To build or to blog?

If you get much of your messaging about "being a dev" online, having a technical blog, building side projects, and contributing to OSS are recurring themes.

Over time, I've gotten the feeling that much of this talk is against a backdrop of having a sizeable chunk of free time common to many of us chronically-secluded nerds.

Free time can be rare

These days, I have very little (if any). My time outside of work is often pre-committed to my family (yep, managed to knock off the "chronically" part). That's not a complaint for what it's worth, I love having my family.

You might also think "just stay up later". I used to (and honestly, I'm probably stubborn enough that I'll keep trying sometimes). But my body is starting to do these things called "getting older" and "not wanting to be fully awake the next day" when I go to bed late. Funny how that works...

So how should I use what I have?

When you have little personal time, it can still be nice to have some minor recurring goals, if only to maintain motivation. But you definitely need to gauge the time you have.

For example:

• Want to blog? Either chip away at an idea over lunch until done, or knock out something shorter.
• Have an idea for a side project? Write it down and set aside an hour each weekend to get it done.
• Helping with OSS? This will probably be similar to #2—possibly needing more time though.

It can be ok to miss

When you have a family, you do still have to be ok missing these goals. You have a family to be part of, and they definitely need you more than your blog and side projects do.

And even when you do miss, you can keep using these little goals for motivation to keep exploring and learning.

I think that covers everything. This thought casserole has been baking over the last few years, especially as I've drifted away from the ravenous, foaming mob that's always chasing the New Shiny™. By now, I'm alright being a mashup of a family man / PHP dev / jack-of-all-trades IT guy. It's a mostly peaceful life I'm grateful for.