Side Projects? I don't have time for that!

The author emphasizes the significant value of side projects in learning and career development. Early in their Master's degree, they dedicated evenings to side projects, finding them more educational than their formal studies. While life changes like family reduced available time, the advent of AI and coding agents has renewed their ability to build. Tools like Codex and Claude Code, alongside AI coding assistants, have dramatically reduced the effort required. This has enabled them to complete numerous projects in their spare time, even with limited hours. These projects include a Weather Agent with generative UI, a "Time Machine" website using AI image manipulation, and an e-commerce store selling custom t-shirts. They also created a children's book with their daughter, a video generator for new employee announcements, and a ChatGPT app for trying on t-shirts. Further projects involve a personalized welcome video generator for new hires at Postman and an original ChatGPT game called City Quest. Finally, they rebuilt their personal website, showcasing the cumulative learning from these endeavors. The author stresses that compounding knowledge is powerful, but also advises against overworking, prioritizing family and well-being. They conclude that finding time is possible by prioritizing what's important.