Set yourself some deadlines
2023-07-01
My first post, on how to actually get things done in a side project.
The problem with side projects is lack of planning.
Most side projects end up abandoned before being finished. This is because —at least in my case— one gets sidetracked.
I never plan too much in advance or set any limits to what I want to create, and this results in me spending more and more time in some task I never thought about to begin with. In the case of a web, I may get too worked up on the design of the frontend, or I come up with an interesting feature which ends up being a huge time sink.
When I realize I've spent a sizable amount of time and I'm still a long ways from the end, I start losing momentum. Soon after that, another more interesting idea comes around and I abandon the project.
To get this blog done, I've tried something new for me: setting up a deadline.
I intended this to be a goal for the first semester of 2023 (Yes, I know I'm late, but not by much!). I decided this at the beginning of the year, and not long after, the inevitable happened. I started doing something else before finishing. But then, as the deadline loomed, there was this nagging feeling of trying to get it out somehow. Maybe with a minimum set of features instead of going crazy before it even lived.
Having a deadline brings a lot of benefits. If you know you have to be done by date x, you will be much more realistic on what is really needed and what is just fluff. It is much easier to keep focus. And there is one very important realization: you can keep adding to a project after it is public. When there is no money involved, the chance of survival of something with minimal features but which is finished is higher than that of a much more well-rounded but never-ending undertaking.
Another great spur for a side project is to talk about it to somebody who can follow along, create their own version or contribute to yours. Besides pushing you when you start to dwindle, the shame of not being true to one's word will steer you in the right direction! :)
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