Ask HN: How to find the energy for side projects after day job?

I’m not successful in a side hustle, but I do study or practice skills after work, and it took me a long time to escape from being too tired to do anything. These things helped me: - Stay dressed for “work.” Basically, I don’t change into my pajamas until I’m done studying. Even in covid times, I usually have work clothes I wear during the day. Maybe not a button down, but definitely not something as comfy as my lounge clothes. - Have a ridiculously low bar for getting started. For me, something like “I will watch 2 minutes of lecture,” is low enough that it feels trivial. 90% of the time, I finish up what I’d normally plan. There are some days where just making that low bar feels exhausting, but the fact I did it helps me keep momentum for the next day. Forgive yourself if the low bar is all you achieve some days. Other days, you’ll be on top of the world. - Being exhausted a lot is touted as normal in our culture. This is how you know you’re “adulting good.” Don’t buy in to it and figure out if there may be an underlying cause. Maybe you drink caffeine too late. Maybe you need to go to bed earlier. I personally found out I was iron deficient and getting some more iron in my diet was like getting a new lease on life. I had assumed I was okay because being tired and needing coffee is so prevalent. I bet a lot of people are like me and not realize something is off, so I just want to mention it.

For me, it's a mix of passion, potential business, and call of duty (if I may say it like this). I started working on this open-source project three years ago. I needed a tool like this, but also, I wanted to learn aside from my day job. The project has been growing since then, and now, I know that I can create a business around it. I also get a lot of support or feature requests. So I kind of feel like I have to continue working on it (that's the "duty" part :) ). Finally, I am very passionate about development, which helps a lot. These are probably the three things that motivate me to work on this project.

Still, having a family with two kids, working during the evenings is not easy at all. What I tried was to set realistic, small goals. One feature at a time, one task after the other. Not trying to overdo it (most of the time). I also know that having only one to two productive hours in the evening, I need to be extra focused and avoid phony work. I try to ask myself "why?", for each task. What is my goal? How does doing this specific task serves it? Thus, I manage to avoid working on useless things or procrastinating. With more or less success.

Having said all this, I still nearly burned out last September. Next month I will go full time on the project. It's a big bet, and it's partly about reclaiming my sanity and my free time. So, your question is definitely not an easy one to answer!

(My side project: https://mockoon.com)

violetgarden · 5 years ago

jhunter1016 · 5 years ago

My very first side hustle was a sports blog. In blogging, especially about sports, the content needs to be there when people wake up, head to work, and first arrive at work. That’s the peak reading time (at least when I was doing this). That meant, I had no choice but to get up super early and work to get my writing out before I headed to my day job.

That constraint stuck with me. I cannot work on side hustles after work. I always work on them before. My second successful side hustle, Graphite Docs, started that way. It eventually became a full-time gig for me. I shut it down last year, started another company, left that, contracted, then eventually got a day job again.

And now, I work on yet another side project in the mornings before starting my day job. Perligo (https://perligo.io), a digital critique group platform for creative writers, is mostly a passion project for me, but even still, I don’t think I could muster the energy to work on it after my day job.

So, that’s a long-winded way of saying try working on your side hustle before work instead of after :)

255kb · 5 years ago

Jtsummers · 5 years ago

I don't do a side hustle, but I do have side projects (for my own edification). Things that help:

- If it's work related, i.e. my math studies related to my astrophysics related work project, try to flow into it after work. I'm probably already in the right mental frame and have the motivation (something in the project was stymying me or piqued my curiosity).

- If it's not work related, take a break, preferably something physical. I used to run after work, now I row and do some bodyweight exercises + yoga (I'll run again once it's not below freezing with ice on the sidewalks). This exhausts me physically, but creates a complete break from my work. After a shower, I feel refreshed, and can get to whatever it is I want to do.

jokethrowaway · 5 years ago

I definitely think some people have it easier or harder. I score pretty high in conscientiousness (as in the Big Five, you can test yourself on https://openpsychometrics.org/) and I never had problems working myself off to unhealthy levels.

Because this is what you're looking into doing. If I were you I'd take the signal from your body as a message to stop doing what you're doing, work normal hours, renegotiate your contract to work less for your employer and more for yourself.

If you're still willing to do that and trying to diagnose: Could it be age / family related? I used to work 12-16hrs a day when trying to start my startup. When I went contracting I had to check my hours not to work too much and I was very active on my side projects.

I all changed when I had kids. 5 years of bad sleeping and stress took their toll: I started having health problems and I barely have the energy to work.

The point being: maybe you need to fix some other parts of your life in order to have more energy?

Check your sleep, amount of physical activity, happiness.

abinaya_rl · 5 years ago

I've been working on a side project for more than a year with the full-time job. I've set a rule for myself to set aside min 10mins to an hour per day for the side project. No matter what, even I'm extreme busy, at-least I go through the code and fix the minor bug or something. The day will not pass without touching my side project :)

That's how I was able to maintain it and keep focus on it. Just sharing my thoughts.

giantg2 · 5 years ago

I would say make sure they are different kinds of work.

I sort of enjoyed my second job working at Lowe's. Standing and helping people get the products they needed for their project was a nice change from sitting at a desk and staring at a screen all day. Pretty soon the $10/hr and 60hr (combined) weeks make it so it's not worth it.

Now I'm a beekeeper in my spare time. I sell honey and candles. I also sell other craft items. That's not really worth it either, but it could be good for a retirement job.

pesfandiar · 5 years ago

It is true that time is not your only resource to allocate, and one would need to manage energy as well to handle a side project. The nice thing about energy is that it's not as rigid as time, and you can expand your energy budget by improving your overall health. The common advice is to improve your sleep, diet, exercise routine and social life. They all require some time investment, but it seems like you have some to spare.

fuzzfactor · 5 years ago

I already had worked 12 hours a day 7 days a week for less appreciative people.