Between Side Hustle and Burnout
I ran a side project for a year alongside my full-time job and burned out twice. Here's the whole story.
It Started as Fun
Last January I kicked off a side project. A developer portfolio builder. "Create a portfolio site in 30 minutes." I coded 2 hours after work each day, 5 hours on weekends. Had an MVP in a month.
The first month was genuinely exciting. Using whatever tech I wanted, free from work constraints. Planning, designing, deploying -- all on my own terms. Plus the possibility of earning something beyond my salary.
First Burnout Hit at Month Three
Users had grown to 47. Bug reports started coming in at 3-4 per day. After work, the first thing I did was check the issue tracker. Fixing bugs until 1 AM. Showing up to work exhausted the next morning. Couldn't focus on my actual job. (Got called out for mistakes in code review three times in a row one day.)
My body signaled first. A headache that wouldn't go away for a week. A strong visceral resistance to opening my laptop on Sunday afternoon. "I started this for fun, so why does it feel like suffering?" That's when I fully stopped the side project for two weeks.
After the Two-Week Break, I Made Rules
Rule 1: One hour max on weekdays. No exceptions. Rule 2: Sundays off. Don't even open the code. Rule 3: Respond to bug reports within 24 hours, but push actual fixes to the weekend.
These rules carried me through four more months. Users grew to 183, I introduced paid subscriptions and was making about $85/month. ($85. Divide by hours worked and it's below minimum wage.)
Second Burnout at Month Seven
This time it was a motivation problem. $85/month didn't feel worth the time investment. Of 183 users, only 7 were paying. 97% were free users. New features got lukewarm responses. GitHub stars: 34. (Is 34 a lot or a little?)
"Why am I doing this?" looped in my head daily. Money? Not at $85. Fun? The initial excitement was long gone. Resume material? Honestly, I'm not sure a 183-user service moves the needle on a resume.
I Didn't Quit, But I Changed Direction
I redefined the project's purpose. From "make money" to "experiment with technology." I turned it into a playground for testing new tech in a production environment. Trying React Server Components, applying Edge Runtime, adding AI features.
Dropping the revenue expectation removed the pressure. Not caring about user numbers made bug reports less stressful.
One Thing I Learned
Side hustles don't survive on "passion" alone. You need a sustainable system. Time limits, clear purpose, rest days. Without these three, burnout arrives within three months. At least that's how it went for me.
Now I spend 5 hours per week on the side project. Revenue is still about $85/month. But I've reframed that $85 from "performance metric" to "byproduct." That shift in framing made everything easier.