Let your side projects languish

Matt Ellen - Aug 28 '20 - - Dev Community

I think this comic sums up my experience with side projects.

I have loads and none of them are done, some might be close but none are finished. And I'm always starting more.

I think the comic makes it look like having lots of side projects is bad. I don't think it is.

Side projects are not your job. Maybe you want to have it as a side hustle, but that's a different thing, then you have two jobs.

Side projects are done for fun.

If you go to a museum, you can't fail if you don't see all the exhibits. You won't be fired, fined or reprimanded.

If your hobby is sports then you're in no peril for not winning. You won't be evicted for not completing a computer game.

Leisure time should not be viewed through the same gaze as work time.

As a general rule, you can't fail at leisure. (There are specific things, like free climbing, that one might say have a way to fail, but that's not what I'm getting at.) If someone is making you feel bad for how you enjoy your time off, then maybe they need to reëxamine their priorities.

So don't worry if you have a hundred side projects and you want to add more. It's your time. You're under no obligation to finish anything.

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