undefined | Better HN

0 pointsabakker6y ago0 comments

INTP here. Starting projects and having multiples at once sure seems comfortable, but, ADD does not. It is a measure of rigor that there are projects that get done. Now, there's something to be said for projects that were always "low priority" and are waiting for the right moment, but there are also ephemeral, same-day kind of projects that come from having the tools/resources available to you to scratch whatever itch you have.

IMO, OP's problem isn't that he/she can't decide which side project to do, it's that they have already decided that the side project involves coding, and they're already a good coder. Doing your job as a side project seems...boring. Pick something you don't know how to do, but wish you did. Learn CAD, use a bandsaw, 3D print a D20, or just take your bike all the way apart. This idea that every software engineer needs to treat software as their hobby is frustrating to me. Bankers, lawyers, and doctors don't do that, why should software engineers?

0 comments

randomdude4026y ago

I think the origin of this idea comes from the time when personal computers started becoming available, and a generation of then young people started tinkering with them.

Some of us then went on to do some version of this hobby/passion professionally. In that case, having software side projects doesn't seem so weird.

Analogies that come to mind are folks like climbing instructors and mechanics, who also may have had these activities as fun hobbies before making a living at them.

Nowadays there is a higher percentage of folks who got into software (or hardware or whatever) the same way the bankers, lawyers, and doctors did; it was presented as a good career choice if they learned it.

I agree that expecting those folks to have side projects is unreasonable.

slothtrop6y ago

I can agree that yet more coding as a hobby is the dullest thing imaginable, when it's your job. Honestly between reading/research, gaming, music and exercise/outings my leisure time fills up quickly enough. That being said I had long clung to the idea of having something to show, a creative effort. I've tried writing and that's been sputtering.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse