do you guys still build side projects after working full-time as a dev?

Posted by Cool_Kiwi_117@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 51 comments

I’m working as a software engineer (remote), and I’ve been thinking about side projects again

before getting a job, I used to build random stuff all the time to learn — small apps, experiments, whatever

now after a full workday, it’s hard to find the motivation to open my laptop again and start coding

part of me feels like I should still be building things to grow, but another part just wants to step away from screens completely

I’ve tried starting a few projects recently, but I either lose interest or just feel too mentally drained

for those of you working full-time — do you still build side projects regularly?

if yes, how do you stay consistent without burning out

or is it normal to slow down on that once you’re already in the industry

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AbeIndoria@reddit

Yes. I am genuinely interested in tech, and it's not "just a job" for me. The "job" is the job. I stop thinking about that once I log out, but I don't stop working on tech/thinking about it after my day job is done.

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Christavito@reddit

I have been working as a dev in some capacity for nearly 20 years and I have always had side projects.

To me they are separate things. I can be sitting at work working on an application and can't wait till I get to go home and work on my side project. It's one of the things that has kept me interested in this field.

I know most of my coworkers are just 9-5 devs and I think that's okay too.

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ViolaBiflora@reddit

I'm just applying for junior positions now, but I truly see this both as a career and a hobby. I hope it won't change once I get a job, but all I can think of now is that I finally get the junior position, then come back home and apply all I've learnt to my own projects.

Hope it'll be like that.

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Christavito@reddit

For me it was the other way around. Corporate applications using agile can move really slow. I learned a lot during my own projects and applied them to my projects at work.

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bigsauce456@reddit

I agree! There have been days where in between my work tasks, there's a lightbulb popping up for a neat solution on one of my side projects and I'm just thinking about implementing it the second I get home lol. It keeps programming interesting for me even if I spend 9 hours a day doing it for pay (but tbf the paid programming is never as fun as the quirky little projects).

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supermopman@reddit

Just do what brings you joy outside of work. If that's building something, cool. If it's not, cool.

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ZelphirKalt@reddit

I do. Or at least I did, when I had a job. Most people don't. By now, for most people in this industry it is not a passion, it is a mere job.

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Individual-Shame6481@reddit

Creating conventional businesses is far better than personal Software projects.

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sessamekesh@reddit

I do, many of my peers do, most of them don't.

It's up to you, there's not really an expectation around it one way or the other.

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cheezballs@reddit

I start side projects but never finish them.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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SourceScope@reddit

I have some ideas and i do work on them, although very slowly. Im in no rush. Its just a little thing for myself

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PatBooth@reddit

Only when there is some new tech I want to learn or I think of a project related to my other hobbies that really inspires me

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PM_ME_UR__RECIPES@reddit

I know some who do, but it's been maybe 5 years or so since my last side project.

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maowai@reddit

All of my personal projects are in the real world. Home improvements and things like woodworking, electronics, or learning about random stuff.

My curiosity and interests wander. Development used to be one of those curiosities and it led to a good career. Right now, it mostly just pays the bills while I do other things that interest me more.

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FinnE145@reddit

I'm young, so I don't have a wife or child, but I still found that I couldn't make myself do more coding in my free time while I was working full time coding. In the times I've had part-time work, no work, or been in school, I had no problem putting 2-10 hours a day in on personal coding, but for some reason full time work just killed that for me. Instead, I found that I really liked 3D printing, biking, and skiing in my free time, and my coding projects kind of took a pause. However, longer breaks like over Christmas would usually give me a few weeks to get back into it.

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ShinyDomino@reddit

I agree. I don’t get how people can just get off a 9-5 shift where they code, and then spend their free time coding some more. I tried doing that and every time I would go to work the next day, I didnt have the desire to code.

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roger_ducky@reddit

I don’t do much outside work. But I do experiments at work.

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stiky21@reddit

Yes, its not only my career but also a hobby

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stiky21@reddit

Bad bot, I was not posting for help wtf.

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Electronic-Top-6824@reddit

From bad, screen to good screen. If I wanted to look for a new job I probably would do something.

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abhijith002@reddit

I generally spend time building something with the intention of learning. For example I got curious about htmx so I started building a side project with htmx rust and actix just out of curiosity to learn how it works. But I don’t spend all the time building stuff. Generally if I don’t have anything else to do I build.

At the same time I picked up the zero to production in rust book also.

