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Where do you find the time for side projects?

justinjackson.ca

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Re: Where do you find the time for side projects?

#131

Post by lxt »

As mentioned in the article, give up useless timekilling activities (TV, Facebook, etc).

The other big thing for me is cache warming. If you are doing non-mental activities such as showering or driving, use that time to plan what you're going to do next on your project. Pre-solve the problem: write the code, book, whatever, in your head. When you have free time - even if it's only fifteen minutes - dump the contents of your brain into your laptop. Don't spend that fifteen minutes thinking "where was I?" Do that in advance, and maximize your output in short stretches of time.

This approach is literally magical for me.

Re: Where do you find the time for side projects?

#132

Post by lxt »

will_work4tears wrote: post #51
trustfundbaby wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the only answer. Back when I was trying to build a prototype to try to get some angel investment. I kept trying to find time to hack on the project, unsuccessfully. It wasn't till I set myself a hard schedule that it fell into place for me. I'd wake up at 6, go to the gym for 2 hours. Be showered and ready to go to work by 9. In at work at 9:30. Out by 6-6:30. Home by 7. then I'd allow myself just 1 hour of T…

I don't see anywhere in there that you suggested you have kids or are married, so forgive me if I'm assuming here. Being married by itself is a huge drain on time, though maybe not as much as dating, there is more leeway given. However, throw in a toddler, and a small commute, and here's what my schedule looks like: Up at 4:30am, leave for work at 5:30, get there at 6 am. Work until 3-3:30 or so, go home and (M/W/F:…

Some ideas, from one with a small child:

Lunch breaks are great for side projects, even if you have to go work in your car in the parking lot, or the cafe down the street.

Also, if your commute is via or can be via public transportation, or a car pool, you can work on that.

See if you can get up at 4.30 on weekends as well. I bet your spouse and child don't, so it's an instant extra couple of hours.

Hope that helps.

Re: Where do you find the time for side projects?

#133

Post by [deleted] »

300bps wrote: post #56
latj wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dont know if I buy it completely. When you have a full time job and 4 kids you dont play video games, watch tv, etc... you just constantly do things that have to be done. Either his kids are older or he has someone else doing most of the parent work.

Either his kids are older or he has someone else doing most of the parent work. I have a full time job (40 hours per week), 3 kids under 10 and a side consulting job that takes from 15 to 20 hours per week where I make about an extra $80k per year on top of my full time gig. I also take my 3 kids to their basketball games, karate, cheerleading, baseball, soccer, lego mindstorms club, etc and help them practice each o…

[deleted]

Re: Where do you find the time for side projects?

#135

Post by ecaradec »

nine_k wrote: post #26

My problem is not that I don't have 2 spare hours a day. The problem is this time is severely fragmented , with 15 or 20 minutes being the largest fragment. Working on code takes some concentration which is hard to attain in 30-60 seconds; it's closer to 10-15 minutes, but then the time is up.

I used to work 30 minutes every morning on side projects. I did it for 2-3 years. It wasn't hard to get focus as long as I did it every day. It worked as long as I did it every day. Reserving a slot of time for working allowed me to not feel guilty of watching tv, going out... I felt good about having done what I wanted and knew there would be 30 minutes again the next day. Here are a few things that helped me :

- Keeping a todo list on a paper under my keyboard to start quickly.

- Reserve larger things that takes time like refactoring for the week-end (2-3 hours ).

- I tried to use the same technologies I used at work to avoid learning time.

- I asked my wife to avoid asking me things at that time

Re: Where do you find the time for side projects?

#136

Post by ChristianMarks »

seestheday wrote: post #128
fhd2 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe parents are just more likely to have the guts to stand up to this kind of abuse. You're expected to work overtime? Refuse. Quit. There are no other healthy options. I do occasionally work overtime, but it's my own choice, and I get the time back when things cool down again. Becoming a father didn't change my approach one bit.

This. When I became a parent the decision to say know got easier to make. I didn't really notice a difference in what was asked of me. I just wouldn't put up with shut anymore. My time became wayyyy too important. Literally every extra minute at work was a minute I wasn't raising my son to be awesome.

This--makes it all the more difficult for childless employees.
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