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Rembrandt Reyes (He/Him)
Rembrandt Reyes (He/Him)

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How do you Open-Source with a full-time job? and work on side projects?

I have been asked these questions a few times now.

Short Answer

"Spending a little time on each as much as possible."

But it goes a little deeper than that

Long Answer

I think right now I can maximize my time because I am remote and I do not have to spend 20, 40, or 60+ minutes commuting to work. That allows me to channel some of that time into open source and side projects. My current company is also based in Boston and I currently live in San Francisco so my 10 - 5 is actually 7 - 2.

My weekly schedule

  • Wake up around 6:30 AM
  • Check-in and stand up 7 AM
  • Do a bunch of work-related stuff.
  • Skip lunch to continue working or read some docs.
  • Clock out around 2 PM and recap with my team what I did for the day.
  • Check issues from a couple of OSS and see if there is something that I can work on or continue working on a ticket that I am assigned to (1 - 2 hours)
  • Work on my side project (1 - 2 hours)

I try to put a hard cap on work by 6 - 7 PM because I also have a family and I gotta eat 😅.

During the weekends I don't always get to OSS or side projects, but if I do have time on the weekends I do a similar 50/50 split so I can maximize my time on each. And if my time is limited I will probably study something related to coding instead. It's honestly hard for me to commit all this time to code. I am exhausted all the time, but I know the grid is worth it. Coding was something that was hard for me to enjoy until I started to understand it better. Now I push myself to code every day, I want to code every day. So 10 - 12 hour days dedicated to code. It's a lot, so do whatever you think is possible for you. Some think this is a sprint, some think this is a marathon. I would say it's a bit of both, so pace yourselves. We all get to the finish line eventually.

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