Side projects, guilt, and work

Last week I mentioned a new side project I was going to begin working on. It's a podcast to discuss my perspective gained in the first few months out of school. The things I've learned, struggled with, succeeded at, and thought about. It will be very career focused, but not totally limited to that. 

This week, I began actually working on it. I've recorded 4 episodes so far, and I'm pretty happy with the progress. Today I just want to discuss a few points I think are interesting about working on a side project. First, the gumption it takes to actually do the work. Thinking about projects is always fun and exciting, but few people can do the work to actually follow through, and even fewer people actually enjoy that work too. It's been interesting to start recording, plan out the episodes, and think about everything else involved. 

It looks like I may have to pay for a podcast hosting provider. Going into this project I didn't think about having to spend money. I'm borrowing my brothers microphone, using Audacity (free) for audio recording, and I plan on finding free music to use for my intro/outro. The only place that leaves unchecked is hosting the audio. Soundcloud has a free program but it only supports 180 minutes of audio. Through 4 episodes I've already got about 120 minutes of audio, so no dice going forward there. If you have any ideas let me know. I didn't expect to spend money, and it's an interesting decision. Am I committed enough to spend money on a side project? I think so, but it depends on how much. Research to be done. 

Two other points on this project I want to mention. The first is guilt. This is a fun side project, but it does take work, time, and planning. I feel guilt when it comes to my regular job. I do not spend any time during work hours doing work for this, or any of my side projects. That is work time. But I actually still feel guilty in the evenings and on weekends working on this project. My company is a small business, and I have a lot of responsibility. There are always things I could be working on, so I feel guilty working on other things. I'm not sure whether this is something I should worry about or not. Still working on how I feel about this. 

Finally, why I'm doing this project. I really enjoy content creation and different mediums. Writing, video work, and of course podcasting all interest me. As I've discussed before, and recently in the blog post I shared, I want to actually start pursuing my interests and working on them instead of just thinking about it. I'm not pigeonholing what I work on, and I've felt much more mental freedom to explore what I want. This podcast has been on the list for a long time, and it's nice to actually work on it. It also is a great way to share and think through my perspective on the life phase I'm in. Talking through these topics helps me dig deeper. As I create more episodes, I'm excited to not only improve as a speaker but to think through different topics I'm interested in. 

Right now I'm planning on a one season go of it, but if I end up liking it a lot and have topics to speak on I'll extend it. I'm keeping it open-ended. When I begin to release episodes I'll be sure to share them here. 

If you have a project you've been considering, or multiple. Choose one and do it. Doesn't have to be "the thing" but at least you'll know. This has been my biggest takeaway so far. If fear of it not being "the thing" is what is stopping you, then make the project smaller. 

Cheers until next week!
-Al