Ask HN: How to get motivation of side projects if you don't need the money?
I have a really good salary as a remote engineer (and I live in a part of the world where one salary could last me 6 months). However, I am getting bored of my work (due to many reasons; AI could be one of them).
I want to try different side projects (not all of them being tech-related); for example, opening an online niche bookshop would be ideal. But when I consider the effort I would have to put in and the money I would earn (a small percentage of my salary), I know it's not worth it. It will add stress, consume time, and it won't a good experience anymore. I am also aware that creating a side project that will give me a significant portion of my salary is almost impossible at this point.
I know some people say that we should do some things just for the pleasure of it and not for the money, and I agree, but that's only when money is not involved. How can you do it with side projects / side businesses? I already solved problems with money so all my side projects is open source. It's not famous and have not tons of users, but I really like to work on this. It's important to separate what your side project are: is it business or is it hobby? If it's a hobby then just to what you like and have fun, it it's about profit - so yeah, it will not be tons of fun and will generate stress. There’s a difference between a side project and a side business. The fact that you’re framing it in terms of monetary reward means you’re always going to be comparing it to your primary source of income. Instead, start with something you want to build purely for fun, and start small.