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Finishing a side project

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Re: Finishing a side project

#101

Post by sime2009 »

Here is some simple advice for sustaining a side project over a long period of time.

1)

Work on it consistently. Ideally, work on it every day. It doesn't have to be a big block of 2 hours each day, browsing through bug reports for 10 minutes can also be enough. But it has to be consistent.

The benefits are:

* It keeps the project fresh in your mind and ready to go. No time wasted on figured out where you were at the start of each session.

* It avoids the that demotivating feeling of guilt that may creep in when you think that you've neglected your project, or once again "started something, but not finished".

* It provides a consistent sense or forward progress which helps generate motivation.

2)

"Motivation" is a resource which needs to be managed. Projects will have a mix of interesting tasks (motivation generating) and dull tasks (motivation consuming) tasks. Be aware of this, and mix these two types of tasks so that you don't bottom out on motivation. Developing some self-knowledge of how you work as a person pays off here too.

Demotivating tasks can also be chipped away at by working on them a little bit per day over a longer period of time. Consistency is the key here too!

Re: Finishing a side project

#102

Post by losthobbies »

woutr_be wrote: post #45
wolco wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like working on something full time is what motivates you. To get people to pay for anything is usually a different side project. If you can't see the path to profit no one probably will pay. Find people who will pay and use that as motivation and product guidance.

My ultimate goal (like many) is to have a lifestyle business, or at the very least, be able to work full time on my project. I think thinking that people won't pay for it has more to do with self doubt and lack of confidence in myself.

Is it in a state that you could release it? Maybe some feedback might give you motivation or direction to keep going.

Re: Finishing a side project

#103

Post by raister »

bbx wrote: post #60
ramraj07 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great that works for you, but your argument sounds akin to asking why someone couldn't score high on the exam when you did. Different people, different motivations. I relate more to the OP than you. Just saying "be disciplined" doesn't help. This isn't the army, it's a voluntary side project I want to do when I can be watching Netflix.

I don’t think it’s fair to believe I’m just saying “Be disciplined” when I explain how to manage your time. I do watch Netflix too. But it’s time boxed during the day, the same way working on projects is. And in a day, I don’t work more than 6 hours. I’m always done by 6pm and can do anything in the evening. The key is to manage your time during the day and stick to a plan. As a matter of fact, OP’s rules feel more l…

That's interesting. I saw once Timothy Feriss interviewing Neil Gaiman, and it was about focus and whatnot, and Gaiman said: "whenever I'm blocked, I stop, and start doing nothing. I can't watch a movie, read a book, I do nothing. I have only two options: I work or I do nothing - I cannot do anything else. After a little while, things get really boring, and I think 'might as well go back to work' - and that works as a charm.".

I guess that's a very good way of setting your focus straight, to obey your commands, instead of the other way around.

Re: Finishing a side project

#104

Post by ramraj07 »

raister wrote: post #103
bbx wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think it’s fair to believe I’m just saying “Be disciplined” when I explain how to manage your time. I do watch Netflix too. But it’s time boxed during the day, the same way working on projects is. And in a day, I don’t work more than 6 hours. I’m always done by 6pm and can do anything in the evening. The key is to manage your time during the day and stick to a plan. As a matter of fact, OP’s rules feel more l…

That's interesting. I saw once Timothy Feriss interviewing Neil Gaiman, and it was about focus and whatnot, and Gaiman said: "whenever I'm blocked, I stop, and start doing nothing . I can't watch a movie, read a book, I do nothing. I have only two options: I work or I do nothing - I cannot do anything else. After a little while, things get really boring, and I think 'might as well go back to work' - and that works as…

I used to do that technique for studying for the GRE. And it worked like a charm for sure (aside: Barron's GRE word list had the word dly as meaning lazy in 2007 still. I was a kid in India but even to me it sounded wrong). Neil's full time work is to write. I'm sure this is what he does 9-5 or whenever he writes profesdionally. I doubt he just sits without doing nothing in the weekend when he could be playing with his kids. Thats the issue. If I was demotivated to do this in my day job that's one thing. Motivating yourself for extra work is where it's hard.

Re: Finishing a side project

#105

Post by Darkstryder »

In the past five years, I've had several side-projects that were never "finished" in the literal sense, but taught me important things that helped me ace job interviews, getting me two jobs that I probably wouldn't have got otherwise.

At some point I had a mental shift and decided that a side-project that doesn't get finished but gets me a new job is a huge success and not a failure.

This had a big impact in me continuing to explore new personal projects as long as I can learn something interesting from them.

Re: Finishing a side project

#107

Post by tobyhinloopen »

awinter-py wrote: post #66
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are used to put what we have done in git messages. But for WIP commits, it makes sense to also put what to do next. This way git log is your journal.

totally I've had people get mad at me for 'nextup' comments in commits, but at minimum, given how central git is to our workflow, the commit is the right time to track work

I usually write my progress and “what’s next” in the issue. Not saying it’s better or worse

Re: Finishing a side project

#108

Post by m-i-l »

I've found that quite simply writing about a side project can be enough to help "finish" it. There's something almost cathartic about the process of writing up and publishing. It isn't about other people reading what you have written, and personally I don't mind if no-one else does actually read it. Rather, it is about gathering your thoughts on your objectives and how it has turned out, documenting it so it is left in a state where it would be a lot easier to pick up at a later date, and that sense of finality or closure (it means that, if nothing else, I at least got it complete enough to write about and also completed the writeup).

Re: Finishing a side project

#109

Post by fimdomeio »

Personally one of the highest motivators to finish a side project is not doing it alone. My mindset automatically changes from focusing on perfection, to focus on it being viable. It's launched, there's a defined plan to make it work long term. Guess I'm ok with failure if it only affects me (also because it's never a failure, it's training, it's fun...), not if it affects others.

Re: Finishing a side project

#110

Post by rukshn »

bbx wrote: post #52

If you need to go to a café and create a new user for each new side project, you’re not gonna work a lot. I understand needing separate contexts for separate projects but this seems like overkill. The context is in your mind, not your environment. I have my share of past and ongoing side projects, including hobby websites [1], funny tutorials [2], an ebook [2], coding references [4] and a CSS framework [5]. Like the…

First of all thank you for creating bulma. I love using it and I use it for all my projects. And for me it’s much better than bootstrap because it doesn’t come with any js

I never knew you are doing so many things apart from bulma. Please keep bulma active. Thanks for the insights.

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