Side Projects: Yay or Nay?

I love to build stuff online. The start of almost any project excites me -- the idea, the planning, the initial execution, all of it. The MVP phase of any project is where I’m happiest, but once things shift to the maintenance phase, I’m still interested, but I’m much less excited. That’s where the work begins…

In my professional life, this isn’t a problem because the motivations are different, and, well, the work has to get done. But on side projects, the calculus is different. My motivations must be my own, and whether they are fun, learning or money, they have to make any project sufficiently more appealing -- at least for a specific block of time -- than watching Wheel of Time on Amazon, mindlessly scrolling Reddit, or doing other things.

Because I like that early, “0 to 1” phase and have a reasonably competent full-stack skillset, I start many projects. Almost all of these are, by their very nature, open-ended. So maybe in one week, I’m working on a product recall database. I can almost guarantee that I’ll want to be working on something else next week, providing that the previous project has been released gotten to a stable point.

I’m not alone in questions if one can have too many side projects (seriously, just look at this list). In fact, it’s a pretty popular problem with a subject of creators online (not just developers either, projects can be no-code, or they can be something like a podcast or YouTube channel).

The Problem

The issue is that projects never seem to end. They keep incurring costs (hosting, paid APIs, etc.) or making small sums of money, neither of which really bothers me. The issue is really that they keep occupying some mind-space. I feel compelled to make sure they are still running, that the automation is still functional, and to check in on analytics at least a few times a week.

Now, this gets draining, plus it might be distracting me from more important things.

Solution?

I, sadly, have no solution yet. I could…

• shut down projects, but that seems like a waste

• sell them, but that’s a hassle and might mean more work or future obligations

• stop building projects, but that’s boring

• focus on what I have, also boring

  
  

I will say that the projects have had a lot of value for me beyond their own worth.

I have found that while they do drain me of some percentage of my attention and time, side projects do make me better at my job. They are the perfect excuse to learn a new skill, hone a new technique, try out a marketing tactic, or test out a concept on a small scale with the need for meetings, planning, project managers, designers, lawyers, or anything else that corporate projects require. I then take those learnings to work and, sometimes, bring valuable insight to whatever I’m working on.

Sadly I have no answers right now. I’m going to think about this new population by country idea for a few days and see where that project goes.