How many hours per week do you reckon you spend programming - whether its a side project, or learning a new library/framework?<p>Trying to get a pulse on how much Senior engineers spend (1) working on side projects, and (2) learning new technical skills.
Before asking this note the following: The most senior engineer(s) should be on the least important projects. That leaves the second best to lead the important things thus growing to be the best. It also means that anyone on any project can interrupt without worry about the cost to flow: if their interruptions mean the senior engineer didn't get their project done nobody cares. In the end you are more useful as a 10x programmer who never writes code, but allows a dozen 7x programmers perform at a 9x level than if you were heads down as a lone 10x programmer.<p>The above is sometimes my only comfort...