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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?

#81

Post by joelrunyon »

buckbova wrote: post #44
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.

What takes up the majority of the time in your day? Try these: * Sleep one hour less a night. * Don't drink alcohol. * Prepare all food for the week in advance. * Cut down your time from awake to shaved, showered, dressed to 15 minutes. * Work less at your day job.

Why is this downvoted? It's good advice.

The only 'controversial' one is sleep - which can vary by experience. If you're sleeping 9 hours, cutting 1 hour back to 8 shouldn't be catastrophic. If you're already only sleeping 6, then it's a different story.

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

#82

Post by ewoolery »

mijustin wrote: post #61
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.

Hey, OP here. Yup: you're right. There's constantly stuff that needs to be done. My kids are between 4-11. So we're out of diapers and potty training (which is huge). I just keep finding spaces where I can create: early mornings, late at night, or during my lunch hour. I answered this below, but basically every weekday between 5:30pm-8:30pm is family time (dinner, chores, bedtime routine). After that, I might try to…

Thanks for the article Justin, I found it inspiring! I have a 3 year old who is almost beyond diapers, and who is requiring less time to put to bed, which I already see giving me more time for side projects. I've also found setting artificial constraints to side projects helps (to your point #1)...in my case, I set a goal of finishing 6 side projects in 6 months, each taking less than six hours (6x6x6: https://medium.com/design-startups/b602270880fd ); I got a bit stalled at the 5th project after taking a teaching job in addition to my startup gigs, but am still hoping to finish soon (may become 6x16(mo)x6).

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

#84

Post by Jemaclus »

ChristianMarks wrote: post #83

I made the decision not to get married or have children so that I would have time for side projects. Unfortunately, single people are often expected to stay later to enable those with family obligations to leave earlier.

Screw that. It's not my fault you settled down and knocked up your partner. If we have the same level of responsibility, we work similar hours. Done.

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

#85

Post by Sakes »

Try and get an hour before work in, or an hour right after work. I like to sit at a coffee shop or a bar for this. Then finding some weekend time should be trivial.

It's a marathon not a race, well, at least for many of us.

Edit: Oh yes, and there is always 15-30 mins you can squeeze in at lunch breaks.

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

#86

Post by Jemaclus »

I leave my house 90 minutes before I'm due at work. It takes me between 15 and 30 minutes to get to work, depending on traffic and public transportation. Instead of going into the office, I go into a coffee shop around the corner and write for 45-60 minutes, and then head up into the office.

I've managed to keep this up for 3 months straight now, and while I'm not anywhere close to being ready to publish, I've got more words written in my book(s) than I wrote in the last 3 years combined.

As another wise person once said: there's no such thing not having time -- only not making it a priority. Everything comes down to priorities. Do you not have time to do side projects, or is making side projects not a priority for you? Make a list of everything you do in your time, and fo reverything that is a lower priority than your side project, bump it off the list. Don't do it. Do your side project instead.

Drinking with buddies less important than finishing your side project? Schedule it for another time. Is Breaking Bad less important than finishing your side project? Watch it on Netflix later.

And so on. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.

I decided a few months ago that publishing a book was one of my top priorities. What wasn't my top priority? Watching yet another episode of some TV show on Netflix. Instead of watching 3 episodes a night, I can watch 2, go to bed an hour earlier, wake up an hour earlier, and have time to write in the morning before work with zero distractions.

Works for me, anyway. Good luck.

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

#87

Post by marvin »

There is no shame in not having the time and mental energy for side projects. Working full-time is hard, and not everyone is born with the capacity to be an intellectual superhero.

It's good that some people are, but I think the relentless focus on people who achieve great, nearly superhuman things sets an unrealistic standard for the rest of us. If you can't find the time, energy, inspiration or focus to do other ambitious things on the side of your regular day job, there is no shame in that. You'll be a perfectly good person if you do your day job and fill the rest of your time with low-powered hobbies, or even mindless things like TV or reddit.

