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Ask HN: How do you find time for pet projects?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you find time for pet projects?

#21

Post by itsjoeco »

In the Navy we knew that about 10% of the people did about 50% of the work. If you needed something done quickly, you would assign it to the busiest person. Having kids and a full time job forces me to be really efficient and effective when I'm able to devote time to my project (Gramicon.com).

It also forces me to approach spending/building decisions differently. I might solve a problem with my site's code in 5 hours where an educated and experienced programmer or designer could do the same in 5 minutes. Thanks to elance and github, the ability to have others asynchronously work on your project has never been greater.

I think that people who have said it depends on your circumstances (ie: demands on your time) are completely right, but it also depends on your passion for your project. If you want to do the work and make your project a success you will find a way to do so, otherwise it doesn't really matter how much free time you have because it won't get done.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find time for pet projects?

#23

Post by hnwh »

throwit1979 wrote: post #15
sergiotapia wrote: post #12

Married, two children. I find myself wishing the days lasted 36 hours instead of 24. :P I have a full time job as well and do not have the time for pet projects. After work I get home and have some family time until it's bed time. Then my wife watches some TV while I work for about 1 hour tops. As you know, 1 hour is NOTHING when developing. I take at least 45 minutes to get into a groove and ultimately I do nothing…

Serious question, not trolling. Why did you make the choice to have a family, then?

is this really your "not-trolling" for monday?

Re: Ask HN: How do you find time for pet projects?

#25

Post by xoail »

matthuggins wrote: post #19
xoail wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please reduce your commute time to < 30mins. Even if it costs you $1k/month more. I did this, and now I have more time and energy to do more of what I want to do.

I am planning to as soon as our lease expires, but unfortunately that's not for another 10 months. :)

Break the lease. Gotta take some risks.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find time for pet projects?

#26

Post by sergiotapia »

throwit1979 wrote: post #15
sergiotapia wrote: post #12

Married, two children. I find myself wishing the days lasted 36 hours instead of 24. :P I have a full time job as well and do not have the time for pet projects. After work I get home and have some family time until it's bed time. Then my wife watches some TV while I work for about 1 hour tops. As you know, 1 hour is NOTHING when developing. I take at least 45 minutes to get into a groove and ultimately I do nothing…

Serious question, not trolling. Why did you make the choice to have a family, then?

I didn't make that choice, it just happened. I don't regret it one bit, if that's the way my previous message came across. I'm just saying that I wish I had more time to work on some ideas I have. But I'll do that once they both enter school in the next couple of years.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find time for pet projects?

#27

Post by phatbyte »

I also have a full time job as developer. I don't have kids, but I live with my GF which is almost as being married when it comes to having time for each other.

Fortunately for me, my girlfriend works as a nurse and has lots of afternoon/night shifts, which is great for me so I can dedicate myself to some pet projects.

However it's not easy, it's very complicated to explain to her that "I don't want to go out because I'm working on this bug...".

So you have to balance your life a little more, instead of taking 2 months to complete your project, maybe it will take 3 months. And that's fine for me. Some times can be a good thing to get away of your project and come back a week later with a fresh mind, it makes you actually want to work.

With that said, after 6 months with lots of interruptions including holidays I was able to complete my app http://codebugapp.com/ , I just released last week.

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