Is it just me or does starting a quick small side project away from your main venture reinvigorate you?
Is it just me or does starting a quick small side project away from your main venture reinvigorate you?
I've been a little run down by my main application. Instead of putting my weekends into that I moved into a different project and so far I really haven't looked back.
It's not that I don't want my normal project to succeed, it's simply that I'm turning my own tunnel vision somewhere else.... and it's actually quite refreshing. Are there others experiencing this right now too?
I'm definitely a side project person. When I owned a business, I'd still need to do side projects now and then. I feel it was super important in helping to avoid burnout. You just can't be "on" all the time, 24/7. When you work for yourself, it can be hard to separate home and work life. Sometimes you just need a distraction. Now, it's important to keep these as side projects. I tried (and usually succeeded) to limit them to nights and weekends. Usually, I'd get bored with them before they turned into a real distraction.
One tactic that worked really well for me was to pick a side project that was related in some way to the core product. This way I got a dual benefit. The project would be fun to do, and my customers would get value from it. Some of the features our customers loved most started out as fun side projects.
I do it all the time.
But I give myself super tight deadlines. It's way too easy to change gears completely and get lost in side projects.
In most cases I make it a single weekend -- or sometimes, single day thing.
In some cases -- if it's a super quick little SPA, I'll force myself to do it in one sitting.
More than 2 days though, and IMHO side projects can turn into a distraction. If I can't fit it into the deadline I don't touch it.
Also -- sometimes your side project can help your main project if they're related somehow... which is IMHO what side projects should ideally be.
It's an interesting thought process you've got there. Taking small bursts at a time to complete a small tasks, especially as short as a weekend, seems to be quite a hit and miss situation. I guess it comes down to what sort of task you think a side project is.
In my situation right now I've given myself a month. I've got a lot of moving jobs right now to manage at the same time so the extra space will tell me whether I can publicly release at the end of the time frame or keep it for internal use. Either way to me it needs to get done.
I guess everyone's brain works differently ... but if I took a whole month off from my main project I'd have a really hard time getting back into it.