Depends what the goal of the project is. If the side project is for learning purposes then taking time to explore different approaches is OK. If your side pro

Depends what the goal of the project is. If the side project is for learning purposes then taking time to explore different approaches is OK. If your side project goal is to build a product, then you should approach it as a more traditional project, budgeting your time, and focusing on time-sensitive tradeoffs, etc.