsions rather than external motivators like money or status. The author identifies their own addiction to... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-m-addicted-to-being-useful-bqy3mg1es twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I'm addicted to being useful | daily.dev og:description: Software engineers are often driven by internal compulsions rather than external motivators like money or status. The author identifies their own addiction to... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-m-addicted-to-being-useful-bqy3mg1es og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/bqy3mg1Es.png og:image:alt: I'm addicted to being useful og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I'm addicted to being useful **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 5 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Software engineers are often driven by internal compulsions rather than external motivators like money or status. The author identifies their own addiction to being useful and solving problems as the core driver of job satisfaction, comparing it to Gogol's character Akaky who loved his menial copying work. This compulsion can be both a strength and vulnerability in tech companies, where some will exploit helpful engineers. Success comes from channeling this need strategically toward management priorities rather than just ticket queues, and protecting yourself from those who would take advantage of your helpfulness. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I'm addicted to being useful](https://daily.dev/posts/i-m-addicted-to-being-useful-hz27bie9r) · sean goedecke · 41 upvotes · 4 comments - [AI coding is addictive. Engineers are paying the price](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-coding-is-addictive-engineers-are-paying-the-price-sbotev3ry) · LeadDev · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Probably the realest thing I ever wrote](https://daily.dev/posts/probably-the-realest-thing-i-ever-wrote-tzd8bqgqw) · swizec.com · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#career](https://daily.dev/tags/career), [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity), [#work-life-balance](https://daily.dev/tags/work-life-balance) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-m-addicted-to-being-useful-bqy3mg1es) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I'm addicted to being useful","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-m-addicted-to-being-useful-bqy3mg1es","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-m-addicted-to-being-useful-bqy3mg1es"},"datePublished":"2026-01-20T13:46:55.540Z","dateModified":"2026-01-20T13:47:14.980Z","description":"Software engineers are often driven by internal compulsions rather than external motivators like money or status. 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