[themal]

Most developers I know - in real life - don't program in their spare time, never mind going to conferences or evening meet ups. If you work as a developer and your hobby is developing then there's a good chance that you'll burn out.

That's not to say that it is bad for people who do it, just try to expand your hobbies to something outside of technology.

[dodecaphonic]

I've been on guilt trips because of the social aspect I'm missing (dojos, hackatons, weekly meetings in bars), but I've come to terms with it. I have a wife with whom I'd rather be, movies to watch and books to read. It's a tough balance, and ego-wise it can be brutal, but I'm aware now that after my commute home, I want to point my brain at different things.

The way I see it, the ultra-passionate, sleeps-eats-drinks code programmer is usually one who hasn't: a) learned to use his time parsimoniously; b) accepted there's a limit to how much you can do in one day; c) yet built a family. The last one, especially, if approached with gusto, will automatically make you ponder and weigh things -- and will also limit your time, fixing a and b if you don't fight it.

[orangecat]

If you work as a developer and your hobby is developing then there's a good chance that you'll burn out.

People are allowed to have more than one hobby. And I'd think that if your paid job is writing and maintaining boring internal enterprise apps, hacking on fun projects could prevent you from getting burned out.

[jim_h]

I occasionally try new recipes, jog, travel, exercise and other none computer related activities are way to prevent from getting burned out.