I know some comic artists with day jobs, and pretty much every one of them gets up way early and gets drawing before going off to work. If they try to leave it until later life just butts in and it never happens.
Part of this is realizing that you'll have to do without certain things. You will not be able to watch every movie, every TV show, every spots event, etc. you might like to because there just isn't time. (And if not entertainment, then other things.)
It's a sacrifice, it's work, it's hard. If you can, try to arrange your project so that you hit useful, appreciable milestones fairly often. Divide your goals into small, manageable tasks. If you can see progress you'll find more motivation to continue.
And give regular updates here on HN so we can cheer you on.
Some find it better to do stuff late at night. But a common theme I hear is to be consistent, make it a habit.
Chances are you'll want to do it, but the more automatic you can make it the less likely you are to skip out or find excuses ("reasons", they say) to not stick to a plan.
When you work a regular job, it's very difficult to switch your thought process from work to startup. Not to mention the fact that you will pretty much have no free time left over (which I need to be healthy and happy).
I tried to do both..and it just didn't work for me.
You just have to bite the bullet... work 9 to 5. Then get home, and work some more. Then work weekends.
I've tried several strategies to get myself to be more productive
- block reddit and HN (didn't last long).
- block out all external distractions;use headphones, loud music of choice. For music, try to stick to ambient stuff (classical, techno, things without lyrics). I find that songs with lyrics distracts my train of thought as well.
- have a good environment to work. If you're comfortable you'll fall into the zone a lot easier. Although, if you want to change it up a little, try and find a local coworking meetup group.
- anytime you are not working, be thinking of your business. Your startup has to be your life and soul if you want to go all the way. e.g. when you're showering, sitting on the toilet, commuting, walking or having lunch, before you sleep. On the way home you should be thinking about what you want to accomplish tonight, and aim towards that as soon as you get back.
- talk to people about it. If you're talking to people and they're not convinced, that means: a) your idea sucks and you're deluding yourself, b) your idea may have potential, but you are not confident about it enough to be able to convince other people, or c) your idea is great, but other people don't see it <-- this rarely ever happens. But ultimately, by talking to people, you face objections. Objections are the number 1 crucial factor in selling; you cannot sell someone a product if they don't tell you what they're worried about. So talking to people lets you build up a portfolio of objections that you can counter with solutions, and you'll grow more confident with your idea. More confidence = more enthusiasm and productivity.
Sure your work is going to take a hit... but if you're already working on being self-sufficient, I doubt your job is the last thing you're worried about. (Here I am writing Access VBAs, and Excel macros...)
I thought I would get my beta version out by now but it's been hard. Some changes that I have made that have helped me:
- I do not work more than 40 hours at my work anymore..even if it feels like it's the end of the world. Surprisingly, this has made me more focused at work. I do the same amount of work in a shorter amout of time.
- As other hackers have mentioned, I set up a scheduled time to work on my start-up. Initally, I began with working on the weekends but I was too distracted by other fun things that I could be doing. The times that work best for me are during lunch breaks and before/after work during weekdays.
- I made it clear to my husband that I will be busy during the weekdays but free over the weekends. This way he had no major expections of me over the weekdays. I think getting him Starcraft 2 also helped :P (j/k)
- I wanted to read books about how to start a business, google analytics, etc..I pretty much paid fines to the library without going though a chapter. Then I discovered audio books. I listen to them on my drive to work. I finished 4-hour work week in 2-2 weeks and am onto to another one.
Lessons learned for the future:
- Don't spend too much time designing the site...just get a template that has worked for others.
- Don't have deadlines at the end of the summer. I noticed that I am more busy over the weekends in the summer.
- Don't venture into new technologies if you already have skills that you can do with.
Sometimes, you just have to do both. You'll figure out the way that works best for you. Hang in there.
This quote matches my personal experience as well as the experience of friends. If you really want to do a startup then do everything you can to work on it full time. Nothing will improve your odds more.
IF you can do this then you can quit and start it fulltime.
Yes this is much harder than it sounds but by doing so you would have de-risked your business as much as you can by doing it part-time.
One thing that can make all the difference is to work less. Cut features ruthlessly. Spend less time on things. Cut down to the bone of what's important to prove your concept, not all the other stuff.
People need money to live (ESPECIALLY after college), which usually entails getting a job, and an internship can be a good way to get your foot in the door (it's how I did it). It's common knowledge that it can be at least a year before a startup reaches ramen-profitable. There are multiple companies that the founders were doing other work while hashing out the idea for the startup.
So, again, how does your comment apply?