How to Start Your Own Passion Project
Every one of us has their passion projects—no matter what it is, we always hope that we can do it someday. It is something you work on beyond your chosen career. It gives you satisfaction, happiness and puts you into a state of flow. It's what you do to escape it all. Anyone can do them. What you need most are inspiration and commitment. But instead of wishing and hoping, why not start now? Here’s a step-by-step guide for you:
1. Remember why you want to do this in the first place.
Before really starting on your passion project, ask yourself: why do you want to do this project? And more importantly, why is it important that you finish this project? Once you identify these reasons, you can hold onto them whenever you feel uninspired or frustrated.
Like most people, there are many things you want to do—maybe write a novel or put up a business—but doing them all at once can just result to not finishing any of them. Instead, focus and commit to the one that feels most important to you.
To keep you motivated, write down the name of your project and the reason it’s important, and put it somewhere you can always see it. Having a reminder every now and then will help you.
2. Get organised.
When talking about passion projects, it’s always the grand big things—and those things will take months or even years before it’s finished. If you’re not organised, you’ll likely find yourself frozen with how much needs to be done.
Start your passion project the right way by being organised. Open a new file in your computer—or if you’re more in the analogue side, open a new notebook—and start listing down the things you need to do to make your dream project a reality, such as:
What kinds of research will you need to do?
Can this research be divided into several phases?
Will you need someone’s help?
Do you need to learn new skills?
What materials will you need to get started?
Putting these on paper will help you kickstart the project. Now it’s just not in your brain, it’s actually happening!
3. Create a game plan.
Once you’ve written down your general tasks, you need to break it into bite-size actionable tasks. After all, you can’t build a home without bricks and other materials—you need to acquire those little materials first before you can proceed to form the grand building. For example, you want to run a fundraising event for your community, a clean-up drive. For this to succeed, you need to get support from the local council and the other people in the community. That, however, is too big to be actionable, so let’s break it down. Here’s what you can do:
Set a meeting with the local council or send a petition for approval.
To know if the community is interested, do a survey. Ask them in their homes or on social media. Technology will definitely make this part easier.
Once you’ve received approval, you can proceed with your other tasks, such as planning the event and sponsorships.
The key is breaking down your tasks so that you won’t be overwhelmed and bite more than you can chew.
4. If you really want it, make time for it.
Now you know what needs to be done, set time for it. Treat passion project time as ‘important matters time’—you won’t cancel on a doctor’s appointment or job interview easily, right? So don’t do that to your passion project, either.
To help you stay on track, you can have a planner for this project so that you’ll have one place where every task scheduled is visible, be it online or on paper.
5. Just. Do. It!
Of course, everything doesn’t end with writing your plans down, you need to go out there and make it happen. Research and planning can also be distracting—one moment you’re looking for inspirations for succulent arrangements for your desired business, the next you’re looking at a Pinterest board of beautiful gardens, taking you away from your real purpose.
Here are steps you can do to increase your productivity:
Dedicate a certain time to working on your project. Be it before work or after work, make sure that you’re creating a routine. In this way, you can create consistency—that’s what you need to achieve, anyway.
Use the Pomodoro technique. Working focused in 25-minute blocks with short breaks in between can work wonders. You can download an app to help you keep on track.
Block any distractions. Block social media sites, close your email, turn notifications off, and take note of other distractions so you can do something about them.
Starting a huge passion project can be overwhelming, but with focus, organisation, and determination, you can achieve it. Don’t let it stay as a dream—make it your goal. Work on it one step at a time until you see your goals come true right in front of your eyes. Once that happens, you’ll find that every struggle and hardship is worth it.