Theory to systems: A grounded approach to programming language education (2019)

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to pursue anything intellectually demanding outside of work. I used to be able to stay up late and immerse myself in whatever I was interested in, but can't seem to anymore. I still try and I'm always excited to sit down and dig in, but I find that I just don't have the mental energy anymore. I dunno if it's a function of age or my work getting more and more demanding over time. Sometimes I wonder if I ought to take a few-week staycation just to pursue my intellectual interests. Does anyone else relate to this? How do you manage to pursue subjects rigorously after feeling mentally drained by work and life?

Link to the course: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;stanford-cs242.github.io&#x2F;f18&#x2F;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;stanford-cs242.github.io&#x2F;f18&#x2F;</a>

Discussed at the time:<p><i>From Theory to Systems: A Grounded Approach to Programming Language Education</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=19670518">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=19670518</a> - April 2019 (14 comments)

Are Theory and Systems the &quot;soft&quot; and &quot;hard&quot;* of CS? In principle, one gets to the same mountain-top no matter whether one starts ascent on the theory or on the systems side, but in practice, it seems departments specialise in routes on either northern or southern faces.<p>* <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Hard_and_soft_techniques" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Hard_and_soft_techniques</a>

wow, I really wish I had this course in college. if this is what the cs degree at my university looked like I would never have switched to a humanities degree

&gt; focused on using systems programming ideas and languages like WebAssembly<p>You kind lost me there.