Should I commit to my side project?
This is the starting place for countless budding entrepreneurs around the world. How do you know if your side project is worth pursuing? How do you know if your project is worth your time and effort? Is it possible to live a balanced life with a job, side project, family, and social life, and still take care of your basic needs to survive?
Your side project might be only an idea right now, or maybe you’ve been working on it and you’re not sure if you should dive in. Either way, we’ll explore six signs that you should commit to your side project.
1. It Excites You
If you feel a rush of excitement every time you think about your project, you know something is clicking. It may feel like a daunting or even impossible feat, but it’s clearly worth a spot in your life when it fills you with joy.
For me, I’ll often find myself fantasizing about reaching my goals as if I’ve already done the hard work. But the real indicator that I’m bursting at the seams over a project idea is if I get excited to sketch out what I want to make and get started on my next steps. Basically, if I can prove that I’m committed to the hard work and not just the praise I could get from doing it.
Note how you feel when you break down your project idea into tangible steps. Or if you’re already working on something, note how you feel when you’re working on it. If your project makes you feel positive, upbeat, or most like yourself, then you’re on the right track.
2. You’re Bursting with Ideas
Getting excited is one thing, but side projects take a lot of focus and dedication outside your normal work hours. You’ll inevitably have to make sacrifices in your free time like social events, Netflix binges, or sleep. Is your project worth it?
If you can’t stop thinking about your project, constantly coming up with new ideas and solutions, then there’s a good chance that your project can withstand the shifts in your life to make room for it. Just make sure that you aim for balance—you still need to make time for friends, relaxing time, sleep, food, and showers.
3. It’s Something You’re Good At
Your side project should stretch your skills and give you room to grow, but on the whole, it should utilize some skills that you already have. Ideally, you feel confident as you work on it. There’s always more to learn, and it may take months or years to get where you want to be, but at your core, you should know that you’re capable of seeing it through.
More than that, you should know that you can provide value. Whether it’s through entertainment with a novel or sketch series, useful creations you make by hand, or a service like coaching or house cleaning, you have something valuable to deliver.
4. It Scratches an Itch That Your Job Can’t Reach
Hopefully you enjoy your job, and even if you do, there are likely a few skills or aspects of your personality that can’t be exercised at work. A side project is an excellent way to round out your professional life and equip you with more than your job can offer on its own.
You probably already know what’s missing in your professional life. You may crave ownership over your ideas or have more control over the final product. Maybe you want to do something that doesn’t require approval from a boss. There might be a small part of you that wants to learn how to run a business and develop leadership skills. Or, you might want to express your creative side.
Whatever’s missing for you, your side project can fill in the gaps and become a great complement to what you do. For example, I’m a technical writer, and my side projects all have to do with writing and creativity, just not quite in ways that my job allows. I also have complete ownership of my ventures and am learning about the business side of things. My projects give me space to grow alongside the personal growth and fulfillment I get from my job. Everything I do makes me a better professional writer.
What you don’t want to do is repeat what you’re already doing at your job. Not only does that limit your room to grow, it’s likely a breach of the contract you signed with your employer. Make sure that your side project doesn’t compete with your employer, and disclose any business activities to your employer as they require in your contract.
5. You Keep Coming Back to It
As long as you have a full-time job, your job comes first. But in the free moments between your job’s demands, you might find yourself drawn to your project, even if you haven’t had time to work on it in months.
Being pulled back to your side project is a sign that you’re ready to commit; you just might not know how to balance it alongside your job and other responsibilities. Carve out some time in your day to dedicate to your project, and see if it continues to stick. Wake up 30 minutes earlier for some uninterrupted time to focus, take a notebook with you on your lunch break to jot down ideas, or block out a couple hours each weekend to hash out the details.
Try to make time a few different ways until you’re confident that you can consistently make time to chip away at your project.
6. The Thought of Committing Scares You (In a Good Way)
Taking on a side project can be scary because it’s bigger than you. You know that it will take time and hard work, and you don’t know what the payoff will be. You might think about the end result (or just the first step) and feel overwhelmed by how much you have to do. You don’t even know if you’ll ever finish.
If your project doesn’t scare you, it’s not the right project.
If your project seems simple or effortless, you might not be challenging yourself. When your project intimidates you, you have to grow into it. What’s important to focus on is that regardless of how it scares you, you can picture it. It has the potential to become part of the life you imagine for yourself when you dream big.
That’s what I call “scary in a good way.” Your project should present something (or many things) to learn.
Ready to Commit?
If these six signs speak to you, then you’re ready to commit to your side project. If you feel stuck or overwhelmed, figure out a good starting place and take that tiny first step forward. Or if you’re already working on something and you’re ready for more, build out a plan for what’s left and keep going.
Side projects can take away some of the normalcy in your life, but you have everything to gain. Keep your eyes on the excitement, the lessons ahead of you, and the feeling you’ll get when you’re ready to share your project with the world.