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I've been tracking my time in great detail as I work on various projects and I am hoping others will find this interesting!

N_A_T_E 7y ago
Impressive list of projects in parallel. I'm impressed with your drive to get so much done. My experience has led me to believe that the average person has trouble starting and actually finishing (shipping) projects. Best of luck!
sombremesa 7y ago
This was definitely an interesting read, and I'm sorry to say that I wasn't surprised with your results. I've been trying something similar, with the exception that I always immediately (within a week) found customers and handed the product to them, and abandoned the product if the response wasn't absolute euphoria. This saved me a ton of time. More importantly - I just stopped doing those kinds of projects altogether. Why? Because you should do what you enjoy. Regardless of how much money you think it can make. Wasn't that the whole point of working for yourself in the first place? If nothing comes of it, that's okay. At least you enjoyed yourself. The worst possible scenario is that you do something you're not enjoying and also don't make money - you have total control over one of those variables, as your own boss.
- ed 7y ago
  > I always immediately (within a week) found customers and handed the product to them, and abandoned the product if the response wasn't absolute euphoria How do you find customers? (I.e. people with buying power, and clearly defined unsolved problems.) Being able to do so is a pretty valuable skill!
  - sombremesa 7y ago
    Almost everyone has some buying power and some unsolved problems, the issue is that most so-called problems are tolerable to an extent that people will not pay to solve them. I haven't solved this issue, which is why I use my trial and error approach. As for finding people to share your product with, it's very easy. If you had any hypothesis behind your solution, you can guess where your customers might be - and if you just approach these people (whether online or in person, such as what the Pinterest founder did), very few will refuse to give your product a try if you offer it gratis. Getting people to pay comes after getting people to love your product, and the latter is difficult enough that if you really did it you won't have to worry about the money.
tunesmith 7y ago
That was a blast to read, as someone else with far too many side projects (also struggling with the balance between prog projects and music projects). One theory of improvement would say you should subordinate all your resources to localizing/translating that app that already has a revenue foothold, because any additional revenue would then lengthen your runway before you'd have to go back to work.
wakatime 7y ago
Have you seen https://wakatime.com https://wakatime.com? It would provide more detail into your existing tracking, and help with your goal of spending more time on productive projects.

N_A_T_E 7y ago

Impressive list of projects in parallel. I'm impressed with your drive to get so much done. My experience has led me to believe that the average person has trouble starting and actually finishing (shipping) projects. Best of luck!

sombremesa 7y ago

This was definitely an interesting read, and I'm sorry to say that I wasn't surprised with your results. I've been trying something similar, with the exception that I always immediately (within a week) found customers and handed the product to them, and abandoned the product if the response wasn't absolute euphoria. This saved me a ton of time. More importantly - I just stopped doing those kinds of projects altogether. Why? Because you should do what you enjoy. Regardless of how much money you think it can make. Wasn't that the whole point of working for yourself in the first place? If nothing comes of it, that's okay. At least you enjoyed yourself. The worst possible scenario is that you do something you're not enjoying and also don't make money - you have total control over one of those variables, as your own boss.

ed 7y ago
> I always immediately (within a week) found customers and handed the product to them, and abandoned the product if the response wasn't absolute euphoria How do you find customers? (I.e. people with buying power, and clearly defined unsolved problems.) Being able to do so is a pretty valuable skill!
- sombremesa 7y ago
  Almost everyone has some buying power and some unsolved problems, the issue is that most so-called problems are tolerable to an extent that people will not pay to solve them. I haven't solved this issue, which is why I use my trial and error approach. As for finding people to share your product with, it's very easy. If you had any hypothesis behind your solution, you can guess where your customers might be - and if you just approach these people (whether online or in person, such as what the Pinterest founder did), very few will refuse to give your product a try if you offer it gratis. Getting people to pay comes after getting people to love your product, and the latter is difficult enough that if you really did it you won't have to worry about the money.

tunesmith 7y ago

That was a blast to read, as someone else with far too many side projects (also struggling with the balance between prog projects and music projects). One theory of improvement would say you should subordinate all your resources to localizing/translating that app that already has a revenue foothold, because any additional revenue would then lengthen your runway before you'd have to go back to work.

wakatime 7y ago

Have you seen https://wakatime.com https://wakatime.com? It would provide more detail into your existing tracking, and help with your goal of spending more time on productive projects.