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Side projects I've built since 2009

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Re: Side projects I've built since 2009

#91

Post by parpfish »

radlad wrote: post #56
90s_dev wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wish I had this energy again. I used to think my youthful energy was gone forever. Then about 3 months ago I had an idea for a project I truly believed in. I was able to write code for 16 hours straight, day after day, for most of the last 3 months. And it's not exhausting, it's rejuvenating . I feel like a young man again, despite my gray hairs! (I was planning on releasing it today actually, but this weekend I…

Careful not to fall into the trap of never releasing - it can always be better.

Or not?

If his joy comes from endlessly coding and refactoring and tinkering, just have fun doing that.

Not every side project needs to turn into a side product

Re: Side projects I've built since 2009

#92

Post by bigyabai »

immibis wrote: post #90
PaulRobinson wrote: post #18

I wish I had this energy again. I've got a list of side projects to get on with. I've made little progress in the last year, and suspect its burn out to blame - I'm just constantly exhausted. I think if you have the energy, this is awesome fun. It might even get to the point where one of them makes some decent income. But if you don't, like me, just realise that there is a reason for that, and it's OK. You need rest…

I've diagnosed myself with a lack of motivation, not a lack of energy. (Which is also what "burnout" refers to, by the way) I could, in theory, spend six months writing Uber for dogs. But why would I? That hardly feels worth it. Or I could try to implement AF_ONION in the Linux kernel. Also doesn't really feel motivating. Or (let me check the list) port libsodium to WUFFS. Write a framework for interactive tablet app…

It sounds like you're a little too focused on metrics of success. Something can be "worth it" if it works well and nobody but you uses it. If you look at everything through the lens of opportunity cost, you'll be kicking yourself for not curing cancer. It's okay to work on an unambitious, likely unsuccessful side project. That time is only "wasted" if you're not proud of the work and can't show it to future employers.

Re: Side projects I've built since 2009

#94

Post by 90s_dev »

parpfish wrote: post #91
radlad wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Careful not to fall into the trap of never releasing - it can always be better.

Or not? If his joy comes from endlessly coding and refactoring and tinkering, just have fun doing that. Not every side project needs to turn into a side product

That's actually all it was in the beginning. Just writing code for fun. But the more code I wrote, the more it evolved into an app that demands to be released, especially since the nature of it is to be a platform, SDK, and API for others.

Re: Side projects I've built since 2009

#95

Post by immibis »

bigyabai wrote: post #92
immibis wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've diagnosed myself with a lack of motivation, not a lack of energy. (Which is also what "burnout" refers to, by the way) I could, in theory, spend six months writing Uber for dogs. But why would I? That hardly feels worth it. Or I could try to implement AF_ONION in the Linux kernel. Also doesn't really feel motivating. Or (let me check the list) port libsodium to WUFFS. Write a framework for interactive tablet app…

It sounds like you're a little too focused on metrics of success. Something can be "worth it" if it works well and nobody but you uses it. If you look at everything through the lens of opportunity cost, you'll be kicking yourself for not curing cancer. It's okay to work on an unambitious, likely unsuccessful side project. That time is only "wasted" if you're not proud of the work and can't show it to future employers…

I'm not focused on any particular metric other than motivation here.

I'm sure some things on my ideas list could make a bunch of money - like taking some SaaS everyone hates because it's enshittified, making one that's not enshittified yet, then selling it to an enshittification company in a few years for a big payout. You'd think the possibility of money would be motivating, but it's not.

I do have unsuccessful side projects that I do sometimes work on, and I'm not motivated to finish them to any substantial degree either.

Re: Side projects I've built since 2009

#96

Post by cjbgkagh »

90s_dev wrote: post #86
cjbgkagh wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been doing my ‘side’ project as my day job for 5 years, 10 productive hours a day, 7 days a week. Sunday is dedicated to side side projects for experimental ideas that are not on the critical path. When working a normal job I could only work part time due to burnout that I later found out was in reality ME/CFS. After a Covid vaccine injury (long covid) I had to pause work for a few years while I found a way to t…

> burnout that I later found out was in reality ME/CFS In my experience, burnout is really just a subconscious realization that what you're doing is just not worth doing , even for large amounts of money, and it manifests itself in fatigue or pain, because your mind is trying to stop you.

