Side projects and creativity

One thing I’ve constantly grappled with is that my hobby and paycheck-generating work at my $DAYJOB overlap. Every few months or years, I rediscover the absolute fucking necessity of not letting my “fun hacking time” morph into an extension of my 9-to-5. I hit my peak creativity and problem-solving mojo at work when I have some other creative outlet. For me these side projects aren’t about being an “indie hacker”; they’re about exploring stuff I find fascinating and itching to learn more about, or just random cool things I want take for a spin.

The past year or so have been great since $DAYJOB has been genuinely interesting and I have had a ton of freedom. That’s not the norm, nor is it perpetual. More often than not, your $DAYJOB involves crafting someone elses vision, in someone elses sandbox, possibly with a tech stack that you don’t care all that much for (it pays the bills). That shit does not “Spark Joy.” So when I also slip into hacking on $DAYJOB shit in my free time, it’s a slippery slope leading to the land of burn out and crankiness.

Since the pandemic, one of my favorite rituals has been to spend a few hours on the weekend hacking on stuff while watching the WAN Show. But I have a bad habit of falling into a trap where I end up working on work projects and not just a work-adjacent project. Sometimes It’s something that will turn into something cool at work. Usually, it will be something that I think is important or interesting, but isn’t a priority at work. Slippery slope.

Personal projects on the flip side are your playground. No rules, no deadlines, no “we’ve always done it this way” mentality, no “but the spec call’s for this”. It’s where you get to be the architect of your fantasies, experimenting with those whacky ideas that pop up right before you fall asleep.

They offer the perfect chance to step out of your comfort zone and give into the allure of a new language, framework, or tool. No one gives a shit if it turns out to be a dead end or a disaster. No fretting over tech debt, whether this bit of tech will be around in 6 months, whether it’s stable. Each personal project is a stepping stone towards becoming a more adaptable, well-rounded, and yes, more employable coder.

All the big shifts in my career trajectory or skill level ups have roots in these side projects, this weekend hackery.

So here’s the deal: If software is your hobby and your job - carve out time for those personal projects. Guard that time like it’s the last taco and your spouse is eyeing it. Don’t let it become $DAYJOB bonus work time.