> There are a lot of objections to working outside of work, even if that work is for yourself. Many of them are valid. I only write for people like me, who have the energy and desire to make this work but have been lacking a guide.
I thought this would be yet more hustle porn, but I appreciate the care that the author put into this so as to not pressure those of us who just have zero energy to have a side project, even when we desperately want to. There's more after this quote that really hit home, and made me actually bookmark this for the day I have some energy to create again.
thank you, I know this is a sensitive topic for many so I tried to tiptoe around the topic best I could. hope you find the energy in you someday. I have found that more exercise has helped me.
Damn, as someone who has been working on a side-project for the past 7 months and have been releasing it through the past one month, this resonated with me a lot. I actually work part time for a company which treats me really well and appreciates my inputs and I have very constraints when working there and they encourage the things I come up with.
Recently I've been thinking about fundraising but I haven't figured out a monetisation strategy yet so I've been pondering about it. But I work 4 hours a day on my side-project and I read your article and had the epiphany that I can work part-time on this till I figure out monetisation on my side-project. Really appreciate you taking your time to write this!
Since the pandemic, I’ve been spending 1-2 hours every evening and then 4 hours every weekend on my side project.
I resonate with some of the things mentioned in this article.
Having a non draining main job is an absolute must. The job should also be non stressful. My current job is very easy to do so I can have a second life on my project.
I do worry that I’m stagnating at work because I’m devoting time to my project and not undertaking more challenging work at work. The pandemic helped in this regard because it’s not that easy to switch jobs, so I have kicked this can down the road. However it does make me anxious.
Doing a project with great significant personal meaning to me helps a lot. What software would you be build if you are a millionaire? Build that. That way you are not tied to it’s commercial success and can be much happier doing what you are doing without pressure.
Like many, my attention span is short sometimes and I keep jumping from side project to side project. I started off in Swift; moved to Web Apps because I wanted the greatest Audience; moved to Common Lisp because I freaking love it; now pivoting some of the front end to PHP.
When doing something new I get very excited and motivated. However equally important is the boring stuff that feels like “work” — it’s those tasks that when I complete, I know I’m making progress in my project - it’s the boring unsexy things that push a project forward.
What I do is balance the both - after making some gains, I may experiment with some new exciting things and then revert back.
Time is of an essence when you only have a few hours a week, so the Donald Knuth quote “Premature optimization is the root of all failure” (or something like that) is a banner on my site and super valuable. I avoid the temptation of spending hours to optimize loops or make my front end more sexy. Not always, but I try.
We have to play the long game. I have no issues now in taking extended breaks from my project - if I’m tired at work or it looks like it’s going to be a bad week, then I don’t program and just relax. I try and plan my goals for my project each week. When I have bad weeks at work, I use my spare time reading interesting new technologies; when I’m quiet at work, I try to do a lot of the boring parts of my project and push it forward.
Recently I try building all the logic in my head when walking or lying down; helps save my eyes from sitting in front of a screen always.
Although not possible for all, I try to convert some of my work stuff to what’s related in my project; eg learning php at work to upgrade the company website.
Finally, I realize I’m at a big disadvantage in terms of available time vs others, but a few things:
- I don’t have pressures of money or monetization. I can do the project HOW I want
- if I don’t do my project then I’m just giving up on life and resigned to the lame career I have. We only live once - I don’t want to look back on my life and feel like I just punched papers and worked for others.
- I’m already in my mid-30s and also not particularly successful in my career. This motivated me to some degree
Avoiding burnout is key; remove all unnecessary activities (such as commenting on HN :) as much as possible.
Finally I don’t have kids and I realize working on my side project make become more difficult soon as the pandemic ends; but I’m glad I didn’t waste 2020!
If your day/part time job pays well, you can also outsource time consuming tasks. This should work well when you are a contractor (high wage, self-employed or own limited company) you can write off the out sourcing costs as expenses.
I haven’t done this myself yet, but this idea has been running through my head for a while.
This resonates a lot with me. Aas a matter of fact, as a New Year's resolution I decided to view all of my side projects as a source of fun instead of potential revenue generators.
