I’ve learned a lot over the years from my many side projects. I generally have two or three side things going on at any one time. Depending on the time of the year and the phase of whatever my projects are in at my day job, I’m able to put varying degrees of time and effort into them.

What kinds of side projects are we talking about?

• Side businesses or consulting projects
• Clubs such as marketing, technology, entrepreneurship activities
• Special projects or new hobbies like writing a book, photography, or learning a new skill
• Sports activities like running a marathon, putting together an expedition somewhere exotic, or creating a hiking club
• Volunteer initiatives where you provide  advice or service to some group you like
• Investments in things you’re interested in, specifically things that you can get involved with and engaged in.

Of course, you need to keep some balance in your side projects. You should not take on too many of them at any time. And you can’t sign up for too much work or commitments that would hurt your productivity at your day job. You also don’t want to take too much time away from family. So you have to be disciplined.

Healthy side projects are ones that augment and inform your performance at work, make you a more interesting person, give you a creative outlet, energize and inspire you, and that you can turn on or off as needed.

Unhealthy side projects hinder your performance at your day job, blow up your personal life, stress you out, bankrupt you, cause suspicion from your coworkers or boss, or become uncontrollable time sucks.

For me, I think having interesting “side projects” makes me a better product manager because they

• Let me scratch my entrepreneurship itch without having to take ridiculous risks
• Grow my network professionally and personally
• Learn about new technologies, trends, products

In the end, side-projects help me continuously develop  and grow in a world where my day job may only use a certain percentage of my skills, abilities, and knowledge at any one time. Personally, if I’m not challenged then I get distracted and restless, and that makes it hard to finish launching a product. So having side projects keeps me on track and seeing things through as I grow and develop professionally.

Do you have any side projects? Any advice for the people?