I know that a big struggle many of you have is finding time to work on side projects.
For the first few years I was coding I 100% had the time, but I wanted the conditions to be perfect.
I would only work on a project if i could have multiple hours uninterrupted.
This meant that I’d go weeks without ever touching my editor.
Something I really resonate with is ‘no zero days’ - never taking a day off, no matter if you just put 5 minutes in.
Taking a day off here and there feels like no big deal.
But when you’re trying to make significant progress, consistency over a long period of time is the most important thing.
So every day, write just a single line of code.
Often that turns into a flow state where you write one hundred.
That’s my most tactical advice to my younger self.
I’d also tell him to have a project to work on with a deadline.
I’ve found that I work best when I know there’s a time it needs to be done by.
Especially when working alone on a project, this prevents you from over-scoping.
If you only have a month to launch a side project, you don’t have time to add more features or ‘polish’.
This is the only reason I finally shipped my MVP.
I don’t (yet) have a launch date for my v1, so progress has been significantly slower.
I know the moment I give myself a date to launch on Product Hunt (leaning towards October), i’ll be much more efficient.
The last piece of advice I’d leave my younger self with is to learn his tools.
Memorizing keyboard shortcuts and knowing how to save time in your editor makes coding more fun.
Finding the tricks to save a few seconds here and there compounds (and makes you feel badass).
I made a video talking about the apps and tools I have on my Mac as a developer that I love.
Have a great week.
Cole
P.S. If you found this letter helpful, please consider sharing it with a friend :)
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