The short term reward of feeling good about completing a feature or fixing a bug is intoxicating. Even learning a new skill can quickly make you feel better abo

The short term reward of feeling good about completing a feature or fixing a bug is intoxicating. Even learning a new skill can quickly make you feel better about yourself. It's easy to justify that spending excess time on things like this because it has a clear ROI - you become a better developer, you get paid more, you feel smarter. Just be careful to also invest in things that have a more distant ROI. Family, kids, health, friends, community service, mental health, spirituality - whatever it is that you value. If you are unfamiliar with what else there is out there that can bring happiness, I'd suggest reading "How will you measure your life?" by Clayton Christensen. He's the same guy that wrote the "Innovators Dilemma".