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Once I adopted this mindset, I enjoyed working on my side projects so much more. Not only has it made it feel less like work, it has also freed me up to experim

Once I adopted this mindset, I enjoyed working on my side projects so much more. Not only has it made it feel less like work, it has also freed me up to experiment with things I’m not as familiar with because there’s no pressure to create something in an expedient manner. The notion that I am making something for the fun of putting things together and not to have something complete to show off at the end has been freeing. I have even picked up a new hobby of 3D modeling. Will I put that and programming together to make a game? Maybe! Will I ever release the game? Who knows? Will I have fun making it in the mean time? Definitely.

gumby 4y ago
> Once I adopted this mindset, I enjoyed working on my side projects so much more. Why would you have side projects that weren't fun? They are hobbies, right? From this perspective my time is spent on: - Work: mostly fun, in my case - Recreation (camping, biking, reading, programming, hanging out...): basically 100% fun, else I don't do them. - Obligations: cleaning, cooking, going to the toilet, attending parties I don't want to be am required to... not fun for me.
- taeric 4y ago
  It was popular for a time to try and turn side projects into obligations. The idea being that you would obligate yourself to finish them.
kaveh808 4y ago
When I was looking to start a new software project, I asked myself some questions, with the aim of formulating a project which would be fun/play. Otherwise why do it? Q: What software domain did I want to work in? A: 3D graphics. More specifically developing a graphics platform for exploratory programming. An IDE for 3D production, I called it. Q: What tools did I want to use? A: Common Lisp. The most enjoyable and painless programming language I have encountered. And harking back to my early days as a developer in my college days. Q: How did I want to see the software evolve over time? A: I wanted to attract others to it and be a part of a team. Build something bigger than just myself. So I ventured into the world of GitHub and open sourced it. Q: How to maintain motivation? A: Partly by gathering a team so we can motivate each other, and partly by keeping the goals of the system open and working on whatever interested me at the time (sweep extrusions, particle systems, behavioral animation, ...). So how has it worked out so far? As always, time will tell, but pretty well so far, I think. The project has kept me interested and is coming along nicely. There is no end in site, which is a good thing. It has provided a structure to my days and an optimism about where it might lead, and who may find it useful. For a while, before I open sourced it, I wrote a blog about the project: https://medium.com/@kaveh808 https://medium.com/@kaveh808

gumby 4y ago

> Once I adopted this mindset, I enjoyed working on my side projects so much more. Why would you have side projects that weren't fun? They are hobbies, right? From this perspective my time is spent on: - Work: mostly fun, in my case - Recreation (camping, biking, reading, programming, hanging out...): basically 100% fun, else I don't do them. - Obligations: cleaning, cooking, going to the toilet, attending parties I don't want to be am required to... not fun for me.

taeric 4y ago
It was popular for a time to try and turn side projects into obligations. The idea being that you would obligate yourself to finish them.

kaveh808 4y ago

When I was looking to start a new software project, I asked myself some questions, with the aim of formulating a project which would be fun/play. Otherwise why do it? Q: What software domain did I want to work in? A: 3D graphics. More specifically developing a graphics platform for exploratory programming. An IDE for 3D production, I called it. Q: What tools did I want to use? A: Common Lisp. The most enjoyable and painless programming language I have encountered. And harking back to my early days as a developer in my college days. Q: How did I want to see the software evolve over time? A: I wanted to attract others to it and be a part of a team. Build something bigger than just myself. So I ventured into the world of GitHub and open sourced it. Q: How to maintain motivation? A: Partly by gathering a team so we can motivate each other, and partly by keeping the goals of the system open and working on whatever interested me at the time (sweep extrusions, particle systems, behavioral animation, ...). So how has it worked out so far? As always, time will tell, but pretty well so far, I think. The project has kept me interested and is coming along nicely. There is no end in site, which is a good thing. It has provided a structure to my days and an optimism about where it might lead, and who may find it useful. For a while, before I open sourced it, I wrote a blog about the project: https://medium.com/@kaveh808 https://medium.com/@kaveh808