protip: every job is like this. I went into journalism because i LOVED reading and writing. Making it a career sapped the fun out of it. Now i'm coding professionally. It's much more fun than the pressures of journalism, but I do find myself sometimes thinking "this was more fun when I did it just for the heck of it"
Yes, a day job will require of you things you wouldn't CHOOSE to do. Yes, doing something as a job is less fun than just doing something for fun in your spare time.
BUT: Speaking only of programming, which is what I choose to do, that extra work can be extremely fulfilling. No, you can't just be working on what you want all the time, but honestly most projects that are driven entirely by people's spare time end up incomplete. The list of exceptions is long, but the list of projects that are incomplete, in features or documentation or in handling of corner cases, is far, far longer.
I love open source, but there are some domains that all the open source options suck. I think a big part of that is the amount of real, un-fun work required to really finish a project. And yet, when creating a project for a job, you (sometimes, at least) need to really finish it: Add the features your users need, handle those corner cases, write up that documentation.
And having really completed a project and seeing the feedback from hundreds of users that find it to be awesome? THAT is amazingly fulfilling. Even if it's not fun every step of the way.
I assume journalism can have similar benefits, but I can't speak to that.
I'm having a mid-career crisis much like OP and the notion of freelancing is enticing. Can you tell me more about how it is more fulfilling, lees frustrating and how you find quality gigs?
I freelanced in the UK for 2 years, currently in Canada since the past year. Freelancing is tough here, it doesn't seem like it is the norm. It's tough in the UK too, but if you are good at what you do and/or you work in a niche field (like me) then then you have no trouble finding freelance work.
What I loved: you get to work on pure software. None of the BS with internal company politics, requirements gathering, user analysis etc. You are focused on a specific set of tasks. You are paid much more than as a perm (but not for vacation, sick days etc)
The last part is important to me at this moment in time. It effectively meant I could work for 6-7 months and make as much money as a perm salary. (This is a short term view to take though). This difference should cover down time, when you are looking for new contracts or you just want to take a little time off to upskill. Depending on the availability of jobs, you can be very selective on the contracts you choose. I've known people leave within a few weeks and move onto something else since it was "not as advertised". Because you shift job fairly frequently (3-6 months usually) you get to meet a lot of different people, learn different techniques and different skills.
The bad part: No vacation pay, no sick pay, you work a day you get paid for a day. You are usually hired for a particular skill, so there is no training. If you don't like a job, there's no point in complaining since they will hire someone else - in a decent company, they will try to accommodate your growth, longer term at least. You can be let go on a very short notice and there is no job security (obviously). It can also make it tougher to get loans and mortgages since the criteria is much stricter.
It's not for everyone, and depends very much on what you do, but I have plenty of friends who freelance and would not go back to permanent positions.
I'd like to hear some more on this topic as well; I've got a few freelance clients whom I inherited from the (literally) flaming hulk of the company where I used to work, and I need the money, but the work they need done is so delightful that I'm thinking hard about getting out of freelancing entirely in order to concentrate on doing things I actually enjoy, instead of working every hour God sends. If there's some way to reconcile these increasingly divergent considerations, I haven't been able to find it.
I don't work for "a company". I work for one of several companies, depending on the week/month, and sometimes two or more at the same time.
Personally I prefer shorter contracts, but I have constant offers of longer contracts, so I could go that route if I wanted. But I also want time to work on my own projects.
Though, in the abstract, sure, it's not always possible. This is advice along the lines of "Be Really Awesome and Have an Excellent Business Network." Not everyone can really follow it.
But there are a LOT of freelance jobs floating around right now, so it's a good time to give it a try if you can.
Most jobs, yeah. I do know a few engineers (the non-software type) whose interests seem surprisingly closely aligned with their jobs. One is a chip-design/layout person, and another is a chemical process engineer.
I think jobs can be more fulfilling give you value in pursuing your interest beyond what's possible outside of a job. Such as a lab with expensive or hard to acquire equipment for research or fabrication. In some cases, it can be an opportunity to solve a problem beyond normal bounds of home hobbies.
But programming many jobs seem like the types of thing you can do even without the job.
Protip to employers: Make your jobs interesting and fun, and you'll find that your employees are way more productive than you ever thought they could be.
