How to make working on your side project manageable/sustainable
Hello indie hackers. Most of us want to start or continue our indie hacking journey but it's not something most of us can do full time. "I'm mentally exhausted after work, I don't have the energy for my project" or "I just don't have time to work on it" are the most popular reasons why side projects are hard to sustain and manage. I hope this post helps solve some of these problems.
The no energy/time problem
The key is not saving energy, it is spending your energy and mental ability on the most important thing first. In this case, our side project. So do your side project BEFORE work. Here are some tips.
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Talk to your boss. Give him whatever reason why it is really inconvenient to come at 9 and ask if you can do 11-7 (the later the better).
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If you tend to take showers in the morning before work, start taking showers before you go to sleep and have whatever cloths you are going to wear ready. Basically do anything you can do the night before to save time in the morning.
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If you drive to work, consider looking for a remote job; there are tons out there now in 2022. They tend to be more flexible in time and you have so much time not driving and putting on your pants.
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Sleep really early, wake up really early. This is the best advice because you can do it now at no cost. If you get home from work at 5pm; eat/shower/prep and go to sleep at 8-9pm. Wake up at 4am and work for 4-5 hours.
Now you have time and energy! But you waste it
So it's 4-5am and you are pumped and ready to work, but first you need to check the news. 5 hours of twitter, facebook, and youtube goes by; Oh crap I gotta go to work! Sounds familiar?
It's easy to give the advice "Just don't go on those channels and work". But I want to help solve the root of the problem; and the root of the problem is most likely that you are SUBCONSCIOUSLY AVOIDING WORK BECAUSE IT IS DIFFICULT & UNPLEASANT. Here are some tips to help with that.
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Set a goal before you go to sleep, write this goal down.
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The goal that you set for yourself should be simple, easy, and not time consuming.
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When you wake up, do your bed. This will initiate "work mode".
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You just did one easy productive thing. Now let's do another; that super easy goal you made for yourself last night.
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The goal is really easy, no need to check twitter first. Once you accomplished your simple goal; you will feel this wave of productivity and focus; putting you in the "deep focus state".
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Ride this state to solve the unpleasant/difficult task that you were avoiding in the first place. If you don't complete it, it's okay. You already accomplished your goal.
Conclusion
I hope someone will find this post useful. Remember, if this was easy, everyone would have their own startup. To achieve the indie hacker dream; you yourself needs to be discipline, consistent, and hungry for a very long time. Good luck everyone and don't forget to enjoy the journey.
I agree with this because I’ve done it myself. When I was going through a coding bootcamp and working full-time, I would wake up early and spend time on my bootcamp projects first. It works!
Full time job + boot camp is rough. Good job. It kinda tells you that when you hear someone says "I don't have time for that", it actually means "I don't care about it enough".
To your first point: You can even look for a remote job a couple time zones over.
If you’re a morning person, you can get a job working 11-7 your time, but for the employer’s time zone that would be 9-5 and seem completely normal. Plus you can likely still keep the flexibility to work mornings if you really want to/ if you have something going on that night. Seems like a win/win.
Likewise, this can be used the other direction if you prefer. Get off work at 2 and squeeze in work time before night obligations if that works better for you.
That is a great point! Slipped my mind about looking for different time zone remote work. Wins for everyone.
Another bonus: if you get off work at 7 you can go to the gym after peak hours so it won’t be packed. That’s kind of nice.
Also remember, if your boss knows you’re a couple timezones over they’ll almost certainly allow flexibility if you find this isn’t working for you and you want to go back to the normal 9-5. Sounds like a win-win to me.
Also, then you can do marketing efforts while people are at work. Instead of constantly sending emails at night or 6am etc.
I'm going the path.
Although I find it hard to wake up at 5 am, sometimes it happens and I never regret it. I usually wake up early for 1 week and then the weekend comes and I slip into the late wakeup.
I would also recommend Cold Turkey app against procrastination. This app helps me a lot. I just start it in the evening for 24 or 12 hours and the next day I have my procrastination sites blocked, kind of forcing myself into the work mode.
Yea one problem with sleeping at 9pm is that you may find it hard to hang out with family and friends; or do whatever activities you like to do in the evenings.
I feel like waking up early — in particular — is incredibly important for working parents. I’ve tried working on side projects at the end of the day but am usually too exhausted to get in flow. And if by chance I do, I stay up far too late and my kids are going to wake up at 6:30-7am regardless.
That window before they wake up is crucial to getting things done!
Thank you for the post. These are some great tips and you are absolutely right, one can accomplish a lot by just being disciplined and consistent. I recently interviewed Luca and by working 2 hours per day in his project he and his partner were able to build a SaaS that end up being sold to a bigger company.