How To Build A Project On The Side While Working Full Time

This is no easy task, and the only way I know to do this (that is, while maintaining sanity) is by using a framework popularized by author Cal Newport: Slow Productivity.

It consists of three main ideas:

1. Do fewer things.

2. Work at a natural pace.

3. Obsess over quality.

The first two ideas may be suspicious for most—in such a busy world, who dare say that we should work slower instead of going at max speed? That we should do less instead of more?

The third one is what makes the framework practical and appropriate for this fast-moving world: obsessing over quality WHILE working at a natural pace AND rejecting garbage tasks helps us achieve important goals faster. This is both counterintuitive and true.

Since this is the only way I know how to build something relevant while working full time, this is how I’m building Detox Mental: a journaling platform aimed to steal 10 minutes a day from social network apps so users can do something productive for themselves.

This approach changed everything: before hearing about Slow Productivity, I was discouraged when I could not put in large blocks of work for my side project each day.

“How will I ever build anything worthwhile with so little time to invest?”

But the trick is in consistency over a long period of time instead of reckless intensity over a short one.

At the end, I’ve noticed that worthwhile ideas can require as much thinking as they do building, and seeing a project grow slowly but surely is the opposite of discouraging: it’s a deep source of pride and motivation.