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I think this is the biggest thing - anything will be much more enjoyable when you can choose how much to engage in, and you do not depend on its completion for

I think this is the biggest thing - anything will be much more enjoyable when you can choose how much to engage in, and you do not depend on its completion for income or survival. Of course farming and carpentry will be more fun to a software engineer who is doing it as a hobby or in retirement, than the work they did in their job. Even if you “switch” to it as a source of income, it is far different to have another career and set of skills to fall back on, than to be doing it out of necessity.

aaronbaugher 2y ago
I've wondered: if I could switch my main and side jobs, making farming my primary career and doing some programming and sysadmin work on the side, would I be happier? Or would I get as tired of the main job as I am now, and wish I could spend more time on the side work? Hard to say, since I need to keep it this way to make a good living.
- kulahan 2y ago
  >Hard to say, since I need to keep it this way to make a good living. Golden handcuffs. I hate em too.
NoboruWataya 2y ago
Back when I was in school and choosing what university course to apply for, I was torn between computer science and law, both of which interested me a lot. One of the several factors that swayed my decision was that if I did law as a career I could still practise programming in my spare time, whereas if I did programming as a career, I was highly unlikely to practise law in my spare time. So (for that and other reasons) I went into law and became a lawyer. Now, every now and again, when I am stuck working late on a deal and all I want to do is go home and hack on my latest project, I wonder if I made the right choice. But ultimately I know I wouldn't be so excited to fire up an IDE if I relied on it for my livelihood. As for farming, I grew up in a rural area so never had any illusions about it. I do admire the resourcefulness and ingenuity of many farmers, but I know it's not for me. Most of the retirees I know like to do "a spot of gardening" in their retirement, and honestly I think the kind of micro-scale "farming" a lot of office workers dream of is not that distinguishable from gardening, so many of them will probably get their wish eventually.
- scryers_bloom 2y ago
  I'm in the opposite lane, I have recently gained an interest in law although I just started my career in software development. Not sure if its too late to go to school now ;)

aaronbaugher 2y ago

I've wondered: if I could switch my main and side jobs, making farming my primary career and doing some programming and sysadmin work on the side, would I be happier? Or would I get as tired of the main job as I am now, and wish I could spend more time on the side work? Hard to say, since I need to keep it this way to make a good living.

kulahan 2y ago
>Hard to say, since I need to keep it this way to make a good living. Golden handcuffs. I hate em too.

NoboruWataya 2y ago

Back when I was in school and choosing what university course to apply for, I was torn between computer science and law, both of which interested me a lot. One of the several factors that swayed my decision was that if I did law as a career I could still practise programming in my spare time, whereas if I did programming as a career, I was highly unlikely to practise law in my spare time. So (for that and other reasons) I went into law and became a lawyer. Now, every now and again, when I am stuck working late on a deal and all I want to do is go home and hack on my latest project, I wonder if I made the right choice. But ultimately I know I wouldn't be so excited to fire up an IDE if I relied on it for my livelihood. As for farming, I grew up in a rural area so never had any illusions about it. I do admire the resourcefulness and ingenuity of many farmers, but I know it's not for me. Most of the retirees I know like to do "a spot of gardening" in their retirement, and honestly I think the kind of micro-scale "farming" a lot of office workers dream of is not that distinguishable from gardening, so many of them will probably get their wish eventually.

scryers_bloom 2y ago
I'm in the opposite lane, I have recently gained an interest in law although I just started my career in software development. Not sure if its too late to go to school now ;)