Hello All -
I happen to be a fan of Google's "20% Time" allowance for working on the things for which their developers have great passion. A lot of Google's new products and product improvements have been borne from allowing their developers to work on these side-projects in their 20% allowance.
I do not work for a company that has such an allowance. As most companies, we are lean on resources and have more work than we should be handling. Despite that, I still force myself to take breaks and take weekends off. I love my job and I love coding and developing software. I read technical books and articles, quite often, and I try to apply what I learn on the job (as applicable).
So, here is my question for you all. When I have spare time (suitable for work, but beyond my 40 hour workweek), should I spend it improving my company's software or should I develop my own side projects?
There are pros and cons to each, and I know that each comes with its own potential rewards. My side projects are not with the intent of starting a business, just for my own learning and satisfaction of coding great things.
Any thoughts?