It's the years you've worked. > I have many side-projects, personal projects, apps in between, and skill/time wise I can easily bump my YoE. No. And you know

It's the years you've worked. > I have many side-projects, personal projects, apps in between, and skill/time wise I can easily bump my YoE. No. And you know this too since you're only counting the years you've worked. Some years (within your own career or compared to someone else) being more intense/valuable than others tells you that YOE isn't the most reliable metric. But it doesn't mean that you should change how you measure time.