How to Think of Personal Project Ideas

#codenewbie #programming #help #productivity

#SelfTaughtSaturdays

As a self-learner, it is important to create a structured curriculum that you follow in order to be able to make progress. Working on personal projects is something that you should incorporate into your study plan.

Depending on whether you are following a course that runs over a few weeks or a quick Youtube tutorial you should always put what you learn into practice.

But what should you build?

At the beginning of your journey do not get stuck on trying to think of a unique project idea that will make you rich overnight. Instead, try to focus on short and sweet projects that allow you to practice certain concepts as you learn them.

As you progress and learn more you will be able to create more detailed projects that you will be proud of and will help you land your first job.

In this post, I will share with you some tips and tricks for thinking of and finding personal project ideas.

Personal Problems

Think of personal problems that you or someone in your life has and how you can fix that by coding. It can be automating a task with python or creating a website for a small business owner. There are endless possibilities.

Your Favorite Apps and Websites

Look at your favorite apps and websites and analyze them. What do you like and what don’t you like? What would you change, or what are they missing? Maybe you can create your own around that concept. No app or website is perfect for every person so you are sure to find something to tweak.

Dribbble.com

Check out dribbble and just scroll through all the amazing designs. If you do decide to just recreate one of the designs make sure to credit the artist. You can also just use the platform as a source of inspiration and go from there.

Many people overlook Pinterest but it is full of amazing content. Sometimes I spend hours scrolling and saving designs, art, and much more that inspires my project ideas.

Fellow Devs

Keep up with other devs and follow what they are working on it might spark something. There are also times when others might ask for help in their personal projects, which is also a great opportunity. If you do get a job in tech there is a high probability that you will be working with a team at some point.

Open Source

If you are all out of ideas, which I hope is not the case. There is always open source. There are a lot of great posts on how to get started with open source. A quick Google search will show you some great info.

Ultimate Takeaway!

Exercise your brain and become an idea machine. Try to write out between 5 – 10 ideas everyday. They do not have to be unique or out of this world or even tech related. Some examples of ideas I try to think of everyday are:

1.Blog post ideas
2.Website Ideas
3.App ideas
4.Personal Goals
5.Life goals
6.Career Goals
7.Personal development ideas
8.Social media post ideas

The more you think and take time to do it intentionally the better you will get at it. It takes time so do not beat yourself up if some days you can only get 2 or 3 ideas down.

I hope this was helpful let me know how you think of ideas and if you follow a specific process.

If you have any questions or simply want to chat lets connect!

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Top comments (7)

Dan Silcox • Dec 19 '20

Great stuff! Just on that last point, it can feel disheartening when you have all these ideas, if very few of them ever get finished (or started for that matter!) but even throwaway ideas have value; you never know what random combination of throw away ideas will become ‘the big one’ that you actually love and finish and share with others!

In any case you will learn loads in the ‘journey’ of creating and even during the ‘coming up with ideas’ phase.

Brenda Michelle • Dec 20 '20

100% Agree! I completely forgot to mention that maybe out of 10 ideas that you think of only 1 will be actually good and that is all a part of the process :) Thank you so much for adding that.