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Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

#321

Post by transitivebs »

dinkleberg wrote: post #57
ryeguy_24 wrote: post #34

I’m just like you. I stumbled upon a book called Refuse to Choose and it’s about a personality type (that is definitely not ADHD) that happens to want to do a lot of things (sometimes in parallel or in sequence). It was very comforting to know others struggle with this and this book helps you to be ok with it. I wouldn’t say it “cured” me but I think about it differently now and use it more to my advantage. Worth a r…

That struggle is real. I've got a ridiculous amount of half-finished MVPs that I simply got bored of. It often makes me feel like an absolute failure, especially when I've told others about something I'm working on. When they ask "Hey, how is that project X you were working on 3 months ago going?" I'll have to think about it because it was probably 3 projects ago. But I think you're spot on. From each of these projec…

I feel your pain.

If we can minimize the amount of time & effort it takes to go from idea to launchable MVP, then all of these side projects and future ones suddenly become significantly more viable.

I wrote about this goal in-depth here: https://blog.saasify.sh/finding-your-passion-as-a-developer/

Re: Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

#323

Post by beetwenty »

I found my way out.

The thing I had to do is to find some themes that I am idealistic about and stick to those. The project is just a mode of exploring the theme, which means that each project and my skillset grows as needed to accommodate. The projects you are describing are completely non-thematic and are just bundles of features, so of course there's no structure to them, no reason to keep going and seeing what's next. And you are probably not money-and-sales-motivated, which is the thing that drives a lot of obvious business ventures.

The first step in finding the theme is in "knowing thyself", of course - strengths, weaknesses, inclinations. Write and rewrite the set of things about yourself that is maximally coherent and self-reinforcing. Then drive down that road as far as you can go: What types of projects does that support? Gradually you'll hit on a common theme, and then you can really start building.

Another way to force this along is this art advice: "Draw the same thing every day." This is a rather crushing challenge to take on, for no matter the subject matter, you'll tire of it, but it quickly brings out your inclinations and therefore the themes you want to work with.

Re: Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

#324

Post by tachyonbeam »

badloginagain wrote: post #162
arosier wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"maybe you already got what you came for." As someone who frequently starts projects and doesn't finish them, I've wondered if the part I enjoy about the project is the dreaming about what could be. That little rush you get when a new idea is upon you and it's all you can think about for x days. Doing the initial research and formulating a plan. This is a dopamine rush for me. The feeling of being laser focused for t…

FWIW I've found that there is a cross section between excitement of a new project and the momentum of that project. Most projects fizz out when the excitement wears off before the amount of work you've already done on it has enough momentum to push you to do one more task. When I push though that motivational hurdle, I find the amount of work already done incentives to continue on with it. The next task is obvious an…

> Now, losing confidence that everything you've written is garbage and refactoring the same systems over and over again until you give up- that's the hurdle I choke on :D

My recommendation would be to pick a very small project and have specific goals for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Try to define a project you can complete in a week or two. Keep the list of specific features you want very short. Then, remember that the code doesn't have to be perfect, it only has to be good enough to implement those specific features you wanted. It doesn't have to handle epic amounts of traffic, etc. It's ok to cut some corners round as long as it does the job for what you're trying to achieve.

Otherwise, just as a general mindset, I try to remind myself that a lot can be done incrementally. Sometimes it's important just to build a working version of your software so you can try it out and learn some lessons by playing with the working software. If you stop and refactor endlessly in an attempt to try to build the perfect system, you'll never get to the point where you're actually trying a working version of your program... Which is the point where you realize what's really important or not to achieve what you want.

