My #1 rule for lasting side project passion
We all love a good side project. It’s our playground, our laboratory, the place where we get to build things purely for the joy of it, free from corporate mandates and stakeholder meetings. It is where we explore new tech, hone our skills, and maybe even stumble upon our next big idea.
Yet there is a subtle trap I have walked into not once, but twice. Each time, it cost me a project I cared about.
The rise and fall of my passion project
Back in 2001, my passion project was a music fan site. I loved working on this site. I spent countless hours crafting my own PHP-based CMS for it, reveling in every line of code, every new feature. It was pure, unadulterated fun.
Then came 2005 and a new day job. My professional life suddenly revolved around building websites with TYPO3, a powerful and notoriously complex open-source PHP CMS. After about a year, feeling like a TYPO3 guru, I had an idea: why not migrate my CMS to TYPO3? It made perfect sense! I could streamline everything and apply my growing professional expertise.
Huge mistake.
What had been a joyful escape quickly became an extension of my workday. After eight hours wrangling TYPO3, coming home to do the exact same thing felt like a second shift. Instead of inventing new features, I was troubleshooting slow page loads and performance issues. The spark went out. One day, without planning or warning, I simply pulled the plug.
I did not start another user-facing side project for almost fifteen years.
History repeats itself
Fast forward to 2020. The itch returned, and I embarked on a new adventure: critical-notes.com. I started with Svelte and Firebase, eventually evolving the stack to SvelteKit and Django by late 2021. My day job was firmly rooted in iOS app development, making this side project a completely different kind of experience. I loved working on this site.
Then came 2023. I decided to pivot professionally and return to the open web. My new project involved a SvelteKit frontend and a Django backend: the exact same technologies powering Critical Notes. “Brilliant!” I thought. “I can leverage my side project knowledge at work, and vice versa!”
Oh, how quickly we forget the lessons of the past.
Predictably, the motivation began to fade. After a full day immersed in SvelteKit and Django at work, the thought of spending my free time tackling SvelteKit 5 updates, Tailwind migrations, or building new features for CN felt like, well, work. The struggle to find energy for something I used to love became very real.
Protect your creative energy
So, here’s my hard-won advice: have a side project. Absolutely. It gives you room to experiment, learn, and explore ideas you may never touch in your day job.
But please, for the sake of your passion and sanity, keep its technological stack distinct from your nine-to-five.
Think of it like this: if you are a professional furniture maker who builds chairs all day, you probably do not unwind by building another chair in the evening. You sketch. You carve something decorative. You pick up a different material entirely. Creativity needs a shift in tools and context to stay energizing.
Do not let familiarity turn your passion project into a chore. Let it be your escape, your playground, a place where you rediscover why building things is fun in the first place.
Keep it fresh. Keep it distinct. Keep it yours.
