I read blogs by a number of software developers, and two of the ones I respect most are Scott Hanselman and Nick Bradbury. As I was catching up on some reading I noticed that in the last week, both of them addressed the topic of work vs. non-work balance, including the issue of leaving tech life “on the job” or whether ones technical mind should continue to work after hours.
Scott’s post talked about how he dislikes working with “5:01 Developers” — those who mentally check out at 5:01 and drop their working/technology thoughts as they transition to home life.
Nick advised folks not to trade their lives for tech, getting out and enjoying a social life and afterhours culture that doesn’t revolve around coding, development, or technology at all.
Two bright guys making two statements that seem to contradict each other a bit. Who is right? Which is a better developer? Someone who lives, breathes, thinks, and writes technical code 24×7, or someone who clocks in, does a good job working for a “normal” workday, then leaves his technical job behind as he moves on to have a non-technical social life in the evenings?
Honestly, I think there can be advantages to either lifestyle. Someone who works on technical activities all the time might have a technical advantage, but that advantage might come at the expense of social activities.
Where do I fall? I’d like to think I’m somewhere between the extremes. As a software developer, I spend 8 hours a day writing code or participating in other development activities. After hours, I blog, read technical articles, and have been known to be seen at a user group or forum. On the other hand, I write very little code after work. I enjoy time with my family (which grew by one member last week) and enjoying photography and other hobbies.
[tags]scotthanselman, nickbradbury, developers, softwareengineering, technology, work, family[/tags]
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I suspect Nick and I agree more than you’d think. I just don’t like folks who aren’t excited about work when they are at work. I’m all about going home when work’s done.
Nice post, Aaron!
I’m not so sure that Scott’s post is really at odds with mine, though. As Scott says in his post, he also has to stop work at a reasonable hour in order to pick up his son, and I know he seeks a good life/work balance.
What he’s really saying – and I agree with him – is that it’s no fun working with people who aren’t enthusiastic about their coding. Like Scott, my techie brain doesn’t shut down completely after I leave work. I love what I do, so even “off the clock” I find myself thinking about ways to improve my software.
But I do make sure that my geekdom doesn’t infect my family life to the point that my kids wonder who their daddy is
After all, I can’t imagine being in my 70s and wishing I’d spent less time with my family and more time in front of the computer.