Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 372 posts

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

#181

Post by mnault000 »

You know, I went through this a while ago. As a side idea, I always wanted 1) an online double-entry accounting system (so i could update my bookkeeping from anywhere in the world). And 2) I needed a self-hosted site where I could put anything from my kid's photos to my tax records.. ONE PLACE to look for anything. You can see my site here: http://parallax.dns-cloud.net/praetorian/

My point is, go slowly. Just like a game you enjoy playing but get fed up after too long, put it aside; knowing you'll come back in a while with a renewed drive :) Cheers!

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

#183

Post by [deleted] »

vishnuvis wrote: post #46

I faced this. Start a website then lose it because I would be losing interest in few weeks. The thing which I followed is to fix my routine. Joined a Gym, it helped a lot on focusing on things & made me mentally strong. Take off time, started travelling & took a long break & then get back to work. A step closer to nature made me fresh & met people who are really working hard despite the lack of resources. This made m…

[deleted]

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

#184

Post by droobles »

I was torn between making a game, or making something to aid my musical endeavors.

I liked the idea of making a game, but as an adult I don't get to play that much. When I do, I play older games that stoke my nostalgia (JRPGs).

I play in an active punk band, and am a self admitted pedal addict.

I decided to go with music, because that's what I spend most of my passion time doing. Currently working on a really cool music related side project and couldn't be happier.

Also, I think scope has a big part to play. A video game is a huge endeavor that could take 5+ years developing solo, and most of my audio programming ideas might take 2+ weeks.

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

#185

Post by cientifico »

After years of suffering the same problem, I found (so far) a solution that more or less works for me. Assigns days to projects. Max of 5 projects. The most important thing is: Don't work in the project unless it's the day. If there is a need, add it to the backlog of the project.

My curve of interest gets reduce over a day. After one week of not working, it is restore.

Curious if this works out to someone else.

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

#186

Post by pmontra »

Self social engineering: tell everybody about it so you're going to lose face if you drop it without a good reason. This doesn't mean you cannot drop a project every week or two, but you must accomplish at least something before doing it or discover it's a dead end. And if you succeed people will cheer you.

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

#187

Post by droobles »

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…

This speaks to me on an almost spiritual level, I need to get this book!

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

#188

Post by matt_the_bass »

How do you perform in your day job? Do you have the same indecision or are you productive? If your productive at work, then perhaps consider what you are looking to achieve in a side project.

For me, my side projects are for fun and intellectual exploration. I’ve been making art-piece wordclocks as gifts and sell a few occasionally. This is totally orthogonal to my day job. The orthogonally is what I really crave. It gives my mind a nice refresh.

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

#189

Post by edw519 »

1. The WHAT should be something very important to someone else.

2. The HOW should be something very important to you.

Many experts tell you that you should build something that you actually need yourself. That may be good advise for start-ups but not as good for side projects. Why? Because it's too damn easy to just give up as soon as you hit an obstacle (and you WILL hit obstacles).

But when someone else is depending on your work (and becomes a trusted collaborator), they provide you with that extra UMMPH you will undoubtedly need when the going gets tough. It's a lot harder to bail out when someone is right next to you and depending on you.

But by deciding on your own HOW you will build it, you maintain an outlet for your passion. Believe me, I know. For me the journey of building something is more fun than the anticlimactic using of the finished product.

Works all the way around. Give it a try.

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

#190

Post by blueshirt »

slothtrop wrote: post #125
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…

In Myers-Briggs they'd call that either the INTP or ENTP type. Similarly, I'm more interested in research, learning. I'm in the wrong profession.

And in Ayurveda it's called a Vata mind!
Post reply on HN