[JamesBaxter]

I'm nearly two years into my programming career and I'm really struggling with this balance. Every day at work I face a new programming challenge. Every night I feel guilty about not being able to motivate myself to work on either of the two side projects I've started.

Video games work well as something mindless that clears my head at the end of the day. The problem is stopping playing before I've wasted my whole evening and the pain I get in my fingers/wrists after a whole day of repetitive movement.

I need to find something less addictive that doesn't require much dexterity. I'm considering chess.

[morganherlocker]

I have always found music good for this sort of thing. It is very relaxing, uses the creative part of your brain, and you get a skill that stays with you for the rest of your life. While it is engaging, it somehow gets boring after about an hour or two, so it is unlikely to suck away an entire evening. Over the years I have learned to play dozens of instruments just by devoting an hour here and there.