alt Hacker NewsPersonally, I am over side projects.
Did them, the games, the websites, the failed startup thing.
I just do other things now.
Building finance stuff during the day, doing little computer outside work (a bit of 3D printing here and there).
It’s fine. My career’s fine. The work doesn’t suffer from it.
Do I have the spark? Idk, I feel I am too old for that spark shit. There is work to do, I do it. If it’s tedious, I’ll drag me feet a while, but eventually it’ll be done. It’s just work.
I think both viewpoints are valid. It's perfectly fine to see your work as a craft which you hone in your personal time, and also see it as a means to an end where you clock in, get the job done, and clock out. It's also understandable that the amount of personal time we have to dedicate to it, and even interest, can vary over time.
That said, I think your day job is more enjoyable when you see your work as a craft. It becomes less of a chore, you feel more engaged, and generally happier, which ultimately has a positive impact on your work and your colleagues. This has been my very fuzzy experience over the years, going through periods of both, but there are no definitive perspectives either way.