SIDE PROJECTS THAT SHIP

@tylersticka=

When doyou sleep?

Making Time

“Creative pursuits away from work seem to have a direct
effect on factors such as creative problem solving andhelping others while on the job. It can be rare in research
to find that what we do in our personal time is related toour behaviors in the workplace, and not just how we feel.”— Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology

1 day

work

rest

recreation

I’M JUST SO BUSY...

Making Progress“Nothing just worked, so I started hacking
something together for myself and thenrealized it could solve these problems fora lot of other people.”— Drew Houston

“My whole career has been me trying to find new ways tocommunicate with people, because I desperately wantto communicate with people, but I don’t want the messy
interaction of having to make friends and talk to people,
because I probably won’t like them.”— Edmund McMillen

Indie Game: The Movie

“Success can mean many different things, andthe beauty of a side project is that you get todefine that success for yourself.”— Rachel Andrew

The Profitable Side Project Handbook

“I don’t know about you but I need agoal to learn a skill. I can’t deconstructand just learn welding for welding’s sake.
I need to have something that only welding will bring me.”— Adam Savage

Adam Savage’s 10 Commandments of Making

Project Goals

Personal Goals

Project Goals

Personal Goals(kEep yoU fOcuSed)(kEep yoU EngaGed)(whatever works for you)(whatever works for you)“A bit of time spent on setup andadmin will enable you to sit down
and start work more quickly —giving you less opportunity forprocrastination!”— Rachel Andrew

The Profitable Side Project Handbook

Sarah Parmenter (You Know Who)
Matias Corea (Behance)

Massimo Vignelli
David Gardner (Double Fine)

Make Progress

Review Goals

“Damn perfection. You don’t have tobe perfect. You are never going to doa Sistine Chapel, unless someone ties
you to a ceiling. Damn perfection.”— Jack Kirby

Accomplish yourgoals and ship...

...or fail, and move on.

“...failure meant a strippingaway of the inessential. I
stopped pretending to myself that I was anything otherthan what I was, and began
to direct all my energy into
finishing the only work thatmattered to me.”— J.K. Rowling

“When we look at films we’ve made, all
we can see are the flaws [...] unless I
start working on a new one, I’ll neverbe free from the curse of the last one.”— Hayao MiyazakiHow do I finda?
noun (occupation)

How do I finda DevEloper ?
noun (occupation)

Working together is hard...

...even if you’re amazing.

===

≠
==

Have you asked someone you know for feedback?

Have you asked someone you know for feedback?
Have you asked someone you didn’t know for feedback?

Have you asked someone you know for feedback?
Have you asked someone you didn’t know for feedback?
Did you try (and fail at) doing the job yourself already?

Have you asked someone you know for feedback?
Have you asked someone you didn’t know for feedback?
Did you try (and fail at) doing the job yourself already?
Have you shipped something entirely on your own before?

Have you asked someone you know for feedback?
Have you asked someone you didn’t know for feedback?
Did you try (and fail at) doing the job yourself already?
Have you shipped something entirely on your own before?
Are you prepared to bring more than ideas to a collaboration?

Thoughtfully manage your recreational time.

Maintain focus.

Identify your motivations.

Define personal and project goals.

Setup and admin up-front.

Iterate rapidly.

Fail often.

Collaborate well or not at all.

Ship when it’s done (not perfect).

And remember...

“Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is away to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Singin the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Writea poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well
as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward.
You will have created something.”— Kurt Vonnegut

A Man Without a Country

Thank you!
tylersticka.com
twitter.com/tylersticka
Apologies to DC Comics for my mangling of Detective Comics
No. 38 and Star Spangled Comics No. 65.
These swell designers made their lovely icons
available via The Noun Project:
Andy Fuchs		 TelevisionEdward Boatman
Stroller
Lemon Liu		Marriage
Lisa Staudinger
Snowflake
Narcisse			Video Game Controller
Nathan Thomson
Light Bulb
Pham Thi Dieu Linh Apple
Stanislav Levin		
Martini GlassStills or excerpts from film, television, comics,
music or literature in this presentation are ©
their respective owners. Their usage here isintended only for critique, comment or research.