
Ask HN: How do you keep up the energy to work on side-projects after work? - eddieschod
Curious about what other people do to maintain the energy (and money) to work on side projects after work. What&#x27;s your side project working schedule like?
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parallel_item
An omnipresent underlying sense of anxiety and rage caused by something or
other in my past that is useful for work but not useful for building
relationships!

~~~
kenny87
Michael Jordan was great at doing this. His hall of fame speech is filled w/
anecdotes about him turning slights into motivation:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLzBMGXfK4c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLzBMGXfK4c)

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potta_coffee
My strategy is just to push myself to get _something_ done, even when I don't
want to. So, the other night I wrote an SQL query. It was probably 20 mins of
work, but it brought me closer to finishing the project. Other days, I'll end
up "feeling it" and putting in several hours on a project. So, small
increments plus the occasional big push.

~~~
mpfundstein
true. my whole side project output yesterday was a shell script that monitors
if another process is running and lights an led on the raspi if yes :P 40 min
work. But one step closer to the goal

~~~
schappim
What is the goal?

~~~
mpfundstein
Self riding rc car :-) i thought it would be a ‘simple’ side project... 2
months ago

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hanselot
I don't, I would also like to know. I get home, feel like satan drained my
soul all day and sedate myself to continue the vicious cycle the next day.

~~~
kwhitefoot
Sounds like you are in the wrong job or the wrong company. If the day is that
bad every day you need to consider moving.

~~~
anon8794578
Either that, or it's just mentally exhausting to be productive for a full day.
It might not be that the job is bad, but rather that the amount of energy for
certain kinds focus and tasks is limited.

In that case, if the desire to do side projects is great enough, I suppose the
correct solution would be to try going for a somewhat shorter work week.

~~~
hanselot
I think I have reached a critical point in my career where I have to choose
whether I work to live or live to work. I prefer the prior, so I will be going
that route. I'll be resigning on Wednesday.

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jcahill84
I have an hour commute to my real job, so I use that to hack on my side
project before and after work.

Setting small goals has always helped me keep up the energy to move it
forward. When you're working in really small time chunks, it's important to
make sure you have something achievable to accomplish. You're not going to be
able to do things like "finish the sign up flow" in one night, but you can do
things like "finish the authByPassword() method" and still be moving forward.

As for the money aspect of it, that's simple, just don't spend any.
Bootstrapping is all about doing more with less, so don't spend anything until
you absolutely have to. When you do finally start writing checks, make sure
you're spending on things that will have the highest impact.

~~~
SenHeng
I tried that last year when I had a 2 hour commute.

It doesn't work well if you have to get off every half an hour to switch
trains. Or if you can't get a seat.

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itamarst
Why do you want to work on a side-project?

1\. If it's to learn more, I would instead suggest focusing on learning on the
job. It's more realistic, you can get more resources, etc.. E.g. I've found
learning new programming languages much easier at work than in my spare time:
[https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/09/09/learn-a-new-
programm...](https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/09/09/learn-a-new-programming-
language/)

2\. If you want to create a side business, I've done some combination of
working half an hour each morning and increasing my personal time by
negotiating a part-time job. An interview with someone who has negotiated
shorter workweek at many companies:
[https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-
programmer...](https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-programmer/)

------
dookahku
I don't usually go home. I stay in the office and use a separate laptop or go
to a coffee shop. I know if I go home I'm just going to sleep immediately.
Then Ig et up in the middle of the night and get more tired.

Using S.M.A.R.T. goal system ([https://www.yourcoach.be/en/coaching-
tools/smart-goal-settin...](https://www.yourcoach.be/en/coaching-tools/smart-
goal-setting.php)) is helpful, too.

"I will resolve this 1 bug." "I will scope out this feature" "I will wireframe
this UI" "I will start and tabulate this survey with these 2 questions"

These are all helpful and can be easy to finish.

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onion2k
Regarding energy, I do what I can when I can, and I don't stress about things
taking a long time.

Regarding money, I don't spend any. Between free services, free/promotional
tiers of paid services, and open source tools, there's rarely a need to spend
anything until your project is generating cold hard cash.

