How I choose a side project

If you know me, you know that I’m a big fan of side-projects, and the benefits they bring. Of course, there’s an infinite number of possible projects I could work on, and I’ve got three kids now (plus one on the way), so my personal time is increasingly precious. I have to be selective about what I choose.

I’ve been wanting to articulate the things I think about when I’m choosing a side-project, so I put together a write-up on the Sparkbox blog. I put a lot of time and thinking into it (particularly the diagrams), so I hope you find it useful. If you do, please share it with your friends. Here’s an excerpt:

There are a lot of “joy” projects out there. You get a spark of an idea for something fun to work on, and you do it. For me, the problem with joy-only projects is that once they stop being fun (as most things eventually do), there’s no other reason to keep it up. When you’re putting in time and getting out nothing, that’s a bad side project. Bad side projects are a thing, and if you value your time, you want to avoid them.

See the rest here: Joy, Skill, Career, and Money: How I Choose a Side Project