👋 Hey there, I am Waylon Walker
I am a Husband, Father of two beautiful children, Senior Python Developer currently working in the Data Engineering platform space. I am a continuous learner, and sha
I have a ~/tmp directory full of small tests where I try out all the new shiny before I put them into an actual project. I start a couple a week, and am ok walking away after 20 minutes. Very few go anywhere, but I use it to learn what I want to actually use on a side project. Keeps me from starting too many big things.
That being said I still start way too many side projects to finish.
I know a lot of people (myself included) will see this as their pattern. I think I might write something just about this very idea! I think the point of side projects is that they don't ship, but I better start a new post before I write a 900+ word comment ;)
I think this is the natural journey of side projects.
Taking some time to reflect around the patterns of failed side projects dating back all the way to college actually helped me map out what pitfalls to avoid when starting what became DEV.
The biggest pitfall was seeking early success. I actually gave myself a "ten year rule" when starting the project that I would not let it fall off for ten years, even if it slowed at times or whatever.
I think that's the kind of realization that can only happen if you've had a history of moving from one thing to another, which is a really healthy part of growth.
This is usually me, but I've actually finished a couple. The key difference for me is that I'm solving an actual day-to-day pain point, which motivates me to at least get it to a usable state. Otherwise, it's just a learning exercise (which is great too!)
Be careful with side projects :)
I laughed but it hurt!
I have a
~/tmpdirectory full of small tests where I try out all the new shiny before I put them into an actual project. I start a couple a week, and am ok walking away after 20 minutes. Very few go anywhere, but I use it to learn what I want to actually use on a side project. Keeps me from starting too many big things.That being said I still start way too many side projects to finish.
This is basically me - can't be bothered with finishing things 😂
I know a lot of people (myself included) will see this as their pattern. I think I might write something just about this very idea! I think the point of side projects is that they don't ship, but I better start a new post before I write a 900+ word comment ;)
I think this is the natural journey of side projects.
Taking some time to reflect around the patterns of failed side projects dating back all the way to college actually helped me map out what pitfalls to avoid when starting what became DEV.
The biggest pitfall was seeking early success. I actually gave myself a "ten year rule" when starting the project that I would not let it fall off for ten years, even if it slowed at times or whatever.
I think that's the kind of realization that can only happen if you've had a history of moving from one thing to another, which is a really healthy part of growth.
This is usually me, but I've actually finished a couple. The key difference for me is that I'm solving an actual day-to-day pain point, which motivates me to at least get it to a usable state. Otherwise, it's just a learning exercise (which is great too!)
If you find your products to be useful for the market, why do you put them off? I think these are the products we need to spend time on building
I've got a few on the sidelines and started building a twitter clone and it's about to be sidelines as well😂