Hi all, first blog post here!
Something I’ve been dealing with at the minute is the guilt of not programming at home. The culture of software development often dictates that if you’re not constantly programming, learning, developing on the latest software, building a business on the back of your programming skills then you’re doing something wrong, programming isn’t for you, and you should leave the field. (Also known as gatekeeping)
The thing is, I’m not sure how much I like programming outside of work. I’ve managed to get myself a role as a software developer, but I constantly studied outside of in order to do that, made personal sacrifices, and let some other skills suffer because of it. Now that I’ve achieved that goal, I don’t feel like constant programming is necessary.
I like to pursue creative endeavours outside of work: music, writing, drawing. All that feels quite relaxing, and productive to me, especially after a busy day. The thought of coming home and coding more gives me a sense of dread. Don’t get me wrong, if there’s something I can automate at home via code, then I absolutely will do that, and probably love it.
If there were no financial gain to be made from coding, would you still do it? Is it wrong to only want to code at work? Let me know your thoughts on the matter!
Top comments (8)
Hi Liam great post,
My thoughts, a little late but I would like to share them with you and all friends here.
I understand you completely, I've been developing software since 1998, I'm not that old, I'm only 35 but started to write code since highschool.
And yes, you definitely will found yourself in the point where can't/want to code everytime-everyday.
What works for me, and helps me to regain my passion about software development, is the selection of my projects. Yes, you have projects you "must" do, for work, for customers, etc, but I also select side projects, with passion about solving a real problem.
I've found that, If I look for projects where I feel I'm creating great value, I just can't stop developing it. Not only economical value, but social, human, health, etc.
But, never forget to rest. Take breaks, at least one day everyweek.
I have a Wife and small children so they have taught me to take breaks, and enjoy my family as much as I enjoy to engineer and develop software solutions. That balance helps alot to keep motivated to write code outside of work (if you want to).
The best for you,
Your friend Jonnatan.
There is nothing wrong about coding only at work and wanting to do something else when you're at home.
Sure people often say that a developer learns a lot from his side projects and what he does at home but that doesn't mean it's an obligation, you can be a very good developer without that.
Also you should use your spare time to relax and think about something else, if you force yourself to code on your free time you'll just end up bored and tired of coding, not a great plan!
I struggle with that also, I love to code, even on my spare time, and I have an unreasonable amount of active side projects, but when I come home from work, I just want to jump on the couch and relax by watching a TV show or playing video games (although I'm not sure playing Dark Souls is that relaxing 😂). That does not make me a bad or unmotivated developer, just someone who needs to relax after a day of work. Like... you know... a normal person.
Both coding, and Dark Souls are similar I suppose! They both have steep learning curves, can have elements that are tough to progress past, and are downright frustrating on occasion. :)
Although coding doesn't have cheap kills from hidden enemies....yet.
Yeah but can you hide from bugs behind a shield and backstab them? I think not.
Dunno, I think some stupid bugs count as kills from hidden enemies.
I code constantly. When I get home from work, I code; I code on weekends. I read about coding. But only because I enjoy doing so. It's fun and relaxing for me and makes me feel good. Days when I don't or I really don't wanna code, I don't.
There is nothing wrong at all with just coding at work. If you don't want to code outside work, that's just fine. It's OK to keep work at work.
That's great! What kind of things do you do outside of work? (Coding wise I mean. Also Hobbies :) )
There is nothing wrong with working as a developer while having other hobbies, IMO.