Finding the Time

“I’d love to work on my own projects, but I never seem to find the time.”

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard some variation of that line, I’d have a whole lot of nickels. Several vaults worth, at least. You’ve probably heard it too — coming out of your own mouth, even.

The idea that you’ll magically “find” the time to work on your side projects is silly. Once you’re done working at your day job, spending time with friends & family, and dealt with personal commitments, it’s hard to imagine finding even a spare second for anything else. Oh, and let’s not forget about those times life decides to throw you a curveball or two — as it does, from time to time.

But there’s something we all know deep down, even if don’t want to admit it to ourselves.

Thinking you don’t have any time is just an excuse.

(There are exceptions, to be sure. We all have moments where side projects are far from a priority. Having gone through it recently, I know that quite well. If you’re going through just such a time right now, feel free to disregard this advice until your life is back in order.)

We all feel like we’re working too much — that we have enough on our plates already. But if you’re going pursue the projects you’re most passionate about, you’re going to have to start prioritizing them. You’re going to have to optimize the time you have available.

Life will eat up every spare moment if you let it. If you’re serious about pushing your projects forward, you’re going to have to fight for the time to do it. 

How? By eliminating time spent on bullshit.

What’s bullshit? It’s time spent on consuming other people’s work, rather than producing your own. Or time spent on mindless busywork. Or doing things just to “stay busy.”

How much time are you spending:

• Watching hours of television, or playing video games?
• Reading every last post in your social media feeds?
• Reorganizing your desk, or hard drive, for the 1000th time?
• Hanging out with people you hate, doing things you don’t enjoy?

It’s time to take control of your schedule.

If I walked up to you and asked for $100, you’d rightfully have some questions for me. Like, “Why the hell should I give you $100, random stranger from the internet?” 

But when was the last time you applied even that low standard to your time? Time is one of the few finite resources in life but, far too often, we give it away freely.

Stop blindly accepting every meeting request you receive. Learn to say no to things you don’t want to do — or can’t contribute to in a meaningful way. Figure out when you’re most productive and schedule your days around that time.

Ask yourself some hard questions. Why are you spending time watching TV, or reading blogs, when you could be coding your next web app? Why are you blowing time reading Twitter, when you could be brainstorming your next great idea? Instead of listening to someone else’s podcast, why aren’t you creating your own?

Why are you reading this post, rather than doing something else?

You need to consciously decide to change those habits. It won’t be easy. But you’ll be amazed how much time you can “find” once you stop consuming and start creating. And start being intentional about your time.

When Shit Hits the Fan

I have something to confess: I haven’t written a new article for the Monday Mailer in more than a month. A new article has landed in your inbox each week, as usual. But each was written weeks ago.

Life has been a bit of a rollercoaster, over the last few weeks. Our family has been dealing with health issues, unexpected expenses, flooding (thanks, spring in Toronto!), and various other problems. I haven’t had much energy for writing.

Thankfully, I haven’t had to worry about the newsletter — I’ve simply published articles I’d already written.

There are two tips I give to aspiring writers and bloggers:

1. Never make promises.
2. Write more than you need to.

Both are good advice, for the same reason: you never know when shit will hit the fan.

Take advantage of productive periods in your life, when you have them. A while back, I was really on top of my game; cranking out a handful of new articles a week. When life went a bit sideways, as it does, I was glad to have those pieces banked up.

So far, so good.

Unfortunately, I broke one of my other rules. I made a promise I couldn’t keep.

When I announced my book, Finish Your Damn Side Project, my work was going great. Planning had gone well and I was writing at a prolific rate. I felt confident I could keep that pace going indefinitely.

I should have known better.

It's a project I know I'll complete, but I'm done talking about it until it's ready. I love sharing my writing process and the progress I'm making. The problem is, there isn't any progress to share. The irony of failing to work on a book about completing projects is fairly obvious, I think.

When the work flows easily, use it to your advantage. And while it’s happening, stay quiet about it.

Sorry, Most of Your Fears are Completely Made Up

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”

— Mark Twain

I often think about fear and how it relates to consistently doing great work. I’ve learned the biggest thing holding people back isn’t a lack of time or money.

It’s fear.

Fear of failure. Fear of making mistakes. Fear of letting themselves, or someone else, down. Fear of not matching up to other people. It’s almost universal.

We’re a fearful bunch, to be sure.

But it’s important to have some perspective. We’re building software, not bridges. If you make a mistake, nobody’s going to die — not even you. More often than not, if you screw something up, you can easily go back and fix it.

Most of us live in relative comfort. Heck, I’m writing this on an expensive laptop, with nice Bluetooth headphones in my ears, drinking an incredible coffee. I don’t have much to complain about. Or fear.

Most of us don’t need to worry about bears, falling down a mountain, or dying from a simple cold. Our ancestors had those — very real — things to worry about.

Today, though? We’ve moved on to worry about things like meetings, public speaking, or being criticized by someone else.

Our fears have no basis in reality.

Modern society is full of guardrails. Fall and break your leg? A quick trip to the hospital and you’ll be all set. Can’t get to the hospital? That’s okay; we have cars designed to pick you up and take you there.

