The slippery slope of side projects
It all starts with an idea, instantly "validated" by a wave of excitement, and within seconds I'm registering a new domain name. I'm a sucker for side projects.
Side projects are great for many things, including…
Learning something new.
Scratching an itch.
Building your personal brand, which typically has significant professional implications.
Making some side money.
Serving as a creative outlet.
Side projects often lead to meaningful leaps in one's life and work. What is a hackathon other than a company-sponsored weekend-o-side-projects?
The issue I've seen in my own life is that the side projects unintentionally become a burden, or they pull my time and attention away from things where I could have a more significant impact.
At their worst, side projects serve as a negative enabler, distracting me — often giving me permission to distract myself — from things of greater significance or impact.
As a window into my own obsession with potential side projects, here’s a (lightly redacted) screenshot of the domains I registered in 2021.
The Question
So what do I do when a new idea hits? Most of the time, nothing. Ideas are easy. The execution is the hard part.
Typically, I note the idea in my phone; I meditate on the idea over the following days. If the idea doesn't go on the "back burner" of my mind, then I'm probably developing a small obsession with this idea.
When I recognize that an obsession is budding, I ask myself the following question:
Do I really want to dedicate substantial time over the next five years to this side project, or am I hyper-fixating on that dopamine hit I get when I start something new and exciting?
So, what happens when I actually commit to a side project?
Atlanta Unicorns
As I type this, I'm four weeks removed from launching a small side project: AtlantaUnicorns.com
Over the 2021 Christmas holidays, I used breaks in the days and in the evenings to create a single-page hub that tracks the status of Atlanta's startup unicorns.
This site is a side project I felt comfortable committing to because, as someone excited about the growth of the Atlanta startups ecosystem, I wanted to ensure I was adequately aware of and able to follow the changes in the ecosystem.
Creating the site allowed me to ensure I had the proper tracking on Crunchbase to be alerted of new fundraising rounds (unicorn-related or otherwise).
With time being a key factor, the decision with the project was an easy one because I think the bulk of the time commitment was at the start. Given that a handful of Atlanta startups will achieve unicorns status each year, I likely won't need to update the site more than once every few weeks. If I need to update it more, that is awesome because the Atlanta startups ecosystem is on a steep, upward trajectory.
“I have my own AtlantaUnicorns.com”
Got an idea that just won’t keep its ass on the backburner? Awesome!
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