Side projects are a great way to know more about tech stacks you are interested in. They are also a way to sort of combine your other areas of passion and technology together.
And last month I was able to finally complete one.
I used to start these projects and then just forgot about them. So what was different this time?
(If you’re a fellow IPL lover, here’s the game we built:
https://guesstheplayer.onrender.com/
But this article isn’t about the product itself — it’s about the journey to finishing it.)
I love cricket and especially IPL. I have been watching it for the past 16 seasons. I decided to create something that I wanted.
It wasn’t ambitious
Oftentimes, the projects that I tried to work on were too ambitious and I did not have the proficiency with the tech stacks/tools that were required. Not seeing results in a while can demotivate you, and then you start losing interest in pursuing the project.
I did not plan the timeline
Even though planning is essential in a lot of stuff, this just happened on a random weekend when I had nothing to do.
It doesn’t have to be perfect
After completing one version, I shared it with some of my friends and they loved the first version.
Even though the first version was so broken. The UI was terrible. But they liked the idea.
This fueled me with confidence and much more excitement to make it better so others can play it as well.
Find people to build with
I did find a friend later who was equally interested and much more excited than me.
Collaboration was initiated and we ended up working for a month more.
So in retrospect, you should build something you want — or at least something people want that you deeply care about.
When we were building the website, Rahul (the excited friend) and I spent much more time as users than anybody else who played it later.
Some people loved it. Some didn’t.
It was great. It didn’t feel like a burden but more like playing in the sports hour of school.
We did reach 230 fellow cricket lovers.
If you’re stuck on a side project, maybe don’t aim for perfect. Just start with what you love — and maybe share it with a friend.
You might be surprised how far it goes..
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