Because I make things I WANT TO USE!! I'm not making them to put on my resume, or to show people, I'm making things that I actually want to use and they don't exist yet and they would make my life better/easier/whatever. Sometimes I show others and they like them because if I want something made generally there are others that want something like that as well. But sometimes I don't release them as well. But I find that to keep me motivated.
Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
31–40 of 145 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
#321. Get paid for side projects (bad motivation but better than nothing for a boring project).
2. Since programming is a hobby and also a day job, make hobby part of it fun. Make your current side projects fun and engaging, drop when they become boring.
3. A side project which is used by people becomes a responsibility, sometimes you can throw it away, or pass over to someone else to manage. That's a relief. Sometimes being needed by people can give some motivation.
4. If stuck on an unpaid side project you cannot drop (or as well, have boring regular job project which you cannot drop for obvious reasons), make your side project relaxing and fun. Make sure you do your fun hobby often to avoid burning out.
Side projects cannot last long, while you have steam to push it on. If, say, two months passed and thing isn't ready -- make a decision, do you want to keep it, will someone want or need it, then continue or drop it and find a new toy, which is fun again.
Re: Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
#33Progress is the best motivator dude. Check out the power of small wins: https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins
Re: Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
#34Be consistent. Do some work every day, even if it's just 5mins of work. You will keep the idea in mind.
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Re: Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
#35I've been working on mine (bit.ly/1rqJ0NG) for over 7 years. There are a few things that keep me going -
- The first is that while I've been using it (or a version of it) for about 5 years, there are a lot of features I want that are still missing.
- Second is wanting to see it through. There are loads (over 20) of unfinished apps in my \Dev folder. I think some of them are epic ideas, but decided to focus on one and see it through.
- Third is to make some cash. That's a nice to have, and I'm ok with it not making anything, because of reason 4 -
- I love working on it. It's rewarding like nothing else is. I once told a friend (quite seriously) that solving some hard problem in it was better than sex. He told me I was doing sex wrong. Maybe... but I can stare at a piece of code for ages after writing it, if I think it's good. Narcissistic, I suppose, and probably deluded, too. But there it is.
- Fifth, and last, I've learnt more from it than any other (single) project I've ever done - privately or professionally. Not just code, the cloud, document v. relational v. graph dbs, but also the not-so-great value of TDD, the value of DevOps, and arguably the most important, the value of just not accruing technical debt, ever, at all. If you gave me another minute I'll think of a million other things it taught me.
Re: Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
#36Be consistent. Do some work every day, even if it's just 5mins of work. You will keep the idea in mind.
That works for some, but not others. I have gone weeks and once even months with not doing a thing (intentionally). Distancing myself from it has always worked out well for me.
Re: Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
#37The solution I eventually arrived at after many years: Don't start any more side projects. Save my energy for my primary project.
Re: Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
#38I owe my career, and as a result my means and lifestyle to the Internet. In turn I like to do things to fix the Internet and make it better for everyone else.
It also helps me to work on things that I think really matter. For some people that is building an easier to use templating engine. For me, it's building security and reliability.
Re: Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
#39I always choose something that I am really passionate about and try to limit how many side projects I have.
Re: Ask HN: How do you stay motivated to work on side projects?
#40I have 2 criteria for picking an idea I actually want to work on:
- One is how many days consecutively am I still thinking about the idea without forcing myself
- Second is even if no one uses it and everything about it's progress is shitty, will I still want to keep working on it?