------
jrudisill
Some things have made a difference for me:

\- Working on side projects that have less overlap with work and scratch
technical and creative itches that aren't a part of my day job.

\- Getting in the habit of sitting down to do some small task every day. Some
days that turns into a multi-hour super-productive hack fest, sometimes it's
writing a piece of copy and that's it. Now that I'm in that habit, I put in a
really productive session about 2x per week on average, but I try to not care
about that statistic.

\- Setting easily achievable goals every week, and trying to consistently
surpass them (examples: add an 'about' section, write a query)

\- Getting serious about working out and eating mostly right fixed the
afternoon doldrums for me. I normally do weights and cardio in the morning
before work and a jog/yoga/swimming after.

------
mjmj
I work from home which gives me about 30-60 mins extra compared to those that
commute. Often I’ll work a bit in the morning. Then at night once my 7mo old
goes to bed I work for another 1-2 hours before sleeping. I leave all my
editor and terminal windows open so I can quickly switch back to my side
project as needed during lunch or while other software is building or off the
clock.

I always make sure to workout, sleep plenty and eat right which tremendously
helps my mental fatigue. Also I quit my high stress job and work for a company
with much more relaxed work environment so my daytime work is fun and doesn’t
burn me out.

But I agree, it’s not easy balancing life, family, passions, future
aspirations. It’s like a wheel you’re trying to keep balanced and round and
things will always give and take.

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imhoguy
Sometimes I do mornings, but then I don't have enough focus capacity left for
work.

Best so far is 4 day work week - Friday is exclusive for me, weekends for
family. Pay-cut is 20% but I gain 50% more time off, time is money too.

~~~
maxxxxx
I have asked for a 4 day week at my company but they wouldn't do it. This
would be my dream.

~~~
itamarst
Like I said elsewhere, it's possible (though not _easy_ ). This guy has done
it multiple times over past 15 years:
[https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-
programmer...](https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/01/08/part-time-programmer/)

(I also wrote a book with more stories and advice, with a whole chapter on
negotiating part time work based on my experience and that of others:
[https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/](https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/))

------
blihp
Work on things you enjoy/want/need and don't feel like you have put any more
effort into it than you find rewarding (from whatever metric matters to you:
fun, money, etc.) It is a side-project after all and not your main gig.

If you're feeling too exhausted/no time/other is getting in your way, identify
what exactly the issue is:

\- is it other personal stuff/hobbies? (ask yourself why your side projects
rate below these... are you willing to re-prioritize?)

\- is it family? (unless you have buy-in/support from them, you may be screwed
esp. if you have a S.O./kids... sorry)

\- is it the day job? (ask yourself if its really work maxing you out or
pressure you're putting on yourself. If it's truly external pressure from
work, devote all of your free time to getting the hell out of there ASAP:
life's too short)

\- etc. etc.

The bottom line is to figure out where your time/energy is going. Assuming
that the side-project is something you want to do, it should not be too
difficult to find at least some time for it or understand exactly why you're
not making progress.

Having covered all that, here's what I'm thinking might be going on from the
way you phrased the question: do you really _want_ to do the side-project(s)
or do you just feel like you should because it seems like everyone else has
theirs? If that's the case, you really shouldn't be bothering with a side-
project... it's not for everyone.

