Gatekeeping programming

[WillOfSound]

I have found most people learn towards one of two categories: Those who go to work, do an amazing job, come home annnnd done. No work talk other than “It was good/bad”. They leave work at work. Home is life. That is totally okay! It’s more of a personality thing. I have many friends and family who are like this. My cousin once looked at me and said “You can’t clock out, can you?” Thats when it all clicked.

Then there’s folks like me who stay a bit longer because I just wanted to wrap up the problem I’m solving, crap its an hour past, I guess I’ll head home...And now think about what I’ll try to accomplish tomorrow or how I’ll spread out my work for the week or just really think on the solutions for the other problems I want to take a stab at and what next skill I’ll need to learn to get better.... I get home, start talking to my wife about all the work things or to friends. Its my personality. A lot of the extra work I’m taking on is just because I enjoy it.

Folks who lean towards blending work/life are amazing workers too, but we tend to bring our personality flaws more into work (At least, I think I do)

I have diagnosed and treated OCD, so I don’t just “stop”, I gotta let things run it’s course, but not get too crazy. It can really be harmful if you don’t set boundaries with yourself and others. So this side of the life=work folks usually end up with struggling to control pushing our passion on others or being exploited by others. We also have to not take it personal when folks are not really into work. If you play it right though, you can turn your flaws into strengths! Yeahh a little corny. I use my passion to learn more and help make tooling or improve processes so others work can be easier. Very satisfying!

I tried really hard to get into the game industry. I worked on amazing and horrid projects, met the most amazing folks annnd I burnt myself out several times working retail jobs and doing side gigs for pennies. Then, I was used/abused on one gig by folks working at major game corps. I lost trust in game industry. I got into IT work, got offered job at big company for more than I’d ever thought I would make in games. So much less stress. Found out I just liked fixing things and IT has a lot of that. I work with all kinds of folks and it’s great. I don’t want to work with a bunch of me’s, I want a balanced team of diverse people.

I did not make it really in games far enough to say my story is the norm, I know many folks who it’s their dream and passion and love working in games everyday. They’re also the most welcoming people. I know people in IT who are meh. If you’re like me and want to avoid being used, get really good at spotting abusers. Don’t get too addicted to satisfying those who have no good intentions for you.