Tech is, quite frankly, a waste of time for everyone. That's why they pay you so much to turn your life into gigantic market caps.
Luckily with remote work, it's becoming easier to do 10-20hrs for the same pay 40-60 (accounting for commute and other incidental costs) used to get. So I can finally use my technical skills to benefit myself way more than what I'm selling to my employer for the first time in many years. In a way, this transition to remote work is making it so I can clandestinely get a BigCo to finance my longterm career & personal software dreams ;)
For what it's worth, I did exactly this for years even in the office. But I agree, remote makes this way easier for everyone.
I'm in tech because they pay me big bucks to basically do nothing, and as I rise the ranks, I can do even less and get paid more. Can't pass on a gravy train.