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 β€” often giving me permission to distract myself β€” 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.

 

β€œI have my own AtlantaUnicorns.com”

Got an idea that just won’t keep its ass on the backburner? Awesome!

  1. Get a domain at Hover

  2. Feel free to use my list of tools to help bring the idea to life

  3. Email me and tell me all about it

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