For me, the key was twofold:
1) Spend a lot of extracurricular (not work) time, exploring new tech that interests me. This often included purchasing expensive kit, and attending classes, on my own dime (but I could usually use the spend in my tax write-offs).
2) Be willing to accept being paid a lot less than my peers.
My career is a fairly eclectic one. I’m now retired, and spend a lot of time learning stuff, which is fun.
Also, I just like doing this stuff. My work is also my hobby. There's not that many things that I'd rather be doing.
I have also had a very good venue for doing volunteer work, and that has always provided a driving force.
Of course, now that I'm retired, I have the time.
My work is my hobby too, that is why I struggle sometimes wondering if I will ever retire. Why retire when what I'm doing is for the most part fun. Sure, there are days that I'd rather be "doing X", or more like "studying X" than actually working but I'm enjoying work so much lately that it soon passes.
Work also forces me to actually DO instead of thinking about doing. I have to perform. People are depending on me to get stuff done and that is a big motivator. With my personal projects, no one needs it or is expecting it so it is too easy to abandon.
In my case, I was fortunate to have projects that people depend on. Even my "hobby" work has always shipped.
"I don't have freetime" is usually a tell sign that people either don't know how to manage their time / prioritize free time activities, or have made choice that they refuse to see as choice but as obligations instead (which implicitely just means they prioritize this activity a lot)
Overwhelming majority? Plenty of people don't make enough from their 40h/w job to pay all their expenses and have to get another job or have to share responsibilities with a working spouse. Having kids or aging parents is also a common demand on ones time.
"Only" 5.2% of US job holders hold more than one job https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat36.htm
If you want to argue that this doesn't add up with "The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time." then please provide sourced numbers rather than baseless internet doomerism.
Oh and I'll add that the average commute time in the US is among the shortest in the OECD, since the long commute boogeyman always end up popping up in these discussions.
However, there was never the "996" shit, you see, these days. I generally did about 50 hours per week. Sometimes more; sometimes, less.
Sometimes, if the extracurricular stuff also benefitted my day job, I could get the company to help out, there.
I wouldn’t do it without a decent accountant. In my experience, they always paid for themselves.
You would not be able to (legally) do that today
Thanks for not immediately going on the attack.
Some other professional got royally screwed - e.g. a concert violinist can no longer deduct a $50,000 violin purchase if they're employed by an orchestra as a W2
That's why I say we should have accountants.
I'm always thrilled to have strangers on the Internet attack me, and even attack an accountant that they never even heard about before. Thanks!
Have a great day!
Have a great day, or whichever passive aggressive sign-off you'd prefer!