First I would say that just because you hear about a number of engineers that are hobbyist programmers after work doesn't mean it's commonplace. It's just commo

First I would say that just because you hear about a number of engineers that are hobbyist programmers after work doesn't mean it's commonplace. It's just commonly talked about and can be beneficial. The majority of engineers I interview for leadership positions are not hobbyist programmers. It's also taxing. I am one of these people. I don't have responsibilities in my life outside of work, so I have infinite time to do what I want. That also means I have less time to do what others want, which makes making friends outside of programming and other demanding careers difficult. Additionally, it requires a myriad of maturity processes; you will have to learn to flip a switch of perspective between work code and hobby code so as to maintain a healthy separation. Hobby code should be fun at the end of the day, or it's not a hobby anymore. I've learned to decompress hard rather than gradually. I'll go ride my bike and push myself for an hour, I'll soak in the tub, and then pick up my journal that has all the notes from my hobby code in it. I do not buy into extended work activities any more. I lead development teams, but I started cutting out all extracurricular activities at work so as to reserve my time for me. Understand that even with people at work you are bound by a contract, by all means fulfill that contract but don't give things to a profit machine for free. This significantly cut down the energy-spending-spin-cycle I found myself in at work. I'm a person that's happy to help people to learn and grow, but if I make myself too available I spread myself so thin that I make no room for me. Hope this helps.