Ask HN: How do develop a side project when you have a 40hr/week job?

Post by kintamanimatt » Mon, Nov 30, 2015, 8:38 AM UTC

dkns wrote: post #71

kintamanimatt wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My suggestion is a form of arbitrage and it's really quite doable. If you live in a cheap country and earn money in a more affluent one, you don't need to work as many hours. If you choose to earn money in the local market, you'll end up replacing one 40 hour work week for another. Your Brazilian buddies likely work locally which is why they have similar time constraints as someone living and working in NYC would do.…

Were you born in UK? How's social life in Prague for a foreigner like you? Is language a huge barrier?

Post by uououuttt » Mon, Nov 30, 2015, 8:39 AM UTC

ereyes01 wrote: post #51

kintamanimatt wrote: post #23

I'm going to assume you don't have a whole bunch of children, an underwater mortgage, or massive amounts of debt to service — or some other very compelling reason the following advice isn't going to be practical for you. But if you can swing it, it's vastly more fun and productive than some of the other suggestions: Start freelancing, quit your job, and move to a cheaper country where you can survive on something lik…

This concept of moving to a different country and living on less hours of work sounds too good to be true. I've heard it proposed before, but I've never known of anyone who has pulled it off. Are there any good examples to read about? I've met really smart English-speaking developers from other countries (namely Brazil), and I didn't get the impression that they can laze around and work 22 hour weeks to put food on t…

Post by matvoz » Mon, Nov 30, 2015, 9:18 AM UTC

Post by nibnib » Mon, Nov 30, 2015, 9:40 AM UTC

kbart wrote: post #67

hunvreus wrote: post #11

Same as for working out or cooking, you can always find time. I cut alcohol years ago and tend to go to bed at reasonable hours: the feeling of waking up at 5:30, getting a good workout and two to three hours of work before you even start to get ready for the office is pretty empowering. It feels like you already had a day worth of productivity in. So, to recap: 1. Don't drink (or drink in moderation). It leads to la…

"Getting up early" advice definitely doesn't work for all people. I, for example, am more productive at evenings/nights and my brain doesn't work at until 9-10am despite of how much did I sleep a night before. The better advice would be "adjust the routine to your natural rhythm".

Post by joe563323 » Mon, Nov 30, 2015, 10:41 AM UTC

reedlaw wrote: post #60

volaski wrote: post #57

I work 40hr/week yet I have plenty of time to work on my stuff. Of course it would be much better if I could fully commit to my project but hey i still need money to sustain myself and need to compromise with reality. Anyway, sometimes when I really get into it I can even work more hours than my day job. In extreme cases, I would leave work at 6pm, get home by 6:30, take a shower and start working at 7pm. Work on my…

Only do this if you want to be totally turned off by programming within a few months/years. Working 40 hours a week at a computer and then coming home for more is bad enough for your body. But beyond that, any single activity reaches a point of diminishing returns when engaged in to the exclusion of all others. It might not happen right away, but at some point there will likely be regret that you didn't spend more ti…