r-cid
For the most part I work rather normal hours now-- but occasionally I branch out and build stuff in my free time. I agree that it's not necessary and I could maintain my normal job in development without it. But I've also been able to parlay my hobby coding into new positions or profitable side work. It has given me more confidence and freedom.
Plenty of my co-workers don't build things on their own time. But as such I'm much more likely to be given the more interesting and challenging projects. I also likely have better job security. There are lots of benefits to being one of the crazy ones building fiber networks in your basement.
Unfortunately I'm shoe horned into react for my client work. The majority of my projects are handed off to the client to maintain and React is sort of a selling point (because.. you know facebook uses it and all). I'm afraid I can't realistically sell Cycle.js at this point.
I've been building production apps with React for about a year but at a glance I can't really see any clear advantages in Mithril or Cycle.js
I was freelancing as a teenager up until my early 20s, and I thought I was doing alright. Then I took a job at a place and learned a LOT. How to set more accurate deadlines, client interaction, how to properly hand off a project, how other successful developers are building software... a LOT.
I left that job after a year and started freelancing again but at a whole new level. I had made a ton connections at work for one, so finding a freelance project became a lot easier from that alone.
I remember burning a lot worse when I was a teenager.. But I think it had something to do with drinking Mt. Dew all the time. I've pretty much entirely removed high fructose corn syrup from my diet. I eat fruit for my sugar fix more often these days. I also supplement vitamin-d now, perhaps that also has something to do with it? This is all just anecdotal, but perhaps if you burn quickly and easily you should take a look at your diet.