

Ask HN: Does anyone take the risk to work on private projects from workplace? - edifusya

Hi,
I have many private project ideas and i'm working on some but it's just impossible for me to have a full time job + personal projects + wife &#38; kid.
I wonder what are people doing about it? I would like to work on it from workplace but maybe they have keyloggers and stuff like this? I don't know... Should I take the risk? does anyone take this risk? I mean I wouldn't want to sit in work and work on my private projects but if I finish my day job at 19:00 then I would like to spend another hour on my private projects, what do you think?
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jacquesm
> Should I take the risk?

No.

> does anyone take this risk?

Quite probably yes, but that doesn't make it right, or smart.

Is there any way you can work 1 day per week part-time and devote that to your
private stuff or do it after hours ?

If you get fired from your day job you'll have all the time in the world but
that probably wasn't what you had in mind.

Also, technically your employer would own what you made, so it really isn't a
good idea.

If it isn't possible, it isn't possible, but I'm pretty sure that that is just
a matter of degree, I'm sure there is at least a 1/2 hour per day or maybe a
Sunday morning early when you can work on your own stuff.

Or maybe at night?

But you'll have to learn how to do with less sleep, and that's not for
everyone.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
First, let me say that I agree it's usually a bad idea.

But...

Not everyone works as a software developer and there are many jobs where
coding while you work isn't a detriment to doing a good job. Any job where
workers bring in books & magazines to pass the time is a candidate here. I
knew someone who was a plant engineer at a water treatment plant. His job
consisted basically of being onsite in case there was an emergency. And he
managed to bang out a nifty niche application while working there, along with
upgrades! (not surprisingly, the app was based on automated monitoring of
process systems...) His boss simply didn't care, since he had done that job
himself and knew that it really didn't require much attention.

So: generally not a good idea, but in some specific instances it can work out
OK.

~~~
jacquesm
You're absolutely right. But when the OP stared about 'keyloggers' and stuff
like that I assumed a technical environment comparable to the stuff he'd be
doing for himself.

Bad assumption, I should have asked. Thanks for pointing it out.

------
gdp
Keyloggers are unlikely to be particularly useful in this case, but if you
imagine you are being keylogged, then you can take appropriate steps to mask
your behaviour.

Other than that, I would advise sshing somewhere remote and keeping all of
your private project stuff there (i.e. work on it remote - don't keep local
copies).

~~~
mrfish
Or if your lazy and a web programmer you can do everything through a portable
app on a USB key. www.portableapps.com including a web server. Thus giving you
the power to work on stuff without the pain of moving it everytime you leave
work.

------
yannis
As an employer I would say bad idea. If your employer does not pay you your
last salary you will claim that he stole money from you. By working on a
private project at work you are actually stealing money from him.

Late nights were made for private jobs!

~~~
nooloop
That might be overly simplistic. The three issues I see are:

1) Company hardware. Don't use theirs since it's unethical without permission,
and even with permission, your employment contract might give them rights to
your work.

2) Time. Just because you're in the office doesn't mean you are on their time,
but if you are, then that's unethical too.

3) Space. If you've satisfied the first two conditions, it seems like little
harm is done and little risk assumed by working on your own laptop on your own
time while in the office.

Lastly, I'd worry more about network monitoring than keystroke loggers. If you
attach your laptop to their network, you're still using their company
resources to do your work.

------
byoung2
You could try some of the techniques in Tim Ferriss's 4 Hour Workweek.
Basically it involves negotiating a deal to work from home 1 day a week to
start, and eventually fulltime. Make sure you are more efficient on this day
off than the other 4 days. He suggests hiring a virtual private assistant to
handle the more trivial aspects of your job, for a few dollars an hour.

While you are "working from home" you can work on your side projects. Even if
you don't hire a virtual assistant, you'll save plenty of time without the
distractions of work (water cooler talk, commute time, etc), that you should
have an extra 10-20 hours a week.

~~~
jacquesm
But with a wife & kid around the 'distractions of work' will be replaced with
the 'distractions of home'.

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Tichy
Get a better paid job. As a consultant, you could work a couple of months for
clients and the rest of the year on your own stuff.

Personally I think working on the job is a bad idea. usually it will give your
employer the rights to your private project.

~~~
mrfish
Get a better paid job? The year 2000 is calling and it want's it's reality
bubble back.

~~~
Tichy
Developers were still in high demand after the year 2000.

------
lhorie
Why not just get a laptop and go out to the nearest coffee shop / library /
whatever?

~~~
edifusya
That's a very good idea. Will be useful I think only after the day has ended
right?

------
mrfish
Yup. I'm doing it right now.

