
Ask HN: How many hours on the weekend do you actually perform on side projects? - newyearnewyou
I&#x27;m trying to re-manage my time. I&#x27;ve found I may spend the whole weekend putting off ~4 hours of work. I may just build in a 24-hour free&#x2F;break period, and do the work after this, as I&#x27;ve found that&#x27;s how it ends up in practice anyways.
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scarface74
0

The way I see it there are only a few reasons that I would ever do a side
project.

1\. To make more money now by freelancing.

2\. To make more money in the future by learning new skills or heck at the
point, just to keep up with the technology to stay employable.

3\. A great idea that I think I can make money on.

4\. For fun

\----

Taking those reasons into account:

1\. We make enough now to be comfortable and I'm not willing to prioritize
making more money over exercising or spending time with my family and friends.

2\. I try to make sure I have a job that lets me keep learning. I'll spend
extra time at work trying to figure out a new to me technology to incorporate
in my job. That's the quickest way to learn how something works in a real
world environment.

3\. I really don't have any great money making ideas.

4\. I find coding and problem solving "fun" That's why I enjoy my job. If I'm
not enjoying my job, it's time to get a new one.

But I do spend maybe 5-6 hours a week studying and watching tech videos in my
downtime or when I'm working out in my home gym.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
My gut feeling is most of us would be better off doing something completely
different in our spare time, ideally something that doesn't involve sitting
behind a keyboard.

~~~
saintPirelli
Your gut wants you to exercise and take hikes looking at green things every
once in a while.

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wilsonnb
I think it really depends on the type of side project.

Trying to start a small business in your free time? Probably a lot of hours. I
wouldn't be surprised to see people spending 20+ on the weekend for this.

Trying to beef up your resume for an imminent job search? Less than the start
your own business guys, but a good amount. Maybe 10 hours on the weekend.

Do you just really, really like programming? No limit here then. As much time
as you can while still eating, sleeping, and keeping your spouse happy.

Is it just like any other hobby to you? Probably <10 hours in most cases. It's
not like you have any reason to finish in a timely manner and you probably
have other hobbies to get to.

Have a 9-5 tech job that you plan on staying in for a while? Most people in
this situation are probably at 0 hours. For most people it's just a job. No
need to bring it home. Also, once you have kids and other responsibilities
side projects will be one of the first things to go.

Anyways, my point here is that unless you're trying to monetize it somehow,
either by starting a business or getting a future job, just do it however much
you feel like. 0 hours, 10 hours, 20 hours, it doesn't really matter. It's
supposed to be fun. There's nothing wrong with sitting in front of the TV all
weekend, or camping all weekend without any technology, or doing anything else
you want on the weekend.

A lot of people on this website have drunk the productivity kool-aid, some for
good reasons, but it tends to be a little extreme in my opinion. There are
better things in life to be than productive.

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shortoncash
I spend 4 hours every morning and 10 hours every weekend and have done it for
4 years now. 3-5 hours is hard, and there are days I don't feel it or am just
struggling.

What I find is that if I am irritated with my day job, I do better side work.
If I am irritated with my side job, my day job work quality is better. There's
like this pendulum of me wanting to escape and I found harmony in having 2
things I generally like that also piss me off enough to oscillate back and
forth between them. Occasionally I get delusions that my side project is on
the verge of a breakout, and reality might smack me around into appreciating
my day job more.

You could say I'm in a stable state of general productivity throughput, but
the project that benefits varies.

~~~
chasedehan
I feel pretty much the same way depending on how much my job bothers me.

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anotheryou
You'll have a strong bias in the answers—so here my honest answer:

2.5h in total, 1 of that on the weekends. At most. (because I also love my
girlfriend, reading, culture, music and need to cook a bit, tidy a bit, relax
a bit etc...)

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devgoth
I usually do about 3-4hrs on the weekend. My routine is wake up at ~8:30/9:00
AM and work on my side project or in my case an Android nanodegree from
Udacity. I call it quits around 12/12:30 PM, go to the gym and then grab a
late lunch. I really like exercising after the couples hours I spending on my
side project as it helps me decompress, forget about whatever I was working on
and get into the "its the weekend. enjoy it!" mindset.

------
segmondy
On a good one 20hrs.

I sleep as less as possible on Fri & Sat, get about 6 hrs. 2 hrs additional on
Fri, 6 hrs on Sat & Sun. Then get plenty of sleep on Sunday. I do house work,
yard stuff, the usual run arounds and I've an infant. Where there is a will,
there's a way.

On a bad one maybe 6 hrs.

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daok
During the week: 1 hour before work and about 2 hours after work. Weekend with
my family.

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timojaask
It all depends on who you hang out with.

I move countries a lot, and so my group of friends changes with every move. So
something I've realized is that if I have a group of friends who are into
getting shit done, such as active enterpreneurs, then I tend to put a lot more
time into my free-time projects as well. Conversely, when I have friends who
like to spend time watching movies and drinking beer (nothing wrong with that,
in moderation), then I tend to get a lot less done.

So the answer really depends on the circumstances.

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swman
4-6 hours per day on both Saturday and Sunday, sometimes more.

I am trying to learn as much as I can right now, and hoping to one day start
my own company or build my own app.

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autotune
Depends how you define “side projects.” I spend about 4 hours each Sat/Sun
morning playing and practicing guitar and singing, rest of the time studying
up on CS concepts missed to try and fill in the gap with not having a degree
in case they are ever needed though doing fine on the job without in-depth
theory. If I had more of a social life out here might be a little different.

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mattkenefick
I spend most of my hours during the week.

Depending on what I'm doing and how much I want to get done, I'll usually
spend a few hours each day between 10pm - 4am.

If it's a new project or a big feature, I'll carve out a large chunk of the
weekend to work on it. Maybe start around 10am, work until 5pm... go get food
or go to the bar after that. Do it again on Sunday unless I make other plans.

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p0d
None. I went part-time in my day job and now spend thu/fri working on my side
project. It’s good to have the weekend back.

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jon-wood
This weekend I spent 1.5 hours on recreational coding - at the moment I’m
working through NAND to Tetris. The rest of the weekend was spent with my
family, watching TV, or reading.

I also do a 3 hour each way commute into the office once or twice a week which
I’ll often spend on side projects.

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BlackjackCF
I maybe manage 3-4 hours of work during the week on a good week. I probably
put in 4-8 hours of work on the weekends.

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sergiotapia
0 - i don't even want to look at my phone during the weekends. Prefer to spend
it with my family.

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brainfog
None whatsoever. I'd rather read a book, go for a walk or learn to knit.

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nastypants
0

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cup-of-tea
I spend 1-3 hours each day on side projects. Weekends make no difference.