Even in Norway, with our 9-5 culture with 5 weeks of compulsory holidays and court-enforced overtime payment, it can be hard to get enough distance from things to do other stuff on the side. And it is always a question of priorities. If your time goes to your personal side projects, there will be less time and attention to maintain your health, your relationships and your family. This is simply not a question. I don't even want to think about doing this kind of thing if I was working the startup grind, or even the regular West Coast "60 hours a week".

Don't feel bad if you can't do this. Your mental health will thank you. Time and time again, I see intelligent people display a focus and ambition which almost merits an OCD diagnosis. Many of us should take a step back and investigate what we really want to do. If your side projects are important enough, take a part-time position instead of trying to fit it in alongside your full-time job.

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

#88

Post by fhd2 »

Wow, not bad. I've got 2 small kids, but 4 kids sound like a different level, kids don't scale in my experience.

I'm approaching my side projects strikingly similar, got just one thing to add: Time not spent physically working on projects can still be spent working on projects. I routinely solve both technical and non-technical problems I'm facing in my projects after thinking them through during a walk with the boys, or chores. I enjoy and treasure the time with them, but spending time with toddlers doesn't seem to require my full mental capacity.

That said, I'm doing this not because I think I ought to have side projects just for the sake of it. I'm doing it because this is my best shot at building the future I want to have for me and my family.

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

#89

Post by mindcrime »

I can tell you how I do it, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend my path to anyone else. I'm not even 100% sure I'd recommend it to a younger version of myself, although I'm also not sure I'd recommend against it either.

Basically, I'm single and childless, and darn close to my every free minute goes into the startup project. When I was working full-time, that meant "after work" M-F and the majority of my Sat and Sun. hours. I make an exception during football season to watch the Dolphins game on Sunday (yeah, yeah, go ahead, say it... I'm a glutton for punishment).

I force myself to take a break every once in a while and read a novel or watch a movie or something... but truth be told, lately, even when I watch movies or something, there's an angle related to the startup. For example, I've been reading and studying a lot about sales lately, and I've seen more than one sales book mention "be like Columbo".

I had kinda wanted to rewatch some old Columbo episodes anyway (yeah, I'm old, deal with it) so I've been watching Columbo and thinking about "how do you apply his attitude / approach to this 'diagnostic business development' thing"? And the movies I make time for tend to be ones that I find inspirational (Rocky, The Karate Kid, Rad, etc.) that help keep me motivated.

About 6 months ago, I dropped down from full-time status to part-time status at my regular job to free up more time for the startup. I had a little bit of money saved, but not enough to quit outright... luckily the owner of the company was willing to be flexible and let me do that. I've pretty much burned through my savings though, and we aren't profitable yet, so I'm going back to working full-time next month.

These days I forgo most social activities like dating, parties, and most non-technical social events. I rarely mountain bike anymore, and almost never set foot in the gym. I bailed on going home to see my parents for Christmas so I could use those few days of "down time" as recovery time. I stay amped up on more caffeine than could possibly be healthy, and do everything I can to the tune of heavy-metal[1] or hard-rock of some sort. My mantra right now is "Caffeine, heavy-metal and adrenaline". \m/

I know, I know... you're thinking "dude, you must be miserable". Nah... I enjoy this in a certain sense, and since I'm 40 now, and haven't achieved anything yet, my mindset now is to say "fuck it" and go for broke. It's now or never, ya know? My mindset is to achieve the biggest and most ambitious of my dreams, or - when life finally breaks me - pull a Leaving Las Vegas deal and go to Vegas and try to drink myself to death.

Do not try this at home...

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQQcOQsCFnw

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

#90

Post by ChristianMarks »

Jemaclus wrote: post #84
ChristianMarks wrote: post #83

I made the decision not to get married or have children so that I would have time for side projects. Unfortunately, single people are often expected to stay later to enable those with family obligations to leave earlier.

Screw that. It's not my fault you settled down and knocked up your partner. If we have the same level of responsibility, we work similar hours. Done.

While I too look forward to the impartial application of policy, employers have their own interpretation of who, in fact, is "done." I have bolted from less than mutually beneficial working arrangement, myself.
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