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Comment by davidsiems | Hacker News Reader

Get a job.

Don't view getting a job as failing. There's a lot you can learn from the experience. Both in terms of what to do and what not to do.

Don't view it as 'making your parents happy'. It's more about independence and self-sustainability. What would you do tomorrow if your parents decided to cut you off?

If you're working 8 hours a day you'll still have a few hours to work on your own stuff. I work 8 hours a day with a 1 hour commute each way and still manage 1-4 hours a day on personal projects.

My advice? Get out there, get some perspective. You can learn a lot about responsibility and self-discipline from the workplace, maybe that'll help you with your own stuff as well :)

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"Don't view getting a job as failing. "

I was actually going to post this exact same advice. Getting a job is not failing. You graduated college so obviously you place some value in having a structured environment to learn. If done carefully, a good job can provide you with a whole new set of skills (and contacts) that may prove invaluable, in much the same way college did - only you are getting paid for it and building up that independence. On top of that, you can still work on your project - it is not one or the other.

Also, I actually believe that learning how to release is very important. A good job will teach you that skill. How do you decide what is the "minimum" set of features? How do you decide which bugs have to be fixed and which can be ignored for now? How do you decide when a feature is "complete"? How do you balance the need for a new release yesterday versus the need to address issues and add value. These are all things that it sounds like you are having trouble with - and a good job will show you how other people make these decisions, which you can then apply to your own project.

I admit it's irrational to view getting a job as failing. However irrational it may be though, at the moment it is still my viewpoint. In the future this may change.

I completely agree that getting a job can be a valuable experience and I could certainly use some perspective.

What I am concerned about is whether I can realistically manage to develop for 8 hours a day at work, come home, and develop for 1-4 more hours. Even if I did manage to do it, how much time does that leave me for other activities? Not to mention, the feedback loop would be absurdly long for anything but the most trivial weekend projects.

All this said, if my parents decide to cut me off tomorrow, I'm immediately looking for a job. I want independence. I want self-sustainability. I know a job can provide them. But before I start looking for a job, I want to finish my project and see if it's as promising as I anticipate. If it flops, at least I tried.

Is there anything wrong with this? I suppose it depends on how long it takes to get things done. I do not want to be in this position 6 months from now, being 90% done instead of 80% done.

Working 8 hours a day, 1 hour commute each way, and up to 4 hours on personal projects... do you manage to achieve this while maintaining a relationship and friendships? =)

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