Hello, I’m Xianmin, 33 years old, a programmer living in the countryside, unemployed for two years.
I have a middle school education, self-taught programming, and started my career in Shenzhen.
Later, I ran a youth hostel in Lijiang for 7 years, which closed due to the pandemic and other reasons.
Not wanting to return to big cities, I did remote work for over a year.
Two years ago, I went traveling with my girlfriend, and my programming work was interrupted again.
During the travels, I helped my girlfriend with social media accounts, shooting videos, and writing content.
Last year showed some improvement, but the income wasn’t enough to cover even half of one person’s expenses.
The dream of being financially supported by content creation fell through.

This year, to solve survival problems, I must make some changes.
Let’s start with this weekly journal, recording my self-rescue actions from the past week.

How to Save Myself

Last year, I briefly tried the independent development path, creating a reader application called EvoReader.
But after launch, there was little feedback, and many features weren’t completed, so I paused the project.
Since I hadn’t figured out how to promote or monetize it, continuing development might only increase sunk costs.
I lacked confidence in this project.
Then I started learning and understanding how other independent developers do it, how they make money.
The reality is much harder than I imagined, with most independent developers’ works disappearing in the vast internet ocean.
Even for the few that stand out, monetization is extremely difficult.
Succeeding in this path requires exceptionally high comprehensive abilities, and it’s time-consuming with uncertain results.
I urgently need to make money now, so this path can only be a side project in my spare time.

Having lived in rural Yunnan for many years, I’m too used to freedom and can’t return to big cities.
With my resume, job hunting would be extremely challenging.

Finding Remote Work

Usually, only small startup teams might need a versatile programmer like me.
This is relatively suitable but requires the right opportunity.

Freelancing

Last year, I took some small projects on a platform, which proved to be a viable path.
However, there were too few projects with low rates.
I hadn’t accumulated enough experience, having had many choices before, I didn’t put much effort into freelancing.
I used to avoid projects I wasn’t interested in, but now I have to change my mindset.

Freelancing provides simple and direct feedback - each project means income.
With AI support, efficiency has greatly improved.
This is my main path for short-term self-rescue.

Content Writing

I’ve had a personal website for a long time, which helped me find jobs and meet new friends.
But, well, the output was too little, update frequency too low, mainly because I was too lazy.
This path serves freelancing in the short term and potential personal works in the long term.

Writing More Utility Applications

I’ve now mastered an AI development process for personal use.
Development efficiency skyrockets as long as I have ideas.

This Week’s Accomplishments

  1. Added Google Ads to my personal website. Well, although I know the revenue won’t be much, in the current situation, I have to try every direction;
  2. Opened a WeChat Official Account - Cognitive Leap Plan;
  3. Updated WeChat Official Account and Xiaohongshu, I must take this step, though I feel I’m a hundred steps behind others;
  4. Compiled a list of remote work websites;
  5. Joined 3 freelancing groups (still late to realize this);

This Week’s Income

  1. Completed 1 small project + 98 yuan;
  2. Completed 1 small project + 149 yuan;
  3. More small projects like these, please…

Closing Words

If you have any thoughts on this middle-aged unemployed programmer’s self-rescue action, please leave a comment, thank you! 🙏