Which is the best way to maintain an outstanding social life whilst being a dedicated programmer?

Question

Usually most programmers lack good social life because of the nature of their career. How can one attain a balance between sociality and being a dedicated programmer? Is it being a programmer first then social or vice versa?

Answer 1

Having a large group of colleagues, associates and collaborators means more opportunities to meet other people socially, their friends or relatives, their romantic partners and their friends. Essentially the point I was trying to make was that the more people you know, the more people you're able to meet and so the probability of meeting people that you enjoy socialising with and who enjoy the same with you increases.

To give you some background, I've worked in technology for getting on 11 years, as a support engineer, network engineer, voip engineer, unified communications consultant, trainer, training developer, web developer and over the past few years I've been moving towards having a programming foundation. I've worked with a lot of programmers and I've come away with the impression that I described in the previous paragraphs. Being a coder is an excellent job that provides a good lifestyle in my experience.

My apologies for the long message, I just wanted to elaborate thoroughly in the hopes that a more detailed explanation of my reasoning might allay your concerns about balance and provide a more positive viewpoint of this career.

Answer 2

Yes,we have to make a club of coders and programmers with the help of SL.

Answer 3

@jamie, I was not just referring to the community of like minds interacting alone, but general social life outside community interactions (which involves philanthropic activities )and still being a dedicated programmer.

Answer 4

@Godswill My apologies, I didn't explain my point properly. I was talking about a general social life outside of the coding community, the things I mentioned are things that I have found help with cultivating that social life.

Good wages means having money to go out with friends, not having to work a second job to earn extra money. Being financially able to contribute to charity, support your family and so on.

Good job perks such as being able to work remotely, flexible working hours, medical cover and so on allows more opportunities to socialise as you're able to still work all the hours you need to and fit your social schedule to your friends (and the medical keeps you healthy to socialise) which means less missed social opportunities.

Good problem solving skills are an excellent thing to have socially. Being able to break down problems into their components and solve them one step at a time is actually a fairly abstract skill that is very valuable if a friend has a problem they are having trouble with, or even when they are putting furniture together. Providing value in this way leads to strong friendships forming.

Answer 5

If I may say, try programming with friends, or start a club that teaches the benefits of learning computer science. Both are ways to socialize, but you would also be programming at the same time. Encourage interaction and questioning, and be lively.

Answer 6

I'm not sure why you think that most programmers lack a good social life?

Every programmer I know has a very good social life due to their above average wages, good job perks, solid problem solving skills and wide network of colleagues, associates and collaborators.