Projects I want to do vs projects I have to do

I'm sitting here at work, struggling with a piece of code. I've been struggling with it for about thirty minutes, not because the problem is so hard, it's not, but because I feel guilty about taking time out in the middle of the day to work on a project that isn't from a revenue stream.

Not yet, anyway.

Instead, it's a very small part of a larger project I've been playing with for a while, here and there, in my free time. It's a project I want to do. I've been mostly just obsessing about the project, taking the pieces, breaking them down into smaller pieces, figuring out what the smallest pieces are, so that I can run with them. I want the big project done, but I want to do the pieces, too. They're interesting.

Mike's going to look at this, see that I'm not working on "real" work and be pissed at me. I'm not sure he understands the idea that taking breaks is good, and that this project is just a break for me. He's going to be annoyed that I'm not working on the projects I should be working on. I'm frustrated with always having to push off the projects I want to do for the projects I have to do. At some point, they should be the same, right?

Well, We'll see if he'll be mad when I'm actually done with the whole project and he sees how cool it is. Think of it: Me. Doing cool shit.

Until then, I'm struggling with a piece of code.