4 ms·

As day jobs expand and expand, expecting more and more hours worked for less and less pay, and carrying a cell phone and checking email 24 hours a day, it seems

As day jobs expand and expand, expecting more and more hours worked for less and less pay, and carrying a cell phone and checking email 24 hours a day, it seems quite implausible that maintaining a day job and ANYTHING else, whether it be a hobby or a fledgeling company, is not a wise move.

seivan 12y ago
I feel this way as well.
josephschmoe 12y ago
This depends a lot on your job. If you work as a software engineer, it's likely that you have sufficient control and freedom to work on side projects. It's still brutal though - 60 hour weeks are insane, especially when you do them continuously. It can also take years and likely multiple projects before you succeed.
- humanrebar 12y ago
  And you'd need a fairly mundane day job so your problem solving circuits aren't perpetually exhausted.
  - vonmoltke 12y ago
    That has been one of my problems. I frequently come home so drained that I don't have much capacity left for the day. That exacerbates my motivation/procrastination problems.
    - kekket 12y ago
      Get up early. You have to make sure to do the important thing first in the morning and chip away at it day by day. This is very hard, but still possible by slowly building up a routine (even if your an 'owl'). Spend your best brain-time on your own stuff, get to work and try to manage the dayjob with the leftovers. Be a B player, fuck them.
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
    - cellis 12y ago
      I have this problem too. I think the key to this is what i've acronymized as "TTR" -- Time-to-revenue. Any idea with a High TTR ( for instance a product that needs enterprise sales ) is out as a side project. Ideas with a Low TTR are in. The key is to get a passive or near-passive income and then be able to go for High TTR/ High TTMVP (moonshot) businesses later.
- clarky07 12y ago
  I did the 60-80 weeks for about 2 months working on my side project. I quickly gave up and quit the day job to make the side project my day job. It just isn't sustainable long term. Thankfully I had enough in savings to go for it.
icedchai 12y ago
Sure, "not wise", if you enjoy being a slave to the system. It's very simple: Don't answer your phone if you're busy (or don't want to.) Don't check your email more than every few hours. Disable push notifications. It's your life.

seivan 12y ago

I feel this way as well.

josephschmoe 12y ago

This depends a lot on your job. If you work as a software engineer, it's likely that you have sufficient control and freedom to work on side projects. It's still brutal though - 60 hour weeks are insane, especially when you do them continuously. It can also take years and likely multiple projects before you succeed.

humanrebar 12y ago
And you'd need a fairly mundane day job so your problem solving circuits aren't perpetually exhausted.
- vonmoltke 12y ago
  That has been one of my problems. I frequently come home so drained that I don't have much capacity left for the day. That exacerbates my motivation/procrastination problems.
  - kekket 12y ago
    Get up early. You have to make sure to do the important thing first in the morning and chip away at it day by day. This is very hard, but still possible by slowly building up a routine (even if your an 'owl'). Spend your best brain-time on your own stuff, get to work and try to manage the dayjob with the leftovers. Be a B player, fuck them.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
  - cellis 12y ago
    I have this problem too. I think the key to this is what i've acronymized as "TTR" -- Time-to-revenue. Any idea with a High TTR ( for instance a product that needs enterprise sales ) is out as a side project. Ideas with a Low TTR are in. The key is to get a passive or near-passive income and then be able to go for High TTR/ High TTMVP (moonshot) businesses later.
clarky07 12y ago
I did the 60-80 weeks for about 2 months working on my side project. I quickly gave up and quit the day job to make the side project my day job. It just isn't sustainable long term. Thankfully I had enough in savings to go for it.

icedchai 12y ago

Sure, "not wise", if you enjoy being a slave to the system. It's very simple: Don't answer your phone if you're busy (or don't want to.) Don't check your email more than every few hours. Disable push notifications. It's your life.