It has given me a lot more peace of mind, allows me to drop a project without feeling guilty or anxious and reduced the need for stupid marketing stuff (such as commenting on old blog posts).
As with all New Year's resolutions it's hard to stick to them; I need to remind myself frequently that I'm happier if I do.
Side projects were a great warmup for me before I started my company. Like OP, I enjoyed my day job and didn't feel the need to quit, but when Covid hit and our whole company folded, the years of side projects had given me lots of skills to try making it on my own.
Running a business takes a wide variety of skills, some of which you have to just get by doing.
12 comments
[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 26.0 ms ] threadI thought this would be yet more hustle porn, but I appreciate the care that the author put into this so as to not pressure those of us who just have zero energy to have a side project, even when we desperately want to. There's more after this quote that really hit home, and made me actually bookmark this for the day I have some energy to create again.
Recently I've been thinking about fundraising but I haven't figured out a monetisation strategy yet so I've been pondering about it. But I work 4 hours a day on my side-project and I read your article and had the epiphany that I can work part-time on this till I figure out monetisation on my side-project. Really appreciate you taking your time to write this!
I resonate with some of the things mentioned in this article.
Having a non draining main job is an absolute must. The job should also be non stressful. My current job is very easy to do so I can have a second life on my project.
I do worry that I’m stagnating at work because I’m devoting time to my project and not undertaking more challenging work at work. The pandemic helped in this regard because it’s not that easy to switch jobs, so I have kicked this can down the road. However it does make me anxious.
Doing a project with great significant personal meaning to me helps a lot. What software would you be build if you are a millionaire? Build that. That way you are not tied to it’s commercial success and can be much happier doing what you are doing without pressure.
Like many, my attention span is short sometimes and I keep jumping from side project to side project. I started off in Swift; moved to Web Apps because I wanted the greatest Audience; moved to Common Lisp because I freaking love it; now pivoting some of the front end to PHP.
When doing something new I get very excited and motivated. However equally important is the boring stuff that feels like “work” — it’s those tasks that when I complete, I know I’m making progress in my project - it’s the boring unsexy things that push a project forward.
What I do is balance the both - after making some gains, I may experiment with some new exciting things and then revert back.
Time is of an essence when you only have a few hours a week, so the Donald Knuth quote “Premature optimization is the root of all failure” (or something like that) is a banner on my site and super valuable. I avoid the temptation of spending hours to optimize loops or make my front end more sexy. Not always, but I try.
We have to play the long game. I have no issues now in taking extended breaks from my project - if I’m tired at work or it looks like it’s going to be a bad week, then I don’t program and just relax. I try and plan my goals for my project each week. When I have bad weeks at work, I use my spare time reading interesting new technologies; when I’m quiet at work, I try to do a lot of the boring parts of my project and push it forward.
Recently I try building all the logic in my head when walking or lying down; helps save my eyes from sitting in front of a screen always.
Although not possible for all, I try to convert some of my work stuff to what’s related in my project; eg learning php at work to upgrade the company website.
Finally, I realize I’m at a big disadvantage in terms of available time vs others, but a few things:
- I don’t have pressures of money or monetization. I can do the project HOW I want
- if I don’t do my project then I’m just giving up on life and resigned to the lame career I have. We only live once - I don’t want to look back on my life and feel like I just punched papers and worked for others.
- I’m already in my mid-30s and also not particularly successful in my career. This motivated me to some degree
Avoiding burnout is key; remove all unnecessary activities (such as commenting on HN :) as much as possible.
Finally I don’t have kids and I realize working on my side project make become more difficult soon as the pandemic ends; but I’m glad I didn’t waste 2020!
Hope the above helps
I haven’t done this myself yet, but this idea has been running through my head for a while.
It has given me a lot more peace of mind, allows me to drop a project without feeling guilty or anxious and reduced the need for stupid marketing stuff (such as commenting on old blog posts).
As with all New Year's resolutions it's hard to stick to them; I need to remind myself frequently that I'm happier if I do.
Running a business takes a wide variety of skills, some of which you have to just get by doing.