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Kacper Wojaczek's avatar

Love this article! One technique I'm trying myself is inspired by the book "12 week year". I've outlined my near term goals and things that I want to do with my side project, then worked with ChatGPT to break that into chunks that are manageable within 1-2 hours a day. This way I've created small task lists for myself so that I don't feel overwhelmed with the project as a whole, but I can also track my progress and see that I'm moving things forward.

To top that off, ChatGPT also wrote a small app for me to just tick off the tasks for the day and monitor the overall progress. It's a small silly thing but it's extremely satisfying to be able to check something off a list and see the progress bar grow 😀

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David Weiss's avatar

That’s really cool! Yes, AI can be super helpful to bounce ideas off and even break down big tasks into smaller ones. I’m actually using an AI SaaS called Buildpad to help me with my second SaaS app. It’s not writing code for me, but it is helping me organize what I need to do.

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Kacper Wojaczek's avatar

Oh wow, that looks like a cool tool, I'll check it out

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Tharashasank Davuluru's avatar

I just read your post "Balancing Work, Family, and Side Projects", and I must say — it really resonated with me! I’ve also written something on a similar theme, so it felt especially relatable. Loved how honestly you’ve shared your perspective.

By the way, your content in general is great — insightful yet very real.

I’ve been working on ideas around engineering leadership and creating an "Engineering Manager’s Playbook" series on my Substack (tshasankda.substack.com). If you’re interested, I’d love to connect and possibly collaborate on something around this theme. I think our thoughts and writing styles could complement well.

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Colette Molteni's avatar

As a parent who works full-time and is writing on Substack on the side, giving myself grace and allowing fluidity with my time has been an asset. I am intentional with the time I designate to write and the other time I am fully engaged with family and away from my desk.

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David Weiss's avatar

That's great to hear, Colette. Intentionality can really help you move the needle and make progress.

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Alex Buaiscia's avatar

Trying that for some time, and every time life took over for long stretches.

Is it just me that have the feeling that something always happens when start working on a night/late side project?

It demotivated me so much in the past :D

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David Weiss's avatar

I recommend breaking everything down into micro-tasks (30 minutes max). Once you check off some of those tasks, you'll build momentum and want to keep going.

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Alex Buaiscia's avatar

I will have to find 30 minutes to create a breakdown :D but good advice, thanks, I'll try to do that

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Daniil Shykhov's avatar

Balance is fluid, not fixed.

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David Weiss's avatar

Very much so!

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Fabio Hiroki's avatar

Finding the energy to work on side projects after normal work hours, chores, and family responsibilities is tough! Sometimes the desire is there, but the energy just isn't. It's a constant balancing act, and acknowledging that exhaustion is part of the equation is important.

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