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Ask HN: When do you say no to a personal passion project?

10 points by LegoZombieKing ↗ HN
I have been building and working on a passion project of building small functional web apps[0] for the past year and a half. Within the past few months I have been learning how to, and working on turning my static web apps into an api application. Just something that I can save data with to use between devices, and share with friends. Since I've started this project I've had a ton of ideas on how to make the "ultimate" time tracker/planner type of app. I don't want to abandon the project, but I also don't want to spend the next year building out an app that I will probably abandon in the future.

What do you think? Has there been a time where you have had to stop yourself from building out a passion project?

[0] https://tooldobox.com/

14 comments

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awb
Maybe set a goal for yourself.

If your goal is to learn certain skills, it sounds like maybe you’ve already done that.

If it’s to build a product that works for you, maybe you’ve done that too.

If it’s to make $500/month, then maybe keep going.

Or if it’s to grow the business into a full time job, keep going as well.

A goal will give you direction and motivation and a clear stopping point.

LegoZombieKing
I am all for the use of goals, and I think I hit mine goal to learn with these projects. Now I'm in the weird goal-less limbo after achieving the original goal where I can re-evaluate and decide whether or not I want to keep going down this route. This is where I'm a little stuck.
ohxh
Just my thought -- perfection is the enemy of good. I've fallen into this before, trying to write the "ultimate" version of some program. Do you use your own web apps today? If you enjoy the work, why not start by focusing product that you need today? If something is good enough to work for you, others will find value too.
LegoZombieKing
I think that's what I'm starting to fall into now. I've finished the workable versions of them, and now I'm starting to scope out features that might make them too complex. I use most of these programs every day, and the challenge I'm striking is whether or not I need to create the ultimate, or if I should just stop where I am at.
bruce511
Is your goal to have fun building it? Or is your goal to ship it?

I know plenty of projects that will never ship because the author can think of new things faster than he can code. Coding is fun. Shipping, selling and supporting is work. Hence the (subconscious?) goal of never actually shipping.

Which is perfectly OK. But being self-aware enough to know this is happening is both useful and liberating.

Alternatively if your goal is to ship, then ship it already...

sokoloff
I cycle back and forth between “what would the magnum opus in this space?” and “how little can I get away with here?”

After doing some fantasizing about the former, it helps me to switch frames and build the fastest, shittiest version of it. I have a TODO.txt file with what might come later, but I also have something working that I can learn from and/or get utility from. (For me, the alternative is constant anxiety about “what else could I brainstorm here?” (which is fun) and little in the “what did I accomplish?” (which is rewarding in a different way, but isn’t strictly as ‘fun’).

akerl_
Why don't you want to spend the next year building out an app that you might abandon in the future? What's the downside of working on a passion project and then setting it aside when the passion runs out?
LegoZombieKing
I think that part of it is the opportunity cost of working on a passion project. I have more than one of these types of projects, and I have to weigh them against one another. For example, I could work on these projects and building them out, or at more features to my personal website, or build something new.
akerl_
So at any given moment, work on the project that strikes your fancy? There's no upper bound on passion projects dormant/active/etc, where the Project Police will come hassle you for having too many.
LegoZombieKing
I suppose you’re right. The only passion project police officer that is on patrol is probably myself.
joshxyz
Exactly this, id rather docthis than die with ragrets
omnipath
When it starts to actively harm or hinder you instead of help. If it's costing you time you don't have, resources you can't afford, or affecting your health, call it quits. Otherwise, at the very least, you'd maybe learn something new, and definitely have kept yourself entertained, regardless of its utility.
arionhardison
https://codify.technology - I should have stopped and abandoned this long ago. I have literally no idea where I am going or what I am doing, but for some reason I keep going and it dosent matter. Thats whats so great about side-projects. It dosent matter, all that matters is that I am having fun and learning; getting to explore my creative side outside of whatever my PM at work wants me to do. For my day-job I work at TII. I have no impact on the product at all, nobody cares what I think, but here (my side proj,) I get to express myself and solve problems the way I think they sould be solved. I used to watch the news and get upset at how public policy was implemented; now I get to just do things the way I want them done. I know it sounds silly/dumb to most people because nobody cares or will adopt my solutiuon en masse but its still fun and I think thats at the core of any successful side project; are you having fun? If not, time to move on.
daltont
I've putting together ideas for a post about applying Ikagai concepts (https://becomingbetter.org/ikigai/) to side-projects.

1. What you love -> How strong is the itch to create this side-project?

2. What you are good at -> Do you have the skills and resources for this project? Or least the aptitude to gain the skills?

3. What you can get paid for -> Most side-project don't directly benefit one financially. Maybe the question is will this project benefit me via skills acquisition or maintenance that could be helpful with my "real work"?

4. What the world needs -> Side-projects usually are not "needed:, but can be found interesting or entertaining. Definitely would weight "needed" > "interesting" or "entertaining".