Curiosity motivates me.

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Former_Produce1721@reddit

Yes

I just don't allow myself to get obsessed with the project at work unless I am genuinely interested in it

And I'm at the level now where I can get stuff done quick for work and leave a lot of personal time for myself

Also I'm single, so that helps lol

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JuanistaD@reddit

I did until I got a spouse and kids. After 5 I don’t think about anything that is work/IT related

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Positive_Rip_6317@reddit

Nahhh, never have, doubt I ever will.

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probability_of_meme@reddit

Only when it benefits my actual life outside of work. Which is often enough actually.

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mancunian101@reddit

No, by the time I’ve finished work, put the kids to bed and had dinner I have very little motivation to fire my computer up.

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Consistent_Voice_732@reddit

Consistency matters less than sustainability. Even 1–2 focused sessions a week beats forcing daily work and burning out.

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syklemil@reddit

It depends on how much of an itch I have and how busy I am in general, both at work and outside it.

If you feel like stepping away from screens entirely, do it. Like I don't bring my cell phone into the bedroom at all, and don't have any of the big social media apps on it. Plenty of people take up different activities, like woodworking or beer brewing or whatever; some even turn it into a career after a few years (and accumulating enough fuck-you money I guess).

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zdubbzzz@reddit

Yes, I've got a huge backlog of stuff that I'm constantly trying to make a dent in

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SaxSalute@reddit

I personally don’t. I have close friends who are also devs and do, but for me personally, I’ve found that no good comes from it. I really enjoy my job, but programming outside of work makes me less happy at work and at home, even if I feel like I’ve caught the bug to build something - it always circles back to mental exhaustion. I much prefer spending time doing totally different activities that keep me balanced like running, rock climbing, cooking, etc… on a more opinionated note, I think it’s just good to have variety in life in general. Programming is just one way to spend time, not THE way to spend time.

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gofl-zimbard-37@reddit

Yes, I often have something else I'm tinkering with for my own amusement. Old School hacker.

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Kpow_636@reddit

Yes. I don't feel burnt out, I enjoy working on side projects.

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Significant-Syrup400@reddit

I think it's important to actually be interested in the project you are working on so it's not just working after work. Working extra hours for free after a long day is difficult, but putting time into your hobby is totally a different story.

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PianoConcertoNo2@reddit

No.

I’d rather spend time with my wife and child, like most people get to do in other careers.

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WizardSleeveLoverr@reddit

Same here. 5 a clock hits, and I’m not looking at a single line of code till the next day.

Hate how this industry expects everyone to not have a family or hobbies outside of coding.

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bigsauce456@reddit

Yes but not in a grindy way, I just work on projects that are useful for myself or would be fun to try. My "largest" one right now is maintaining a search engine type system I made for a very niche community. I don't whip myself for not working on side projects if I don't have the energy to though, nothing forced. Usually the projects I work on at home are completely different than the kind of stack/platforms I use at work so I don't burn myself out entirely and have some variety.

To clarify though I am not married with no kids so this will probably change as my circumstances change, but for now I'm having fun and using my free time to my advantage. But again, I do it because I want to and I like learning new things, not because I feel compelled to maintain side projects because I "have" to.

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pixel293@reddit

Yes, programming is what I like to do and unfortunately the stuff I write for work just isn't that complex or interesting.

Besides on days where I'm mostly in meetings or helping junior programmers it is nice to program at home.

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Immediate-Food8050@reddit

Yes. My job is in .NET development for broadcasting and signage platforms, as well as a lot of DevOps. My hobby is contributing to open source projects written in C and my own C projects. Right now I'm writing a compiler.

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Voxmanns@reddit

Off and on. I'll build things to try out a design pattern or POC an idea but that's usually it. Occasionally I'll get a passion project for a few weeks but I rarely complete them entirely. This is more true when work is light and less true when work is heavy.

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divad1196@reddit

I was until I got more responsabilities and became lead. From that point, I started to see deadlines, target audience, ttp, ...

I don't enjoy doing a project without value anymore. I don't get pride of reinventing the wheel and I don't overestimate the usefulness of what I am creating.

Valuable projects are not necessarily complex, but takes time. Time that I don't have nor want to spend on this instead of other things in my life.

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I just take it chill with myself and not force it. If I feel the desire to work on something, I do, otherwise I don't.

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mlugo02@reddit

Yes after work I still spend a lot of time doing my game dev hobby