------
nicksalt
I've always found huge success in the mornings and huge flops in the evenings.

~~~
hackermailman
Morning side-project hacking here too, even though I'm not a morning person.
5am your brain is fresh from sleep, there is no social obligations, no phone
calls to answer, and you have a time limit for motivation so often plan your
projects better.

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otakucode
The way I see it, when I have some free time I have some choice in which ways
to spend it. If I spend it doing some things, I end up with something to show
for it, something I can look at later or point to and say "I did that." Other
ways leave me with almost nothing. And I just get bothered by that. Now, it's
important to note that I am very broad in my sense of 'something to show for
it.' Being well-read, having a wide experience with cinema, etc are things
that I credit as artifacts worth accumulating. So most of my time gets split
between learning and building things (software, mostly, as that's where my
talents lie).

------
nickthemagicman
I take the opposite approach. It's NOT good to work on side projects after
work. That's reserved for the weekends. Spend your after noons doing other
stuff. Excercise, other hobbies, talking with ppl at a bar, etc.

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i_made_a_booboo
I tried doing it nights and weekends for 3.5 years and with a young family, I
made advances in my skills but never produced anything meaningful. I'm working
with someone else now to create a product and so I took a week of annual leave
to try out what it was like doing my own thing full-time and vlogged about it.

[https://youtu.be/-VkkZOiIL10](https://youtu.be/-VkkZOiIL10)

It was so good the next day back at work I handed in my notice which is what
the following video is about!

[https://youtu.be/rrP_yHV19bA](https://youtu.be/rrP_yHV19bA)

------
musgravepeter
I'm lucky since I am by nature an early bird. I work on my side project for an
hour or so _before_ work. Also a few hours in the morning on the weekend.

IIRC this was how Scott Adams found time to draw Dilbert when he had a full-
time job.

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l_tonz
Buy a PS4 and put it next to your PC. At least to me, playing video games give
me some energy and some escape after work. After that, I tackle small 30
minute tasks. Don't take side-projects too seriously!

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pascalxus
The key to keeping up motivation is some sort of success or reason to think
you'll be successful. In the beginning, us entrepreneurs are filled with
confidence (or dillusions depending on how you look at it). It's this
confidence that keeps you going. But, as reality sets in and no one uses your
app, you begin to realize it's not going to work.

I guess thats why they always recommend release soemthing early , so you can
get some small measure of success: at least get some positive feedback to
validate your idea.

------
mrdependable
Sheer force of will. After working at a computer all day, sitting at a
computer and working late into the night is the last thing I want to do.
Thinking of the alternative, which is spending my life working for someone
else, is my main motivator. I can't see myself doing that forever, and I know
things won't change unless I put in the work. So I do my day job from 9 - 5,
hang out with the family from 6 - 9, then work until 2am.

~~~
itamarst
As I mentioned in another comment, you can negotiate a shorter workweek. I've
done it, others have as well - see link in my other comment.

------
ha-shine
A hack I found that's useful for me is to keep a daily log. I list down what I
have achieved in a day no matter how small they may be, e.g adding contents to
company wiki, clearing a jira ticket, reading an interesting article, etc. I
keep the log in a simple text file for each day, in a repo on github. I always
find the urge to add something to this log whenever I get back home.

------
billconan
I'm also a morning person, sometimes I devote my morning time to side projects
first. And I leave my actual work to the later part of the day.

But if I need to work on my sides during the evening, one trick I found is
making my room extremely bright, making me think that it was still daytime. I
also force myself to be away from my bed. As soon as I lay down, there is no
way I can get up and be productive.

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djinnandtonic
Don't try to do anything meaningful if you have less than 2 hours in a sitting
to devote to your project. Block off a 4-hour window every weekend, and take a
day off once per month where you put in a full day.

I find trying to work on projects after work just leads to a bunch of time
wasted context switching, and 'not unwinding' can be seriously bad for your
mental health.

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snr
I just do stuff because I believe in the idea and the stuff needs to get done
for the idea to materialize.

------
silveroriole
Only work 4 days. I put more value on my free time and learning than on money
I don’t spend anyway.

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epiddy
I find that NOT turning on the TV and NOT cracking open a beer helps me to
focus on the side project. ymmv

~~~
Sileni
If I can hold my willpower together for the first 30 minutes after I get home,
I usually do alright.

If I open absolutely any distraction within the first 15 minutes after I get
home, my night is shot.

It's funny how much of my time is dictated by momentum alone. In a sad, "Do I
actually have free will?" kind of way.

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tytytytytytytyt
> Curious about what other people do to maintain the energy

I work on something that's actually fun.

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riku_iki
Do something you are really excited about. Excitement and inspiration bring
you energy.

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jadeydi
Want to learn more things and earn money

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Bulbasaur2015
learn to recharge whenever you want and you can. take powernaps, or go for a
walk or a shower

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throwsaway89
I have felt whenever i had to push myself for the side project it always
failed. The drive for me came from inside because the road ahead is long. Also
waking up early helped alot