Re: Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

#325

Post by andrecarini »

agitator wrote: post #305
bmelton wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried a variety of things. The first big step once I realized that I was sloughing off the boring bits was to try tackling the boring bits first. Start with a basic app that included user registration, an empty FAQ page, etc., but that generally meant quitting the project earlier rather than later. Then I thought well, maybe I'll just build up a library of reusable components for that, but hey guess what? That s…

I'm exactly the same way 100%. I've gotten incredible things done at startups and companies, where my work alone was floating the companies, and the products I created became the main product of the companies. But every time I realize "Why am I handing someone else all this value", and venture out on my own, I can't seem to motivate myself in the same way. It blows my mind and I can't seem to figure it out. Maybe I n…

> Maybe I need to invent an imaginary supervisor to report to at the end of the day.

Heh, someone had that idea too and turned it into a startup: Boss as a Service https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18512197

Re: Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

#326

Post by LeonB »

corecoder wrote: post #139
LeonB wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The stimulant caffeine is a popular alternative (provided you’re not overly sensitive to it [it can cause heart palpitations and anxiety], and don’t take it too late in the day) — lots of people use it to self-medicate ;)

Yes, I used to go really heavy on it. Had to quit it almost entirely, for both heart palpitations and anxiety.

Not to harp on about medications, but there are “non-stimulant” medications used to successfully treat ADHD as well, such as Strattera.

On the non-medicine side, techniques like bullet journaling are useful, also having “accountability partners” — friends or groups you report in with each week to check on each other’s progress; things like that.

Re: Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

#327

Post by RabbitmqGuy »

I used to pick side projects based on all the things they say you should; does it have a large addressable market, does it solve customer pain points, are people willing to prepay before you start working on it etc. And I would get to a point where I would give up because the projects, chosen this way, were not fun anymore and I would stop working on them.

So instead I now pick things that I find to be fun to me to work on. Instead of solving customer pain points, I try and solve a pain point that I have. I'm liking it thus far

Re: Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

#328

Post by ErikAugust »

Do you need to stick with it?

Side projects are a good way to harness raw energy to learn a lot of things hands-on in a rapid amount of time. But it also might be a good thing to not continue to venture deeply down a path just because you have started something.

I have multiple personal experiences where I have tried my best to develop my side project (or part-time business) into a full-time business - with less than stellar results. Yes, I have built a tool or service! Yes, it works and provides value! Yes, people will even pay for it! But can it pay all the bills? Is it worth the stress? Is it even the right tangent to be on, as a business?

In addition you have financial costs and there's can be a massive opportunity cost (years of effort) to "sticking with it". Holding your cards when you naturally feel like folding may not be worth it either and it often takes years to find that out.

Re: Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

#329

Post by fudged71 »

virtualritz wrote: post #258

A friend of mine said to do a successful software product you need three kinds of developers. Skip one and you will likely fail. 1. the kamikaze 2. the soldier 3. the sniper Kamikazes start the project. They have a broad vision of how the result will look (total victory, ofc) and they do not pay attention to the mountain at the horizon or the road missing a bridge over a canyon a few hundred clicks ahead. They just s…

I had two cofounders, and this is possibly the best description of how we operated... each with a different timeline and focus. Although I can't say that it ended well between us

Re: Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it?

#330

Post by rchaud »

tartoran wrote: post #315
rchaud wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a great example. I experienced something similar with my side project, which was a music magazine app, similar in concept to the (failed) iPad interactive magazine projects that were all the rage back in 2012 or so. It was very challenging to build something that scaled to phones and tablets while having a magazine-type aesthetic (compartmentalized information on each discrete page). In the end, I abandoned it…

I think you made a good saving of the initial investment and still managed to to publish your content which is mission accomplished. In fact you're likely to be consumed from IG. I also tend to go to the path of least resistance and do things in batches and the simplest way possible but concentrate on the most important aspect of it, the content. In the end this is the winner solution for me, if I were to take the lo…

True, I was stumbling on details constantly. Page load times, optimizing for screen sizes (this was a no-scroll, pure swipe-based mag), and it was very discouraging.

And you're also right about IG, people actually saw it and it would come up if people searched the tags. As a passion project, that's 70% of what I wanted. That remaining 30% probably wouldn't have been worth the effort.

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