
Ask HN: How do you keep energy to work on personal projects after work hours? - guzamy
I have been on vacation when I started working on a personal project, so I had plenty of time. Now that I’m back to work, I feel I’m struggling to keep up, because once I arrive home (I work from 9am to 6pm and commute time is 1 hour) I’m so tired that I can barely focus and code. I’m very passionate about this project and don’t want to just work on it during week-ends.<p>How do you do it?<p>PS : I also want to start working out, but do I even have time for that if I can’t free time to work on my project?
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mattbgates
I'm lazy and thus, I trick myself into working out. I'll ride my bike to work
or I'll walk to work. At the end of my shift, I have to walk home. No other
choice.

When I get home, I still have an abundance of energy, so I hop on my
MaxiClimber for 10 minutes, and then I have a protein shake as my reward
afterwards.

Then I code till I fall asleep at night, which is usually about 3-4 hours.
When I wake up, sometimes if my wife isn't bothering me, I'll code then before
work. And if there is any downtime at work, I'll code during work.

Sometimes i even code in my sleep which is probably how I code even faster,
knowing what I'm going into. But I'd say get some sleep before you code.

Very passionate about coding.. it's my escape, my gaming, my fun time.. its
just that time where I get to be creative.

~~~
madamelic
This is one of those replies I am not entirely sure if it is satire or not.

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tmaly
Your willpower is at full charge in the morning. Try to wake up early and use
that time on your side project. It will require you to sleep a little earlier
at night.

Also, keep a well defined list of tasks for your project. This will help you
make the most of your time in the morning, you can grab a task and hit the
ground running.

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codemusings
I'm in the same boat. I have the same commute time. I also have side projects.
I also wanted to work out.

For me I've come to realize that due to time constraints and depleted energy
levels I can only focus on one thing per day and that I have to do it in the
morning before work. To me that's the key aspect. And it's something I had to
come to terms with.

Right now I'm focusing on fitness (I run) and I get virtually nothing done on
my side projects. However I'm confident that I can switch it up in the future.

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jryan49
I've tried to have a full time job and work on a side project, and if the side
project is actually hard (not just some CRUD app) I can't progress at all. I
think some of us expect too much from ourselves in terms of constantly
working. If you had the mental capacity to work on your project, you'd
probably already be working on it.

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abledon
Ask hn: how do I push myself beyond my body’s well defined limits

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mickelsen
Dude, I've even tried popping a Ritalin / Vyvanse (a few remaining from
college years - don't bother, you get insomnia later and still can't produce),
grabbing a coffee, taking a shower.

All no go.

A short nap is not enough as I'm already tired for the day, and a long one
just gets me sleepy, then it gets too late already, and if I stay up late I
won't be able to perform at work.

I second the thoughts of another person here who said there are so many
productive hours in a day. Maybe if we were not bound by office hours, back
when I was a student or in my short stints as a freelancer I could push two
"rounds" of productivity in a day.

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DoreenMichele
_I also want to start working out, but do I even have time for that if I can’t
free time to work on my project?_

Start working out. Do that for a _few weeks_. You may find your energy levels
rising and time for stuff suddenly being less of an issue.

Use your workout time to do double duty for thinking about other ways to free
up time and energy, stuff related to your project etc. Maybe even use it to do
things like listen to podcasts that might be pertinent to freeing up time or
developing your project.

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visox
At some point i managed to work only 3 days a week which was nice and i still
had enough money. So maybe ask for a shorter week. Another point that did help
me was my own story board that motivated me a lot (i saw the board all the
time at home)

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krapp
You have to prioritize, but the job that puts food on the table has to come
first. I have a full time, non-technical job and I wake up earlier to work out
or work on projects. I say "or" because I only have time to do one or the
other, so I tend to alternate.

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adrianmsmith
I’ve been doing software development professionally for about 20 years.

I’ve tried to do side projects during all this time, and my conclusion is: I
don’t think there’s a solution. There’s just only so many productive hours in
a day.

If you want to do a side-project, the only thing that’s ever worked for me is
to take time off work. Minimum multiple weeks, ideally a few months. For
example between jobs.

You can start planning for this while you have a job. Cut out unnecessary
expenses, so you save money. Without saved money, you can’t take a few months
off.

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CloudBuddy
The key is to do it when you wake up. Just set your alarm 5 minutes earlier
and spend those extra 5 minutes working on your project. It's tough, but try
not to dwell on 'only being able to work X time on it' as this doesn't add
value. I'd definitely recommend pacing yourself so that you finish your
project. Consistency is the key. If you can commit 5 minutes each day to
working on it, you will be well on your way.

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visox
5 minutes ? i need hours :D

~~~
CloudBuddy
This is what I followed when I built CloudBuddy
([https://cloudbuddy.cloud](https://cloudbuddy.cloud)). For any side project
it starts off being exciting and looking like a climbable mountain. Then when
you start getting into it, it seems daunting. Each day I would tell myself I
am going to put one foot in front of the other and walk up the mountain. No
matter how slow it seems, I will make it to the top. Some days I was so burned
out; those were the days that I only worked 5 minutes on it and called it a
day. Other days, I was into it and naturally blew beyond the 5 minutes.

It took me 2 years and 3 months to launch CloudBuddy (which has paying users).
There isn't anything special about me or my circumstances - I'm married, have
a child and have a day job.

If anyone is having difficulty working consistently on their side project and
it would help to have someone to talk to, email or drop me a line. My contact
info is in my profile.

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dirktheman
"Commute time is 1 hour"

Well, there you have it! (if you commute by train, that is).

I almost exclusively work on my side projects during commute, which is also 1
hour. Especially the morning commute is very productive, on the way back I
find myself lacking focus so I do some reading about sales, design, marketing.

Also, prioritize working out. Schedule time for it, even if it is 1-2 hours a
week. You will earn more time in extra energy than it will cost you.

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yesenadam
Do it before your job, get up early. Whether you need 1 hour, 2 or 3,
whatever's best. Once you develop the habit things become easier, it will be
hard _not_ to do it. It's very energizing having already done a satisfying
day's work, it's like 2 days in 1.

People have been doing this for a long time. I remember reading about 19th C
novelists who wrote their novels by writing for an hour each morning before
their day job.

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caspervonb
Try to get an issue done before starting work, slow and steady wins the race.
All nighter every now and then when something is super interesting.

As for working out, ehhh yeah I'm supposed to do that too.. new years
resolution? But being active gives you more energy so there's that, once you
get to it.

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finfun234
Wake up early and work on your personal project for an hour. Repeat for a
month, then a year.

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orcs
I used to be a PT in the forces. Exercise only needs to last 20 minutes if you
do it correctly to get benefits. Everyone has 20 minutes a day.

My advice is to get home and do a 20 min hiit workout. This will perk you up.
Get some food and code away

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paulcole
Drugs help. Caffeine, etc.

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thedevindevops
The solution to coding and working out is planning.

Draw up a product roadmap and get the units of work down to ~1hrs work that
you should be able to see a change at the end. Do the design down to little
atomic units. Likewise, plan sets in the gym.

This also gives you excellent practice for managing a project.

