"Does that make it a negative if you're time away from work involves family, outdoor activities, DIY projects, etc?"
Absolutely not. There's a full spectrum here. But if some of your hobbies/leisure time relates to your work, you're going to be more valuable to an employer (assuming that doesn't get unhealthy). It's great if it's tangential, too. It's not about logging extra hours, it's about what gives you joy. Writing code could be one thing. Reading about new tech could be another. Or reading about related skills (management, design, marketing). If you truly love it, a higher percentage of your work time will be enjoyable, too (which means more productivity and better retention).
I certainly don't blame anyone for having a diverse life. But I have two great candidates, I'll always choose the one who loves their discipline enough that the read about it and noodle with it on the side.
I have two young kids and while it's changing as they get older I hardly have time for ANY hobbies, let alone enough for a range of activities of which this might be one. You say it's not about logging extra hours but in reality that's what it comes down to - you can't read books, write code, explore libraries and so on without time.
Now in part I'm playing devil's advocate - there are podcasts you can listen to on a commute and you can read the odd blog post in a few minutes here and there and a relatively small amount of time can make a difference - but I still think people need to be realistic about what might fit with a particular candidate at a particular point in their life and what that actually means.
Absolutely not. There's a full spectrum here. But if some of your hobbies/leisure time relates to your work, you're going to be more valuable to an employer (assuming that doesn't get unhealthy). It's great if it's tangential, too. It's not about logging extra hours, it's about what gives you joy. Writing code could be one thing. Reading about new tech could be another. Or reading about related skills (management, design, marketing). If you truly love it, a higher percentage of your work time will be enjoyable, too (which means more productivity and better retention).
I certainly don't blame anyone for having a diverse life. But I have two great candidates, I'll always choose the one who loves their discipline enough that the read about it and noodle with it on the side.