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Of course it is. People are different. I personally enjoy having personal projects that are somewhat related to work, and help me develop a skill that I will m

by Ballas 7y ago

Of course it is. People are different. I personally enjoy having personal projects that are somewhat related to work, and help me develop a skill that I will most likely need in a couple of months for work. It also takes a lot of stress off work and makes it more enjoyable when you have experience in something before you need it. But I understand that other people might require less exercise than I do.

marcyb5st 7y ago
How do you keep yourself motivated? I tried that many times, but in the end I abandon a lot of these side projects. I might have a jolt of good-will when starting, but when that fades I come home from work with my brain semi-fried and feel like engaging in mindless activities or some sport.
- PaulRobinson 7y ago
  You just haven't found the right side-project yet. If you don't feel motivated to work on it, don't work on it. It's better for your mental health to just not do the work if you don't want to - it's not like chores or getting some exercise.
- scarface74 7y ago
  See my reply above. Another advantage of doing “personal work projects” - projects that no one asked for but would be useful - is that you have a built in audience and you know other people will be looking at it. You can also put it down in your review and on your resume. Someone is going to value it. Either your current employee or a future employee.
- iSnow 7y ago
  I don't care a lot about the graveyard of abandoned projects I have created - I love the the dopamine release of starting the next world-domination project. But I also contribute to existing open-source projects, and that is code that hopefully will stay. I find working in an existing project really gives you a different perspective - you work towards a release, you coordinate with other people, you see different coding styles...
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  I don't know what will work for you but here are a couple of things that helped me find the time/energy to work on side projects. The first was taking more breaks at work so I don't get to that fried point. I think if you're fried it's almost impossible to enjoy coding outside of work. The second was writing down the next step at a granular enough level for each of my side projects I could accomplish the next task in 15-30 minutes. Third breaking up working on the side projects with a hobby. For me it's starcraft, but could be chess, watching a show or listening to music. I've noticed I can do 15 minutes of coding without winding back up into work mode. Also purposefully having very low expectations of how much I'll accomplish each night. Tonight was literally submitting an empty csv to kaggle, and getting some data (any data) saved in my mobile app. Have a bunch of side projects. I noticed that if I have 5-6 side projects the probability I want to work on at least one of them is higher. Hit a sticking point on the machine vision projects maybe make some progress on that mobile app, not in the mood for that then I'll test out that new web framework I've been meaning to try out.
  - marcyb5st 7y ago
    Thank you for sharing! Seems reasonable enough. Will definitely try more breaks at work!
- meheleventyone 7y ago
  I recently started a hobby project that I've managed to keep going for a while after doing no programming at home for years. I think these things have helped. I work remotely from home so don't end the day feeling nearly as fried as I did in an office environment. I also feel more productive in my job. I sketched out some days to be "hobby project days" and if I'm feeling anyway capable of working on it will drag out my laptop and do something for an hour or so. Then on other days I will do something else or rest. I think this relaxed schedule is helpful because you'll at least consider the project on those days. I borrow a pattern from my working life and keep a todo list which also acts as a done list. Moving things from todo to done is a little motivation boost. I also keep a very small diary talking about what I've done. I don't sweat missing days if I'm tired, ill, stressed out or want a break. I'm doing this for fun.
  - Ballas 7y ago
    Great answer! Todo lists that turn into progress logs are invaluable in many parts of life!
- Ballas 7y ago
  That part is hard. I suggest starting small and creating something you want to use. My side projects usually involve a great deal of hardware design, with some sort of challenge in SW. Once you have created the hardware, having something physical to remind me of the end-goal helps a lot. I have a lot of abandoned projects as well, but I try to at least choose the project so that I learn/relearn/practice something that interests me. That way, even abandoned projects have value.
- sime2009 7y ago
  The most important thing for sustaining a long term programming side project is to work on regularly, ideally every day even if it is just for 10 minutes. This keeps the current state and the next step of your project fresh in your mind which makes it much easier to pick up each day. You avoid that "now where was I exactly?" hump. It also means that you're making constant progress, even if that progress is slow. And it also mitigates any enthusiasm sapping guilt you may develop because you've started that project but have ignored it for too long.
- marcyb5st 7y ago
  Thanks all for the answers! I didn't reply to each one, but they are greatly appreciated!
scarface74 7y ago
I kind of agree. But my “personal” project is usually a low priority or no priority work related project that I can do as a POC and then get feedback from my coworkers and manager. They will usually have suggestions to polish my ideas. We will discuss it, I’ll go back and make changes and then present it to the larger dev team. This works for new to the organization technology. For new to me tech, I’ll usually volunteer for a low risk story involving it and work extra hours until I learn it.

by Ballas 7y ago

marcyb5st 7y ago

How do you keep yourself motivated? I tried that many times, but in the end I abandon a lot of these side projects. I might have a jolt of good-will when starting, but when that fades I come home from work with my brain semi-fried and feel like engaging in mindless activities or some sport.

