# One commit a day

DevFeed: [One commit a day](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/one-commit-a-day-21603.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://miqu.me/blog/2015/08/07/one-commit-a-day/>)

Author: Miguel Angel Quiñones

Published: 2015-08-07T20:22:22Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Miguel Quinones](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/miguel-quinones.md>)

Topics: [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [App](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/app.md>)

Tags: [app](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/app.md>), [coding](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/coding.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [side-projects](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/side-projects.md>)

## AI overview

The article recommends making daily progress on long-term side projects, even if only for 20 minutes. Maintaining a regular rhythm helps preserve motivation, focus, and momentum toward completion.

## Source excerpt

One commit a day. A lesson I've learned the hard way when dealing with long-term side projects. The first push You are starting a new side project. That new library, framework, cool app idea or just a hack you had in your mind for long time. Starting it is easy, as you find some spare time and kick off your editor of choice and start writing code. I've done this some times, but then if having a full time job, keeping with your side project is very very hard. But to successfully build something useful, something more than a proof of concept, you will need more than just one evening. Keeping up It's after some evenings working at home that I would say: "Today I will rest, I'm not working on my side project". And this act will make that the next day I will be thinking again that I can rest another day. And rest I will. The long streak of commits, progress and closeness to completion stops right there. It will be very hard for me to restart my work again. Stopping for one day made it harder to restart my work and delayed the whole project for more than a week. I've heard many people have this problem and the solution is very pragmatic: A commit a day. A commit a day When you work on a side project you do it because you want to use your spare time to build something. It's a project nonetheless so you still need some goals and motivation. I've found that stopping the regular work can kill your motivation and focus. So I've proposed myself whenever I work on a side project, I need to advance something every day. I'm building an app now (shh, top secret), so I will work on anything related to it at least 20 minutes every day. It does not have to be programming. It can be updating a design, thinking of new features to add in the future, tweaking landing page, or actually coding. This act of keeping up with your project makes it so that I will focus more on it, and I will not loose the sense of progression. Also if I will work on the project only during weekends I found that