Ask HN: How can I pick a side project and stick with it? • Hacker News Board

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

#241

Post by RMPR » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #189

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 dependin…

I second this, for my current side project, I felt like giving up many times, but the thought that someone is depending on my work made me continue.

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

#242

Post by toohotatopic » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

Do you have the determination to read all those answers and identify the true ones? How do you know which ones are true? Finishing projects is the natural state of mind. The reason why you don't finish is the idea that is most repulsive to you, the idea that you try to avoid the strongest.

On the other hand, a comment can also be repulsive because the idea is really bad. How do you know the difference?

That said, my advice to you is: _pick a customer_. Why would you write a graphical solitaire game but for the joy of programming. However, that joy doesn't need a target, there is no need to finish.

If you write something for somebody else, you are out of the loop of questioning what you like best. Then you are free to pursue that goal without being distracted by the whims of your desires.

When you choose your customer and the project, maintain the basics, especially: pick an achievable goal.

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

#243

Post by gavanwoolery » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:07 PM UTC

I have a graveyard filled to the brim with side projects, and just ONE project that I keep coming back to (I have been working on it for 20 years). Its getting to the point where I do fewer side projects because I understand there is only one that is worth working on. In the past decade, I only had two smaller side projects.

The secret for me is to work on the hardest, most interesting problems. This is not good business advice - mind that. But you are probably doing side projects to get away from the boredom of the thing that actually earns you money.

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

#244

Post by RMPR » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:07 PM UTC

alexmuro wrote: post #219

The best thing that you can do to give a project legs is to get other people involved. Even if you don't have someone who can work on coding with you, just sharing it and enrolling other people in your vision for a project is the number one way to give you the motivation to continue working on it.

This is true, the feeling that someone is depending on your work can give you the necessary boost to actually finish, or at least reach a polished enough version.

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

#245

Post by outworlder » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:08 PM UTC

su8898 wrote: post #229

My problem is quite the opposite. I am able to finish a side project but I lack ideas.

Please write down any ideas you may have, at any time. It's rare that an idea will come the moment you sit down with a blank screen staring at you.

I've talking to emailing myself with a specific subject every time I have an idea. Doesn't matter how silly it is. I'll revisit them in a month and sift through. Some still remain silly, some will be upgraded given new knowledge.

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

#246

Post by rohansuri » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:08 PM UTC

For me I can only keep up my interest in a side project if I know something like that doesn't exist. I've found reading new research papers and implementing them to be fulfilling.

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

#247

Post by RMPR » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:09 PM UTC

themdonuts wrote: post #196

Get people using it. Period. Result: with every user interaction you will get a refreshment of motivation. I've done it for 5 years. Long version: I was all about starting projects and never finishing, until one day I actually put one online and started spreading the word through discussion boards. So step 1) Launch and spread the word. You get 1 thing out of this immediately: you WILL finish it to the bare minimum,…

> Get people using it. Period.

This is a good TL;DR

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

#248

Post by andrecarini » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:10 PM UTC

bmelton wrote: post #146

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…

> If you are no longer interested in a project you started, maybe you already got what you came for This line alone got me to go buy the book. As someone who's constantly churning through ideas, and who feels afflicted by ADHD just enough to worry about it but not quite enough to actually think I have it, I've found myself abandoning a bunch of projects when at a 'mostly done' state. Generally, I tackle the interesti…

> I'm probably not the guy that would have devised a strong marketing plan, beat doors down or cold-called for sales

Ever considered pairing up with someone from a nontechnical background?

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

#249

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:11 PM UTC

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 seems to be answering "how can I stick with a side project?" with "you don't need to." Maybe it's good advice, but OP specifically emphasized asking folks how to finish.

> Has anyone else experienced this, and, more importantly, found their way out? How?

[emphasis mine]

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

#250

Post by RMPR » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:13 PM UTC

swiley wrote: post #23

Maybe work on personal discipline, also I’ve noticed with myself that sometimes a lack of motivation can be confused with a lack of understanding. The more you practice your tools the longer you’ll go before you get badly blocked and give up, eventually you’ll have projects that you can hack on for years. Here’s what worked for me: 1) pick a language (it doesn’t matter, C, python, ocaml) and just start writing small…

The point 3 really helped me to see some improvements. When I complete those little tasks in the morning, I get the necessary boost to get the next things done.