It severely depends on the mood (even in long term). From 3-5 during bad weeks to 20+ for good ones.
Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
51–60 of 76 posts
Re: Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
#52About 5 hours a week on https://getelapse.com , chunked into 20 minute slots like lunch breaks or downtime at home between family stuff. The only way I'm able to make forward progress is by being super strict about CI+CD. It's actually doing a good job of forcing me to code really well, because if you've only got 20 minutes to get a thing done, you can't have much cognitive overhead or switching costs.
Sound like you are dog-fooding your product: https://getelapse.com: "An elegantly simple tool to help you focus on the tasks you need to get done."
Sure am! :)
Re: Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
#53I replaced programming with woodworking. I find it a lot more enjoyable after 8 hours of building software and 1 - 2 hours of administrative work to transition to building "hardware". My side projects are all furniture my wife or other family members ask for.
This is happening to me at the moment, currently upcycling an old timber door into a bench I find woodworking a lot more satisfying than coding. You can point to something solid and say, "I made that", and your family don't have to be technophiles to enjoy and appreciate it
My code has a much bigger immediate impact. But I always assume that 10 years from now it will all have been rewritten or projects replaced/cancelled. However, my wood projects that I've given to family will be passed down to the next generations (hopefully).
Re: Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
#54Between 7 and 14 hours a week. It depends if I can dedicate one full day on the weekend to it. That happens rarely. Otherwise I stick to one hour every morning before work to do the most important thing. My side project is my website where I attempt to teach about web developement (JavaScript, React) https://www.robinwieruch.de
Re: Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
#55Side projects hours are directly proportional to how happy, satisfied, and content I am with my say job. At my previous job it tended to be 15+ per week easily. But now it tends to be 0-2 hours per week. It's not a bad problem to have; to enjoy and feel satisfied with everything at the day job. I still wouldn't mind being more side project engaged sometimes though. It's always a struggle.
I'm the same way. My current work project is in fact more interesting and ambitious than any of my side projects (distributed rules engine fed with realtime sensor data to take autonomous action to optimize workplace convenience for office workers), so I haven't spent meaningful amounts of time on a side project in months.
I do still work on dev talks to give to user groups, it engages a different side of my brain than the programming side projects do.
Re: Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
#56I replaced programming with woodworking. I find it a lot more enjoyable after 8 hours of building software and 1 - 2 hours of administrative work to transition to building "hardware". My side projects are all furniture my wife or other family members ask for.
I'm interested in woodworking but also afraid I'm going to maim myself.
Maiming one's self in woodworking only happens through incredible stupidity or carelessness. If you keep focused on what you're doing and make sure that you're following basic safety rules, you'll probably be fine. Accidents do happen of course, but as with programming, there are safeguards that can prevent them (for instance, the guards and backstops on a table saw prevent your work piece from getting rocketed back into your torso).
Re: Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
#572 - 6 hours a week but that's going to go up as I turn it into a real business. Eventually I will quit my full time job but for some amount of time it will be like having two jobs.
I pretty much make my wife mad at me every Saturday by locking myself in the office while she watches our daughter.
But I hope that if I can make something of it then it will help my daughter and our family long term more than my current job can.
I also try to dedicate at least as much time (usually double) bonding with my daughter (she is a year and a half). They are only this young once.
Re: Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
#58For my side project, https://www.rabbitmqhosting.com, I usually spend about 1 hour per day(average 5hrs per week).
As a developer I usually find the marketing side of things to be a bit tricky to do. So as a workaround I usually carry out marketing during my 40minute commute to my day job.
Re: Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
#59To everybody posting about not working on a side project because of children, I would ask you to reconsider that if you're truly passionate about something and want to develop it. I've been working on a side project for a few years now. I also have kids and spend a lot of time with them. I've discovered that it's actually very beneficial to spend an extended time working on a project, and by extended time, I don't me…
Yea, around my house the only acceptable time to work on programming side projects is weeknights in the few hours I get after the kiddo falls asleep. I have no plans to release any of these projects, though, mostly because my current employer forbids publishing side projects, so I'm in no rush to get anything done.
Non-programming side projects are fine, though and tend to get done on the weekend! Currently my interest is metalworking but I also like to do woodworking. This stuff is ok with a kid around because she likes to help and get involved. She's 4, so she knows the names of all the tools and can bring them to me. She likes using the shop-vac too. See, this counts as family time, whereas me concentrating and staring at a screen for hours unfortunately counts as "ignoring family" time. :-/
Re: Ask HN: How much time per week do you spend on side projects?
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm interested in woodworking but also afraid I'm going to maim myself.
Maiming one's self in woodworking only happens through incredible stupidity or carelessness. If you keep focused on what you're doing and make sure that you're following basic safety rules, you'll probably be fine. Accidents do happen of course, but as with programming, there are safeguards that can prevent them (for instance, the guards and backstops on a table saw prevent your work piece from getting rocketed back…
Table saw is going to be, by a huge margin, the most dangerous tool in most amateur woodworker shops. You need to exercise great care and respect around power tools, but the table saw requires particular care. All tools, power and non-power can be used safely, but you need to learn and internalize shop safety practices. My dad taught wood shop in school so I got a good boost by being immersed with shop safety from a very young age, but anyone can learn the right habits.
Start with hand tools while you're learning the basics. Get good eye and ear protection--don't skimp. Learn how to sand. Ease your way into power tools as you find you need them. I wouldn't start out in woodworking by filling my garage with $10K worth of power tools right off the bat.