(Depending on where you live, those services might bankrupt you. But that’s another article.)

If you think about it, the potential downside of any action you take is pretty damn small. It’s almost never going to be fatal. And there’s a good chance you’ll be able to bounce back, with a bit of time and effort.

Rational fears keep us alive. Irrational fear keeps us frustrated, demoralized, and depressed.

Unfortunately, in modern times, most of our fears are irrational.

The Tao of Gordon Ramsay

I don’t watch much television these days, but one of my guilty pleasures is old episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. Each episode, through the power of cursing and walking around in dramatic fashion, Gordon Ramsay works to turn around a struggling restaurant.

After a quick look around, Gordon inevitably finds a laundry list of problems — everything from dirty fridges to undercooked food, to terrible service. But there’s one problem that crops up, time and time again: large, unfocused menus.

Frequently, chefs and owners think the surest path to success is to overwhelm their customers with hundreds of options, spanning multiple cuisines. Their menus are confusing, wait staff are overworked, and the kitchen is chaotic. Each time, Gordon has to sit them down and explain the value of doing a handful of dishes well. Often, he ends up cutting their menu in half.

The result? Customers are less confused, wait staff can recommend their favorite dishes, and cooks aren’t forced to run around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to cook everything under the sun.

I’ve started to recognize the problem with large menus at the restaurants I visit. More often than not, it means poor food and service. It’s almost a universal truth.

A similar problem pops up in failing side projects.

Often, developers worry they’ll “blow it” by cutting features from the first version of their product. Driven by fear, and lacking real feedback on their ideas, they delay launching while they add “just one more feature” or spend three days pushing pixels on the home page. 

They try to cram their app’s menu full of everything that pops into their head — both figuratively and literally. Then, they wonder why they never seem to launch anything.

Gordon would be disappointed.

In my experience, shipping something half-finished hurts a lot less than never shipping it at all. 

It’s easy to look at someone else’s work and marvel at how polished it is. But remember, every side project could have been better or included more features. Those developers, the ones who consistently ship? They’ve embraced an important idea — at some point; you have to stop.

You have to ship.

5 Reasons to Boost Your Career with Side Projects

If you’re a programmer, particularly early in your career, there’s no better way to learn new skills, promote yourself, and improve your job prospects than working on side projects. Full stop. Brainstorming, developing, and releasing side projects has been a force multiplier in my career — and it can do the same for you.

Always working on side projects comes naturally to me, but I know that isn’t the case for everyone. Why should you spend your precious free time coding when you could be watching TV, hanging out with friends, or playing video games?

It’s a question worth examining; why are side projects so important?

The answer to this issue has a few different angles — and it’s going to be a little bit different for everyone. But here’s five reasons I think you should be working on a side project.

Low-stakes learning

We all know how important it is to stay on top of changes in the programming landscape. There’s always a new technology, library, technique, or platform to learn. Things are moving fast and, if you don’t keep up, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself out of date.

Working on a side project gives you the opportunity to pick up new skills in a low-stakes environment. If a side project fails, you don’t need to worry about letting down your team, pissing off your boss, or not being able to pay rent. You can try new things and learn from your mistakes, all at your pace.

Becoming an expert

If you’re willing to jump on new platforms before anyone else, you can quickly become the resident expert at work. When the Apple Watch SDK came out, I poured hours into building apps, mocking up potential interfaces, and sharing what I learned.

When the opportunity to do an Apple Watch project came up at work, I was the natural choice to lead it. Now, when new Watch projects pop up, I’m often asked for guidance and advice. It’s just one way I’ve increased my value at work and differentiated myself from others.

Landing your first job

If you’re a junior developer, looking to land your first job, side projects can help. There’s one big thing holding you back; your resume is more Sales Associate at Home Depot, less, Front-End Developer at Company X.

A lot of junior developers bump up against that wall for far too long, stuck at a crappy job with no real opportunity to learn and grow. Side projects give you a way out, building a reputation and portfolio for yourself.

Cultivating a portable reputation

Working on side projects can give you what Sean Fioritto calls “portable reputation.” If you’ve worked at one place for a long time, there’s a good chance you’ve built up a fantastic reputation and a fair bit of credibility. But there’s a big problem; that status is locked up with your employer.

If you leave, and you haven’t put time into cultivating a portable reputation, you’ll be relying primarily on your resume to help you stand out from the crowd. Can you land a job solely on the strength of your resume? Of course. But why not take every advantage you can get?

The demand for developers is huge right now, but it won’t last at this level forever. Side projects give you the opportunity to build a reputation independent of your employer. And reputation is leverage.

Sweet, sweet cash (maybe!)

While it shouldn’t always be your primary goal, there’s also the possibility of a side project turning into a side business. Some of the most successful companies were born out side projects — Gmail, Buffer, and Todoist come to mind.

Between apps and other digital products, I’ve managed to make some significant money from my side projects. Nothing life-changing, mind you. But once you start making money from a product or service of your creation, you’re forever changed. When you know how to plan, execute, promote, and sell your work, you become more self-sufficient. Once you realize you can generate income based on value, and not time spent, there’s no going back.