Get bored or stuck? Do something else. There’s so many things to do. You’re still working on the same metaproject.

Find something cool online that you want to experiment with? Find a way to frame it as an experiment or project under the umbrella of the metaproject.

For example, my overarching project is to develop my own computer system, from the custom CPU, up to the operating system and applications, as completely from scratch as possible. This has led me to learn more about Verilog, electronics, soldering, computer architecture, RISC-V, emulators, you name it.

At one point, I decided I needed to design my own high-level language for this thing. The compiler has itself become a metaproject where there’s always something to work on: parsing, lexing, optimization passes, experiments in syntax, garbage collectors, writing a debugger, etc.

Someday soon, I hope to be able to start a project to build video hardware with a sprite engine, like in those old 8-bit and 16-bit game systems. I’ll mentally bill this under the umbrella of “working on my computer project.”

I’ve been thinking of “that computer project” as a kind of life project that I’ll plug away on here and there until the day I die.

I wonder if this is how those old men who build boats feel about their boat. Hey, there’s my own catchy phrase right there: “Build your boat”

With that being said, I have so many projects, so little time, but I’m prioritizing the ones that both fulfill me and have a decent chance at replacing my $DAYJOB.

Also, having a schedule so I don’t burn myself out. It’s been working well for about a month so far.