I can't talk much about the passion here, but working short days is not a sign of having too little to do. I would argue that if you absolutely have to work all

I can't talk much about the passion here, but working short days is not a sign of having too little to do. I would argue that if you absolutely have to work all the time, you've got too much to do. Sometimes less is more. Consider if you say yes to everything: every new feature, every manager who wants a shorter deadline, every bad idea, EVERYTHING. You would be faced with too many features, too little time, and a poor product. Short days might mean too little to do, but I think short days mean that a programmer is working on all the right things and none of unimportant things.