Agreed with your concerns, though to me it sounds like this guy in the article is also trying to limit his hours spent on learning and side projects outside of work, which is healthy. But I think the case you bring up is more interesting and prevalent in our field.
I used to be the guy who lived in software development. Lived as in spent every waking moment doing something with development, including working stupid hours that in retrospect could not possibly have been productive. I woke up one morning and I was 30 years old, divorced in large part because I lived at work, had developed diabetes because I didn't take care of my body, and almost friendless because I chose my computer over my friendships nearly every time.
That wasn't living. When I finally woke up I realized that I had wasted my 20's: I was an addict getting a fix, not some genius reaching enlightenment.
Maybe some people are able to do both, but when I had that realization I decided to leave my software endeavors at work unless I knew it was a side project of a very short duration. If I wasn't being paid at my 40 hour a week - and not more than 40 hour a week - job, I needed to actively resist plunging into it as a default rather than vice versa.
As a result of this, I know I have become a worse engineer. But I also have a wife and kids, several hobbies, friends I care about who care about me, and while my health will never fully recover from developing diabetes I would say that I am in astonishingly better health than I was at 30. I will take that over my addiction to the software treadmill.
I used to be the guy who lived in software development. Lived as in spent every waking moment doing something with development, including working stupid hours that in retrospect could not possibly have been productive. I woke up one morning and I was 30 years old, divorced in large part because I lived at work, had developed diabetes because I didn't take care of my body, and almost friendless because I chose my computer over my friendships nearly every time.
That wasn't living. When I finally woke up I realized that I had wasted my 20's: I was an addict getting a fix, not some genius reaching enlightenment.
Maybe some people are able to do both, but when I had that realization I decided to leave my software endeavors at work unless I knew it was a side project of a very short duration. If I wasn't being paid at my 40 hour a week - and not more than 40 hour a week - job, I needed to actively resist plunging into it as a default rather than vice versa.
As a result of this, I know I have become a worse engineer. But I also have a wife and kids, several hobbies, friends I care about who care about me, and while my health will never fully recover from developing diabetes I would say that I am in astonishingly better health than I was at 30. I will take that over my addiction to the software treadmill.