PaulRobinson 7y ago
You just haven't found the right side-project yet. If you don't feel motivated to work on it, don't work on it. It's better for your mental health to just not do the work if you don't want to - it's not like chores or getting some exercise.
scarface74 7y ago
See my reply above. Another advantage of doing “personal work projects” - projects that no one asked for but would be useful - is that you have a built in audience and you know other people will be looking at it. You can also put it down in your review and on your resume. Someone is going to value it. Either your current employee or a future employee.
iSnow 7y ago
I don't care a lot about the graveyard of abandoned projects I have created - I love the the dopamine release of starting the next world-domination project. But I also contribute to existing open-source projects, and that is code that hopefully will stay. I find working in an existing project really gives you a different perspective - you work towards a release, you coordinate with other people, you see different coding styles...
JamesBarney 7y ago
I don't know what will work for you but here are a couple of things that helped me find the time/energy to work on side projects. The first was taking more breaks at work so I don't get to that fried point. I think if you're fried it's almost impossible to enjoy coding outside of work. The second was writing down the next step at a granular enough level for each of my side projects I could accomplish the next task in 15-30 minutes. Third breaking up working on the side projects with a hobby. For me it's starcraft, but could be chess, watching a show or listening to music. I've noticed I can do 15 minutes of coding without winding back up into work mode. Also purposefully having very low expectations of how much I'll accomplish each night. Tonight was literally submitting an empty csv to kaggle, and getting some data (any data) saved in my mobile app. Have a bunch of side projects. I noticed that if I have 5-6 side projects the probability I want to work on at least one of them is higher. Hit a sticking point on the machine vision projects maybe make some progress on that mobile app, not in the mood for that then I'll test out that new web framework I've been meaning to try out.
- marcyb5st 7y ago
  Thank you for sharing! Seems reasonable enough. Will definitely try more breaks at work!
meheleventyone 7y ago
I recently started a hobby project that I've managed to keep going for a while after doing no programming at home for years. I think these things have helped. I work remotely from home so don't end the day feeling nearly as fried as I did in an office environment. I also feel more productive in my job. I sketched out some days to be "hobby project days" and if I'm feeling anyway capable of working on it will drag out my laptop and do something for an hour or so. Then on other days I will do something else or rest. I think this relaxed schedule is helpful because you'll at least consider the project on those days. I borrow a pattern from my working life and keep a todo list which also acts as a done list. Moving things from todo to done is a little motivation boost. I also keep a very small diary talking about what I've done. I don't sweat missing days if I'm tired, ill, stressed out or want a break. I'm doing this for fun.
- Ballas 7y ago
  Great answer! Todo lists that turn into progress logs are invaluable in many parts of life!
Ballas 7y ago
That part is hard. I suggest starting small and creating something you want to use. My side projects usually involve a great deal of hardware design, with some sort of challenge in SW. Once you have created the hardware, having something physical to remind me of the end-goal helps a lot. I have a lot of abandoned projects as well, but I try to at least choose the project so that I learn/relearn/practice something that interests me. That way, even abandoned projects have value.
sime2009 7y ago
The most important thing for sustaining a long term programming side project is to work on regularly, ideally every day even if it is just for 10 minutes. This keeps the current state and the next step of your project fresh in your mind which makes it much easier to pick up each day. You avoid that "now where was I exactly?" hump. It also means that you're making constant progress, even if that progress is slow. And it also mitigates any enthusiasm sapping guilt you may develop because you've started that project but have ignored it for too long.
marcyb5st 7y ago
Thanks all for the answers! I didn't reply to each one, but they are greatly appreciated!

scarface74 7y ago

I kind of agree. But my “personal” project is usually a low priority or no priority work related project that I can do as a POC and then get feedback from my coworkers and manager. They will usually have suggestions to polish my ideas. We will discuss it, I’ll go back and make changes and then present it to the larger dev team. This works for new to the organization technology. For new to me tech, I’ll usually volunteer for a low risk story involving it and work extra hours until I learn it.