Written on August 2, 2026

How I ship side projects while working a 9-to-5

I ship side projects around a full-time job with boring systems, small daily slices, and a strict rule for keeping the scope small enough to finish.

The problem isn’t finding time. It’s deciding what the time is for.

I wake at 7am and sleep at 11pm. My best windows are 9–11am and 7–11pm. On weekdays, the first belongs to my job. The second belongs to whatever I’m building.

The hours are already decided.

Motivation is a terrible calendar. Some evenings I finish a screen. Some evenings I fix one bug, draw one icon, or write one paragraph. I leave the next step obvious and come back tomorrow.

No heroic weekend required. I enjoy sleep.

Consistency beats intensity.

I posted one design every day for over a hundred days and doubled my Twitter following. I do the same with YouTube, making content out of the side projects I build. The useful part wasn’t the reach. It was asking a smaller question: what can I finish today?

If the answer takes more than a day, I slice it again.

Not “build an icon library.” One icon. Not “launch an app.” One working reminder. Not “start writing.” One useful thought.

That rule is how Teak, Vadivam, MynaUI, and One Hour moved from ideas to things people use. It’s how I shipped three iOS apps instead of keeping three polished Figma files safe from reality.

Practice went from idea to the App Store in three days. Not three months. Three days.

Shipping changes the conversation. A real user finds the confusing copy. App Review finds the problem. The product tells you what matters next.

Polish cannot do that while it’s hiding on your laptop.

The boring truth is there is no hustle trick. No clever hack. No perfect mood. Just a 7–11pm window, a piece small enough to finish, and the choice to return tomorrow.

(This will lead to burnout by the way.)

You do not need more time. You need to stop giving the time away.