I don't have ambitions of starting a business, but I consider it a problem that I don't have any recent side projects either. Just throwaway code (from trying t

I don't have ambitions of starting a business, but I consider it a problem that I don't have any recent side projects either. Just throwaway code (from trying to learn a language), and/or notes (from trying to learn a concept). For me, the main issue has always been the thought that I'm not quite ready; that if I just brushed up on X, it would go a long way. Which of course is placing the project on a pedestal. I think the key is to work on small, approachable projects, and see which ones start to grow into something more. Last night I discovered the You and Your Research speech, and found this interesting quote on why Nobel Prize winners often fail to make breakthroughs after they win: "When you are famous it is hard to work on small problems... The great scientists often make this error. They fail to continue to plant the little acorns from which the mighty oak trees grow. They try to get the big thing right off. And that isn't the way things go." The quote also reminded me of Feynman's story about the flying plate, and how analyzing something unimportant just for fun (and to escape his "real" responsibilities) ultimately started a path to the Nobel Prize.