14 ms·

And these days the odds are good that your personal projects or interests may contribute to your career, in which case your job and your interests are hopelessl

And these days the odds are good that your personal projects or interests may contribute to your career, in which case your job and your interests are hopelessly intertwined. Now you have no way to avoid thinking about work unless you completely drop your hobbies.

NovaS1X 11y ago
I was going through this process for a while before I came to the conclusion that I needed to pick up an artistic hobby. I figured my entire life was very unbalanced towards technical betterment and improving my technical skillset. I took up photography as a hobby for my off-time. I no longer think about work when I'm not there or there's not an emergency with someone paging me. It's a really nice feeling to be able to apply the same amount of mental hyperactivity to something non-technical. Just don't fall into the gear obsession trap!
- taurath 11y ago
  I've had conversations with hiring managers who believe that the only good programmers are those who do it for 60+ hours a week whether paid or unpaid (I do not pursue these positions). What worries me about not having "technical" hobbies is falling behind. Theres always an unlimited amount of things to learn, and in much of the culture on this site if you're not actively making things in and out of work then you're not following the ideal.
  - NovaS1X 11y ago
    Well there's a level of truth to that. The best programmers tend to be the ones who are autodidacts who are passionate about their career path and it tends to spill over into personal life. The best are the ones who were learning and building at a young age and accepted "technology" as a part of their personal identity and built their life around that. Hiring managers know this and target these individuals because they know these individuals will align their efforts to the companies interests and they reward them for it. Personally, it's not worth the stress. I was in the hospital for stress induced heart failure last year and work was a contributing factor along with urban life. Now I divide my time amongst other things. The market where I live is competitive and anyone who expects me to work a 60 hour week for them all the time and attack me for not doing so can politely fuck right off as it's not worth my life. Thankfully I don't have to deal with this; companies don't like paying overtime and I'm thankful to work for a company that respects my time.
    - taurath 11y ago
      Thats right - its not a thing where you can just get into having never touched a PC. People who aren't into technology as a rule generally don't do well as programmers, but at the same time the idea of people spending 20 extra hours PROGRAMMING (not just reading,etc) outside of work I've found leaves very little for life. Granted, I'm still working to get into some non-work-related hobbies that might involve programming, but finding the time with family obligations is just plain difficult. I spend a TON of my idle time reading though.
- phlandis 11y ago
  I went the same route. My artistic hobby ended up being UI design though. Weeps in corner.
song 11y ago
Well, that's true but then I love my work enough that I have fun learning about new things and playing around with new languages/frameworks/whatever triggers my fancy. I think loving ones work is the only way to really maintain good work/life balance while working from home.
- hibbelig 11y ago
  Are you saying when you love your work it's easier to let go after hours?
  - song 11y ago
    Rereading my message, I wasn't clear at all :) What I meant is that if you love your work, your stress levels do not rise and if it's enjoyable enough as a hobby, you can spend a lot of hours working but still be happy because you're doing something you like (and I'm lucky enough that I have to deal with very little bullshit that detracts from my enjoyment of work). My work/life balance is essentially balancing things between my hobbies and my family. So, it's a much nicer situation than if I was working on something I didn't love and I had to balance that with hobbies and family life.

NovaS1X 11y ago

I was going through this process for a while before I came to the conclusion that I needed to pick up an artistic hobby. I figured my entire life was very unbalanced towards technical betterment and improving my technical skillset. I took up photography as a hobby for my off-time. I no longer think about work when I'm not there or there's not an emergency with someone paging me. It's a really nice feeling to be able to apply the same amount of mental hyperactivity to something non-technical. Just don't fall into the gear obsession trap!

taurath 11y ago
I've had conversations with hiring managers who believe that the only good programmers are those who do it for 60+ hours a week whether paid or unpaid (I do not pursue these positions). What worries me about not having "technical" hobbies is falling behind. Theres always an unlimited amount of things to learn, and in much of the culture on this site if you're not actively making things in and out of work then you're not following the ideal.
- NovaS1X 11y ago
  Well there's a level of truth to that. The best programmers tend to be the ones who are autodidacts who are passionate about their career path and it tends to spill over into personal life. The best are the ones who were learning and building at a young age and accepted "technology" as a part of their personal identity and built their life around that. Hiring managers know this and target these individuals because they know these individuals will align their efforts to the companies interests and they reward them for it. Personally, it's not worth the stress. I was in the hospital for stress induced heart failure last year and work was a contributing factor along with urban life. Now I divide my time amongst other things. The market where I live is competitive and anyone who expects me to work a 60 hour week for them all the time and attack me for not doing so can politely fuck right off as it's not worth my life. Thankfully I don't have to deal with this; companies don't like paying overtime and I'm thankful to work for a company that respects my time.
  - taurath 11y ago
    Thats right - its not a thing where you can just get into having never touched a PC. People who aren't into technology as a rule generally don't do well as programmers, but at the same time the idea of people spending 20 extra hours PROGRAMMING (not just reading,etc) outside of work I've found leaves very little for life. Granted, I'm still working to get into some non-work-related hobbies that might involve programming, but finding the time with family obligations is just plain difficult. I spend a TON of my idle time reading though.
phlandis 11y ago
I went the same route. My artistic hobby ended up being UI design though. Weeps in corner.

song 11y ago

Well, that's true but then I love my work enough that I have fun learning about new things and playing around with new languages/frameworks/whatever triggers my fancy. I think loving ones work is the only way to really maintain good work/life balance while working from home.

hibbelig 11y ago
Are you saying when you love your work it's easier to let go after hours?
- song 11y ago
  Rereading my message, I wasn't clear at all :) What I meant is that if you love your work, your stress levels do not rise and if it's enjoyable enough as a hobby, you can spend a lot of hours working but still be happy because you're doing something you like (and I'm lucky enough that I have to deal with very little bullshit that detracts from my enjoyment of work). My work/life balance is essentially balancing things between my hobbies and my family. So, it's a much nicer situation than if I was working on something I didn't love and I had to balance that with hobbies and family life.