[LandR]

Man, I work 8-4 Mon-Fri.

As soon as 4 rolls around, I'm done with the money making portion of the day and the rest is just entirely fun stuff. I couldn't care less if what I'm doing isn't ever going to make money, it's just fun / interesting / satisfying curiosity.

I run - but I know I'm never going to make money running. I climb - but I know I'm never going to make money climbing. I code for fun on my side projects - same deal.

That work mindset gets turned off hard at 4pm.

[optymizer]

I would like to be able to do that - I have such a long list of things I want to learn and do - but I can't just turn off my work brain at 4pm. I get sucked in by interesting problems. Low level optimization? They pay me for 9-5, but you can bet I'll be thinking about it over the weekend, maybe code up a potential solution.

I used to think less about people who check out at 5pm - how can you just leave and not give a shit that the code is a mess? - but as I grew older, I understood that they don't associate their self-worth with work. Their value system is different, and it's got benefits, like better mental health.

[warp]

> I used to think less about people who check out at 5pm - how can you just leave and not give a shit that the code is a mess?

As someone who checks out at 5pm, I think you're looking at it from the wrong POV.

The main thing that drives me is the projects I work on in my spare time. I care that _that_ code is a mess. So, I might do a bit of work on that in the morning, but then start my actual paying job at e.g. 8am.

So how can I just leave my hobby project and not give a shit that the code is a mess? Because I get paid to do so, I have to work on whatever my boss wants me to work on because that's my job -- but as soon as 5pm hits I get to think about the stuff I really care about again.

[asdf6969]

It’s not my code. I don’t stress about it for the same reason a cashier doesn’t lose sleep if they sell a bruised apple

[phyzix5761]

How long have you been a software engineer if I may ask?

[optymizer]

About 17 years

[chairmansteve]

I think your attitude is fine. You most likely enjoy your job. You are lucky.

[Fripplebubby]

I think part of the author's point is that, specifically if you are _coding_ for fun, it is much harder to "turn off" that part of your brain that analyzes it from a business perspective. It's not as if you can close one IDE at 4 and open another IDE at 4:01 at put yourself in a different mindset.

[yifanl]

I do just that by switching colour schemes. Light mode at work, dark mode at home. It takes a little bit, but the brain is easily tricked by flashy lights.

[______]

That’s great!

Also - coffee at work, tea for play

[blenderob]

Of course you can. (I mean many of us can.) I've been doing it for years. I'm surprised that because you find it hard to "turn off" that part of your brain, it must be so for everyone else. It isn't. There are many of us who code for fun and do it with a totally different mindset with no "business thoughts" in mind.

[Fripplebubby]

Speaking for myself, the author's post resonated with me in two ways - both that it's hard to turn off the business side of the brain ("Could this side project be a startup? Should I build it this way just in case I decide to do that later?") but also that I find it hard to turn off the manager brain ("Is this really the right order to do things? Is this the most valuable thing I could be doing?"), too, other people in the thread are mentioning thinking about opportunity cost to be interfering with their ability to commit to side projects (and also to actually _enjoy_ doing them).

[criddell]

It's easy to switch for some of us because the last thing in the world we want is more work and a startup is a lot of work. When I'm making something for myself it never crosses my mind that I could commercialize my hobby project because I know that's the fastest way to ruin a hobby.

[dripdry45]

Fellow climber/coder... Where you climbing these days?

[thelaxiankey2]

Sick now, but till last year it was Mt woodson/tahquitz rock/the eastern sierra. When I lived in the bay it was pinnacles, obscurities in the Santa Cruz mountains, and lovers leap/Yosemite/etc