Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Two things have helped me with that:

* I started blogging about my projects. And I try to keep a pace of roughly 1 blog post every 2 months. * I have a mix of on-going long term and short term projects.

(I've also submitted talk proposal for long term project for a conference even though I had barely started that project. It got accepted. The fear of a public failure was very motivating! I don't recommend it.)

Forcing myself to write something every 2 months automatically results in the need to do some short term stuff as well. 2 months ago I made simple how-to video about how to solder with enamel magnet wire and all the tools in my home electronics lab.

This weekend, I spend hours on disassembling, photographing, and measuring the signals in a smoke detector with an expired battery. (Writeup WIP.)

These are all things that only take a day or two to complete.

Meanwhile, I have a project ongoing to convert an FPGA-based thin client into a retrogaming machine. I work on it on and off. Sometimes it's idle for months, and then I pick it up again for a few days. I don't know if I'll ever complete this project, but it's all hobby stuff anyway, so there's no pressure.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: