I love programming and made it my trade.
Nowadays I rarely find energy after to work to continue on my personal projects. How do you manage to do so?
Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
1–10 of 18 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
#2I switched into hobbyist self-hosted software instead. It's not as fun, but it lets my brain rest. I guess the secret is to do the opposite of your day job as a hobby.
Re: Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
#3Sometimes it is easier to do personal projects in the morning and let that low energy feeling be the end of your work day instead :).
Re: Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
#4Sometimes it is easier to do personal projects in the morning and let that low energy feeling be the end of your work day instead :).
Yeah can second this. Always spend the premium time on premium projects. A couple hours per day is good enough.
Re: Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
#5Sometimes it is easier to do personal projects in the morning and let that low energy feeling be the end of your work day instead :).
It also happens to require significant amounts of discipline to implement :-)
Re: Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
#6Find projects that are motivating.
I mean it's ok and maybe even good if programming all day at work is enough of the thing you love before bed. You can do something else that makes artifacts like woodworking or Youtube videos or photography that's different.
It's ok and maybe even good to be multi-talented. Good luck.
Re: Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
#7Sometimes it is easier to do personal projects in the morning and let that low energy feeling be the end of your work day instead :).
this 100%
1 hour each morning when your mind is the sharpest and most ready is so much more valuable to me than 3 hours late at night when i am tired from the work of the day
Re: Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
#8Start a small project and finish it.
Re: Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
#9For me, working on a project that I feel has a high potential for success gives me the 'motivation energy' to continue writing code after already having spent hours writing code at work. It just doesn't work for me if I'm not working on something motivating.
Re: Ask HN: How to find motivation for personal projects after work?
#10Long ago, before he put is writing behind a paywall, I used to read Urban Survival week.... the one piece of advice I thought had huge merit was to put your own work ahead of any work you do for others.
Work on your project BEFORE the 9 to 5 job, not after. When you get home, rest and recover.