How to find motivation for personal projects after work?

Question

I love programming and made it my trade. Nowadays I rarely find energy after to work to continue on my personal projects. How do you manage to do so?

bitxbitxbitcoin · Accepted Answer

Sometimes it is easier to do personal projects in the morning and let that low energy feeling be the end of your work day instead :).

atatatat · Answer

If none of this other great advice works, and you only have 1-2 hours anyhow, vaporized cannabis.

DrOctagon · Answer

Put on some music you like and work for as long as it takes to drink two beers. Work with joy.

tkiolp4 · Answer

Work less. Keep you brain with enough energy for the important things.

brudgers · Answer

Find projects that are motivating.I mean it's ok and maybe even good if programming all day at work is enough of the thing you love before bed. You can do something else that makes artifacts like woodworking or Youtube videos or photography that's different.It's ok and maybe even good to be multi-talented. Good luck.

the__alchemist · Answer

Take local leave, depending on your job - ideally contiguous with the weekends. It's how I do it.

knikes · Answer

For me, working on a project that I feel has a high potential for success gives me the 'motivation energy' to continue writing code after already having spent hours writing code at work. It just doesn't work for me if I'm not working on something motivating.

d--b · Answer

I did it in the mornings. 1 hour every day. I was surprisingly efficient

selfhoster11 · Answer

I switched into hobbyist self-hosted software instead. It's not as fun, but it lets my brain rest. I guess the secret is to do the opposite of your day job as a hobby.

mikewarot · Answer

Long ago, before he put is writing behind a paywall, I used to read Urban Survival week.... the one piece of advice I thought had huge merit was to put your own work ahead of any work you do for others.Work on your project BEFORE the 9 to 5 job, not after. When you get home, rest and recover.

visox · Answer

not sure, i do find innner energy or desire to build something but there are also days when i am exhausted.
on the other hand when i watch something or play games something is growing in me which forces me to continue to work on my project.
i do have a lot of side projects and maybe half of them are "finished"

noud · Answer

Don't work too hard at work so that you have some energy left afterwards. (easier said than done)

k0t0n0 · Answer

Start a small project and finish it.