100% not true in my case and probably not true in the generally case, it’s a common misattribution. The cause of mine is hEDS which has ME/CFS as a comorbidity. I’ve done a WGS and found that I have 2 TNXB SNPs. By my math a lot of ‘burnout’ especially in tech is related to TNXB or CYP21A2 SNPs. The treatments that I take specifically targets IL-1B cytokines that are linked to brain fog.

I was able to predict that I had these SNPs before taking the WGS test and once confirmed able to divise a treatment that worked. The probability of that happing by random chance is incredibly small.

Re: Side projects I've built since 2009

#97

Post by hiAndrewQuinn »

wtf242 wrote: post #75

that's awesome! I've had many many side projects launched in the past 2 decades, but the only one still going is my books site https://thegreatestbooks.org I created it 17~ years ago mostly as just a tool for myself and now it gets roughly 8 million views a month. The hardest part of any side project is actually launching it and making it somewhat production ready. I always spend the vast majority of my time dealing…

This is the last that got me into Marquez, excellent work.

Re: Side projects I've built since 2009

#98

Post by patcon »

90s_dev wrote: post #82
PaulRobinson wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congrats on finding something like that, and can't wait to see the Show HN thread! What do you think made it something you could believe in? Was it the opportunity, that it aligned with something you were personally interested in or something else? I had a project a few years ago that was a bit like that. I'd be coding it up every hour I could find around the day job, and loved it. Perhaps I need to reflect on that s…

Thanks! It's hard to know exactly why. What I do know is that I'm surprised week after week with breakthroughs I never dreamed possible and which I think other people will find very useful, and these each renew my excitement.

I don't suppose you're using LLMs for coding? The number of my older friends who've found energy for side-projects since LLM coding became a thing is very notable

In the most extreme case: a new father of twins just uses his IDE and home projector to put up the work on the wall and builds little things by voice and reading, as he's home with his daughters. It's pretty eye-opening.

Obviously, he won't want to divide his attention so obviously in the near future, but he's the sort who will likely be making things with and for them very early -- I imagine it will be like kids spending lots of time growing up in their father's woodshop.

Re: Side projects I've built since 2009

#99

Post by aaronbaugher »

patcon wrote: post #98
90s_dev wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! It's hard to know exactly why. What I do know is that I'm surprised week after week with breakthroughs I never dreamed possible and which I think other people will find very useful, and these each renew my excitement.

I don't suppose you're using LLMs for coding? The number of my older friends who've found energy for side-projects since LLM coding became a thing is very notable In the most extreme case: a new father of twins just uses his IDE and home projector to put up the work on the wall and builds little things by voice and reading, as he's home with his daughters. It's pretty eye-opening. Obviously, he won't want to divide h…

I'm not using an LLM for programming (at least not yet), but I'm using it for business planning, estimating target audiences, summarizing research, etc. All stuff I could do myself, and that I have to verify, but it saves time. More importantly, it's making some work more interesting that was previously too tedious to ever get started on. Maybe that benefit will wear off for me once it's not novel anymore, I don't know.

Re: Side projects I've built since 2009

#100

Post by bluedino »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #18

I wish I had this energy again. I've got a list of side projects to get on with. I've made little progress in the last year, and suspect its burn out to blame - I'm just constantly exhausted. I think if you have the energy, this is awesome fun. It might even get to the point where one of them makes some decent income. But if you don't, like me, just realise that there is a reason for that, and it's OK. You need rest…

I think it's more the drive or the interest, instead of the energy.

I miss walking out of Borders with a PHP book dreaming of the websites I would build, or walking out of Best Buy with a iPad, imagining new games to create.

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