For years, I lived with a constant, low-level hum of guilt.
You know the feeling. It’s Saturday morning. You are drinking coffee, maybe about to go for a walk or play a video game. But in the back of your mind, a little voice is whispering:
"You should be working on that React Native side project."
"Have you tried out Bun yet? Everyone on X is talking about it."
"Real developers code for fun."
The tech industry has sold us a lie: That passion equals hours logged. That if you aren't grinding on the weekend, you will be left behind by someone younger, hungrier, and willing to sleep under their desk.
I bought into it. I spent years coding 50 hours at my job, and another 15 hours on weekends building half-finished apps that nobody used.
I wasn't becoming a better developer. I was just becoming exhausted. My code on Mondays was sloppy, my patience in meetings was thin, and I hated opening my editor.
So, about a year ago, I did something terrifying. I stopped.
I made a rule: Laptop closes Friday at 5 PM. It does not open until Monday at 9 AM. No exceptions. No "just checking a PR."
I thought my skills would stagnate. I thought I’d lose my edge.
Here is what actually happened:
1. My subconscious started solving problems.
Before, when I hit a wall on Friday, I’d bang my head against it all weekend. Now, I walk away. I go hiking. I see friends. And almost every Sunday night, while doing dishes, the solution just pops into my head. I solve complex problems faster on Monday morning in 30 minutes than I used to in 8 hours of tired weekend hacking.
2. I became a better colleague (and got promoted).
Turns out, being a Senior developer isn't just about raw coding speed. It's about communication, patience, and leadership. When I wasn't constantly burned out, I was nicer to work with. I listened better in architecture meetings. People started trusting my judgment more because I wasn't manic.
3. I rediscovered the joy of coding.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder. By starving myself of code for two days, I actually look forward to Monday mornings.
The Nuance (Before you yell at me)
I know some of you will say: "But I love coding on weekends!" If that's genuinely true, keep doing it.
I also know juniors often need to put in extra hours to bridge the knowledge gap early on. I did too.
But if you are a mid-level or senior developer and you feel like you are drowning in hustle culture, let this be your permission slip to stop.
You are not a compilation machine. You are a human being who solves problems with code. Humans need rest. Machines don't. Which one do you want to be?
Let’s argue in the comments:
Is "passion" mandatory to be elite in this industry? Or is coding just a job that pays well so we can enjoy our actual lives?
Top comments (76)
Wait wait, I see where you're going: you want to stop everyone from coding on weekends so that you could be the only one who codes on weekends and go ahead of everyone quickly! 🤨🤣
Shhh! 🤫 Delete this before everyone finds out!
My whole master plan relies on everyone else burning out while I sneak past them on Monday morning fully rested. You're ruining my 4D chess strategy here!
🤣🤣
Smart move
That's a nice one😂
haahahhahaha nice one
🤣🤣🤣
Hello 👋🏿
Hello!
I’ll go even further - at some point you don’t even need to “study after hours,” let alone on weekends. The only thing that drives me to build mini demos and side projects now is pure curiosity, not pressure or obligation.
That is the ultimate goal. The shift from "I have to learn this to keep up" to "I wonder how this works" changes everything.
It is funny how much better the code turns out when you build something just to scratch an itch, rather than because you are terrified of falling behind.
I don't think anyone who does that needs to per say. I think they want to. Most of my colleagues are angry with their laptops after work hours.
And today learners don't even really care. They'll tell you that they'll vibe code.
That's not unpopular but the best thing you can do unless you need the extra coding time to learn for apllying to a better job or you need the extra money of additional billable overtime. Otherwise, passion projects that lead to even more coding in our spare time are bad for life balance. In a perfect world, no developer would have to work more than 4 days per week on their main job, so there's at least one day left for learning and side projects, and still a full weekend for family and passion.
100%. That 4-day split is the dream setup. One day for tinkering/learning, two days for actual rest.
You're right about the exceptions too. Sometimes you have to grind to get hired or pay bills. I just think a lot of us get stuck in that "survival mode" habit long after we actually need to.
For me it’s more like a eureka moment than a routine. I’m not on socials like X, FB, or Insta, so coding just happens in the evenings as my daily dose of poison 😅. Weekends are for relaxing, otherwise the fear of going blind from screens kicks in.
The 'daily dose of poison' metaphor is spot on. It is hard to put the keyboard away when the inspiration strikes in the evening. But I am with you on the eye health—got to look at something further than 50cm away on the weekends to stay sane
Thanks NorthernDev.
"Humans need rest. " Yep
💯❤️✨
Thanks Aaron!
I sometimes spend weekend playing softball. Sometimes go 30 miles hike. Sometimes run halfmarathon. Sometimes we go geocaching roadtrip with my father. Sometimes I hang at home and do coding. I would never self-torture myself by setting "rules" when I can't do what I like. I didn't get exhausted and didn't start questioning my career due to weekend coding sessions but because long-term pressure and overworking in my daily job. That is much worse.
That is a fair distinction. Rigid rules can be just as draining as the work itself if they feel like a cage.
You are absolutely right about the source of the exhaustion. It is usually the relentless pressure and lack of autonomy in the day job that leads to burnout, not the act of coding itself. If coding is what relaxes you, then it serves the same purpose as the hike.
If you want to improve your coding, you need to put in extra effort—but honestly, I’m lazy too. Studying on the weekend feels hard, while watching Netflix or Hotstar is easy, right?
I see people getting excited about different web series and movies and sharing them everywhere. That makes me wonder: is that movie really that fun? Or are we just losing the time we could have spent learning
A lot of thinking is going on in my mind.
I recognize that battle! The guilt of 'wasting time' is tough. But I've started to look at it differently: Is watching a movie losing time, or is it recharging your brain so you can learn better on Monday? If we treat our brains like machines that never cool down, they eventually break.
That’s right, we feel bad every Monday. It’s the same work without rest, so we really need to use our time effectively. That seems like the only solution, I guess
Exactly. If you drag yourself into Monday already exhausted, the whole week suffers. It is much better to hit Monday with fresh eyes than to grind through the weekend and pay for it later with low energy.
100% agree. Implemented strict 'no code weekends' 6 months ago as Staff Engineer → 3x faster Monday problem-solving + actual promotion.
The real unlock: subconscious parallelism. Friday's dead-end becomes Sunday night's 'Aha!' while washing dishes.
Weekend grind = local optima. Distance = global maxima.
Juniors: grind if needed. Seniors: your leverage is judgment, not keystrokes.
The comparison to local optima vs global maxima is brilliant. It perfectly captures why grinding harder often yields diminishing returns.
You are right about the leverage. At the Staff/Senior level, a fresh mind that prevents an architectural mistake is worth infinitely more than a tired mind churning out features.
Wise choice!
Thanks for reading!
I wish I could say that lol
Haha i know that feeling!
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