I don't do that at all these days. It's almost a guarantee that I'll eventually use the big complex thing, so I rarely even consider trying anything else if it's a project that actually matters.
Makes sense. For me it was important to pick something that I regularly used. Picking a smaller project will make it easier to mentally decompose, but you'll also get a leg up on a larger one if you're really familiar with the endpoints. Of course, you can do both:)
I feel the same way. Heaven forbid that I do something that I know how to do that gets the job done and it's not the perfect way or is even, perhaps, completely silly. Let's focus on that thing and not the overall project.
Indeed. It's not that I don't care about the job, but after doing it so many times it loses its magic already. I do think stuffs that I am building during my day job is useful.
I used to engage in a lot of yak shaving (needless refactors, redesigns, etc), but I never actually shipped anything. I was tired of having a big pile of unfinished projects, so I forced myself to take a more waterfall-y approach to some smaller projects: define the requirements and build only what is needed to meet those requirements. Once it's shipped, I allow myself to look at biting off another chunk of work, but until that chunk of work is done, I'm not doing anything else.
If I have a good enough idea for a project, I just kinda start making it. No plan. Just trial and error, trying to get what's in my head on to the screen.
This is generally an extremely inefficient way of making a project since planning is usually a good idea, but it's just the way I do things, so I've embraced just starting and seeing where it goes.
I work on projects every day after work for about 2 hours a night, and on weekends for about 4 hours a day. Many times I don't feel like working on my project but I'll still work on it anyways. Nothing better to do.
I always try to make the absolute simplest product I can get away with as I have lots of things I want to make, and after months and months of working on a project I get bored. But... I make sure to always finish what I start.
Came here to say this basically. If a project only has surface level interest, I'll never finish it. The only projects I've ever finished are ones that I found that would be legitimately useful for me or other people. It has to solve a problem that, like you said, is meaningful.
I end up doing exactly the same thing though I start with the intent of starting a project. What usually happens is there is no particular algo or technique I wanted to explore and once I do that I lose interest and feel bad about never finishing a useful side project. This was especially true with video games when I was younger!
Used to be the same for me and in a way it still is. It's nice though to have a long-term project to deep-dive into. The last time I started a longer term project, I've set myself some sort of deadline, if I can pass this critical problem to get a first proof-of-concept after a month or two I continue. So I had a hobby project for a few years.
I used to build a new thing every week in college. Ironically, I was getting none of my school work done because I was focusing so much on my personal projects and learning to code.
These days, I get my job's work done, but I feel so uninspired in my work. I know the amount of work required to create a quality product, and I get discouraged by it. In some ways, it was easier to finish a project when I was recklessly hacking away at code without regard for safety or scalability
I recently made a list of partially-done side projects. It's long. I set a target to not start any new projects. Unfortunately, the fun part is the first part. Taking something that works 90% and dealing with edge cases and polishing it is (for me anyway) far less exciting than hacking together prototypes.
For most skills, I absolutely must have a small project in mind from the beginning. I have no patience for learning a new language or tool if I don't have a particular project that uses it.
No, I prefer the projects I work on to succeed - but not because I enjoy seeing my previous projects succeed.
Merely because I hope I can use them to demonstrate success in future gigs.
I'm more than happy to forget the nth API or crappy frontend I had to work on to buy my house.
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