4 ms·

IMHO the feeling the OP is describing is nothing specific or exclusive to computers or the internet. If you listen/read closely to people that work in all sort

IMHO the feeling the OP is describing is nothing specific or exclusive to computers or the internet. If you listen/read closely to people that work in all sorts of fields, this feeling is quite common. You made a career out of a hobby you really enjoyed. And after a few years it became your work and you no longer enjoy it. You now find joy in some other activity. That new thing? That's your hobby now. I got this impression after years of thinking of throwing myself into video-game journalism or bicycle mechanics as a profession (2 of my favorite hobbies). When I started speaking to actual video-game journalists and bicycle mechanics I immediately noticed that I couldn't find a singe one that still enjoyed his respective activity anymore. I'm not going to try to play "psychology expert" here, but for me the reason seems to be pretty simple: Those people could no longer spend their time playing the video games they liked or riding and fixing their own bikes. They now had to play all the games they were "told" to play and on top of it take notes and write meticulously about them, the bicycle guy now had work on a bunch of strangers bikes he didn't care about and keep up with a bunch of new bike tech he actually thought was needless bullshit, and he had to sell bullshit Lycra shorts and stuff like that. To this day (37yo) its one of the decisions I think I got "the most right" in my life. Not turning one of my hobbies into my job. (curiously this runs right against the common advice "Take what you are passionate about and make that your life's work.")

erikbye 10y ago
While you are completely right, in that this is very common: losing passion for your hobby when it becomes a job. The problem is that your hobby has now become too structured and rigid, not giving you enough freedom to allow for the play and creativity you were used to. Hence, it feels like you actually lost passion for, say, computers. You actually just dislike the "rules" imposed on you, by your job. Not all jobs will be like this, but many will. Going from a hobby programmer/hacker to a Java enterprise programmer will definitely, most often, end up being like this. Whether you are working on BI, ERP, or video games. This is probably why so many are attracted to startups and startup culture, as there is less rigidity, also, why many like to just "play startup" (like a HN post called it out), and stay a "startup" for years. It is the same thing that happens to kids who enjoy a sport, but once it becomes too serious it's no longer fun.
- xherberta 10y ago
  Punishment by Rewards by Alfie Kohn speaks to this ... being rewarded for any activity destroys intrinsic motivations -- rewards make you forget reasons you may have originally had for enjoying or benefiting from that activity. Once you see yourself as doing it to get rewarded, it sort of cheapens the whole experience. i.e. Kids given a prize for participating in a library summer reading program will read <i>less</i> after the program ends than kids who never participated. It's a totally worthwhile read for parents and managers.
  - glaberficken 10y ago
    Thanks for the book recommendation =)

erikbye 10y ago

While you are completely right, in that this is very common: losing passion for your hobby when it becomes a job. The problem is that your hobby has now become too structured and rigid, not giving you enough freedom to allow for the play and creativity you were used to. Hence, it feels like you actually lost passion for, say, computers. You actually just dislike the "rules" imposed on you, by your job. Not all jobs will be like this, but many will. Going from a hobby programmer/hacker to a Java enterprise programmer will definitely, most often, end up being like this. Whether you are working on BI, ERP, or video games. This is probably why so many are attracted to startups and startup culture, as there is less rigidity, also, why many like to just "play startup" (like a HN post called it out), and stay a "startup" for years. It is the same thing that happens to kids who enjoy a sport, but once it becomes too serious it's no longer fun.

xherberta 10y ago
Punishment by Rewards by Alfie Kohn speaks to this ... being rewarded for any activity destroys intrinsic motivations -- rewards make you forget reasons you may have originally had for enjoying or benefiting from that activity. Once you see yourself as doing it to get rewarded, it sort of cheapens the whole experience. i.e. Kids given a prize for participating in a library summer reading program will read <i>less</i> after the program ends than kids who never participated. It's a totally worthwhile read for parents and managers.
- glaberficken 10y ago
  Thanks for the book recommendation =)