Interesting thoughts. And it felt like I am reading what I always felt. I have created ,sorry, started many side projects but none of them ended properly. Some left out in the middle, for some after starting I just had no vision what to do next with it.
Most of this is due to my day job(full time job). And so lack of motivation or loosing interest was because of the less time I could devote to it.But I still do not agree on :
"a lack of commitment to one thing is just as productive as doing nothing at all."
When you work on side projects you learn new things or you practice old things which makes you perfect. So keep doing something is always better than nothing. Because of these unfinished side projects I was able to learn python, machine learning, data mining, django and so many other tools and technologies which I would have never learned as these are not related to my day job(all java).
So I would still vote for keep doing side projects whether or not you finish it you have something learned in the process.
I've been working on one for six years now. Id say that it is 70% done -- I just cant bring myself to define, map, and execute that last 30. I'm putting other ideas on hold until I finish this one, ideas that could be viable money makers, but I dont want to leave the original one without at least putting it in front of people who do not know me. I can say that I have learned a lot in the process that will be used for the rest of my career. I'll free myself of this burden by launching in December -- I'll post here as "Look at my 2000 day old startup idea"
You should find someone else to go through it with you. An outside voice pointing out possible cuts is often a breath of fresh air and helps crystalize things.
I would argue that it's dependent on what you're trying to accomplish. Sure, you learn a ton, but it still comes back to the issue of how well you can perform when you're trying to juggle a side project, a day job or whatever else you're working on.
Personally, I've found that when I do multiple large projects at once, I sacrifice performance on each. There is a tradeoff in what you learn, but I'm not sure it's an equal tradeoff.
Most of this is due to my day job(full time job). And so lack of motivation or loosing interest was because of the less time I could devote to it.But I still do not agree on :
"a lack of commitment to one thing is just as productive as doing nothing at all."
When you work on side projects you learn new things or you practice old things which makes you perfect. So keep doing something is always better than nothing. Because of these unfinished side projects I was able to learn python, machine learning, data mining, django and so many other tools and technologies which I would have never learned as these are not related to my day job(all java).
So I would still vote for keep doing side projects whether or not you finish it you have something learned in the process.