Developers have a problem with side projects

What's going on, guys? So, how many times have you thought of and got excited about some kind of side project or idea, and you you start mapping out the UI, you build the homepage, maybe a login page, and then you never touch the project again, and it just kind of fades away. So, if this has happened to you, you're definitely not alone, and I'm definitely including myself in this. It doesn't mean that you're lazy or not ambitious or you're a bad developer. So, let's talk about why this happens so much and what you can do to stop it. All right, so let's go point by point on why so many of us start projects and then abandon them so quickly. So first off, I think too many ideas and not enough execution. And what I mean by that is developers are creative by nature. We want to build things and and problem solve. We get hit with a new idea every time we open up Reddit or Product Hunt or just driving down the street. And and now with AI, that has increased 10fold. I mean, I have so many ideas, I just I can't keep track of them. And the problem is that we chase these new ideas instead of building momentum. So, my suggestion is to write down all your ideas, but only work on one at a time. You know, give it a deadline for a minimum viable product and build momentum. And you can always revisit the other ideas later. They're they're not going anywhere. I think what makes uh a software development project different from just about any other type of project in the world is that it doesn't take much if anything to start one. You know, think of if you're a carpenter and you want to build yourself or someone else a shed. You have to invest a lot just to get started. You need to spend quite a bit of money to get started. You need tools, materials. You need to find and clear a space. You need to do the the actual physical work. And if you decide to just give up on that, you lose a lot. You know, for software development, we simply open a text editor and start the project, we don't really have to invest anything other than our own time, which of course is valuable. Um, but when you're ready to go into production, you will need to pay for infrastructure. That does cost money, but I'd say the first three quarters of your project won't cost anything in terms of money, and that causes us to just have to start things and not finish them. Next I would say is overengineering. I think a lot of devs overengineer from day one. I'd say that this kills more side projects than anything. Um let's say you decide to build a blog, which I know is a very general example, but something that's pretty simple and straightforward, but then you start building microservices, setting up Docker containers, custom authentication systems, um before you even get a homepage up. And these things are great if you're looking to learn how to do them um or if this project is going to be really large and it actually needs microservices and containers. But if your goal is to get something like a blog out quickly and actually finish it, then stop overgineering. You're just you're going to waste a lot of your time and lose momentum cuz you're going to get caught up in in the complexity that doesn't actually move the project forward. So my advice is to to keep keep it stupid simple at first at least. So start with one repo, one database, one framework and ship something. You can always refactor it. You can always scale it up later on um once it's you know being used by someone other than yourself. Uh another big one is the fear of imperfection and we tell ourselves the project's not done yet. The UI isn't polished. The the code could be cleaner. U the color scheme isn't perfect. So we just keep tweaking and tweaking until we lose interest completely. So, let me tell you something. Done is better than perfect. And that little voice that's in your head that that keeps telling you, you know, this this project isn't ready yet, ignore it. And and you don't need pixel perfect design or perfect logic to to launch a side project. You need momentum. Um, my wife actually taught me the phrase progress over perfection. And that really applies here. And I'm not saying that you should just throw things together, Mickey Mouse it, and write bad code or or, you know, use AI to generate everything and not care, but there is a middle ground between that and between trying to be perfect. Um, another reason that devs don't finish anything is there's no real deadline. You know, when you're doing client work as a freelancer or you're working at a company as a developer, there's always pressure to finish. And when it's your own project, it's easy to just let it sit. um you're not really held accountable by another person or company. You you need to learn how to how to hold yourself accountable and I do think that that's a skill and that's something that has helped me in both freelancing and content creation and my you know teaching. Um I I can't remember the last time that I had a boss or a manager. Uh a lot of people say that they want to work for themselves and and be their own boss and that's great but you actually have to be your own boss. you know, you have to hold yourself accountable, and that's something that that I've done right. Um, I've done a lot of things wrong, but that's one thing I've always done right is I've had the discipline. I've held myself accountable. Um, and that's just something you need to do if you're going to start building your own projects. I recommend giving yourself external accountability as well, like make make uh Twitter posts or expost. I'm launching this Friday. Uh, tell your followers, tell your friends, tell your dog. just make the timeline a real thing. Now, let's talk a little bit about burnout, which is something I know quite a bit about. Uh, a lot of devs treat side projects like hackathons. You know, work on them for 14 hours on a Saturday and then not touch them for 3 weeks. And that's just a a recipe for disaster and exa exhaustion. Uh, instead, work on your project like a like it's a gym habit. Maybe 30 minutes a day or something. And that little bit of time, it adds up, you know, it it adds up over time. Uh, and it builds momentum. If you're already feeling burnout from your day job or freelancing or whatever it is you do all day, it's probably not the best time to start a pro a side project. You know, if you have a deadline at work that's stressing you out, don't add more to your plate. Nothing good is going to come from that. So, just wait until you get a minute to breathe before starting a new project. And another project killer which I think is related to these other ones is that you never define what done actually means. You keep coding and tweaking and adding dark mode and rebuilding the authentication for the third time. So of course it never gets finished. And in reality uh most software projects are never done like completely where you're never going to touch them again. But what I mean by done is a point to where you can have people start using it. You know make it live. Uh, also tweet, post, uh, you know, on LinkedIn, on X, show it off. That's that's part of the process as well. But don't let the idea of perfection keep you from shipping something that works. You know, when I create something, my goal is always to get that MVP, that minimum viable project out. Um, it doesn't mean that the project will always look like that. It may change completely, but at least you have a working project that you can deploy and people can start using. So, I I'll leave you with this. Finishing a project is a skill. You know, it's not about talent. It's not about intelligence. It's about focus, momentum, and knowing when to call something done. So, if you have 10 half-built apps sitting in your project folder, just pick one. You know, pick it and build momentum. Don't overthink it. Set a deadline and ship