Building AI Apps Is Mentally Exhausting

I’ve been vibe-coding with AI since last year, building various learning apps and websites... and without a doubt, my second app turned out much better than the first. But because of that, I started getting more ambitious, and now I find myself constantly pushing to build more complex and challenging apps.

As I take on these new challenges, I can't help but think:

"You're really making work for yourself here..."

It's just so hard. Honestly, it takes so much out of me.

Every now and then, the thought creeps in: Can I actually build this?

I start wondering if I’m struggling this much simply because I don’t know how to prompt the AI well enough. The AI keeps telling me it's because I'm trying to tackle highly complex, advanced development all by myself. But seriously, is it really that complicated? If I can’t even build this, what can I build?

Just thinking about the workload gets my blood boiling all over again. Sigh. At times like this, the best thing to do is just shut the laptop and go take a shower or a walk to cool off.

Building the Ludens Times newspaper site alone through vibe-coding was an absolute nightmare, too. I'm still patching things up and working on upgrades here and there. After finally launching that site, the sheer exhaustion of wrestling with the AI made me swear off app development for a while.

"Why on earth did I start this again? Seriously..."
Yet, here I am, already setting up a new project, drafting blueprints, getting a massive headache, and staring blankly at the screen in a moment of existential dread. My brain and my body are clearly not on the same page.

I need to head out and cool my head.