> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://weeknightreview.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Don't waste time on stupid projects - URL: https://weeknightreview.com/dont-waste-time-on-stupid-projects/ - Published: 2026-10-08T23:00:12.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T23:00:12.000Z - Description: How to choose projects that advance our standing in the craft - Author: Kevin Fischer *“What are you doing this weekend?”* It’s a daunting question if you like having a lot of projects because your time is limited. If you’ve ever sat down and done the math, the number of weeks we have is surprisingly low. The average life expectancy is about 79 years. If we chalk the first 20 to school and another 10 to random life things, that leaves about 49 years, or roughly 2,500 Saturdays. It’s a lot of time to spend on whatever comes up, but it’s also **completely non-renewable**. Productivity gurus frame this up as something that should stir you to action. What they end up doing is creating anxiety (especially for young people, but that’s an essay for a different time). [Hustle is not the same as ambition](https://weeknightreview.com/ambition-is-not-the-same-as-hustle/). It is entirely possible to build an incredible life from your limited time without trying to squeeze every ounce of work from yourself every waking second.. I used to worry about wasting my years on frivolous pursuits. That I’d wake up one day and find that everything I cared about was worthless. I worried about spending my free time on stupid projects. **A stupid project is work you pursue with your free time that knowingly won’t advance your curiosity, capability, or craft.** As a software engineer, I’m constantly tempted to recreate the wheel for small things that already have a real solution. Things that could literally just be a spreadsheet. They’re not helpful. Not only do they fail to teach me anything new, they also cost me time to work on things that could[ reward me for the time I invest into them](https://weeknightreview.com/what-craft-mastery-and-good-work-look-like-in-a-hurried-world/). The first time I launched HorrrorVerse, I built a complex software stack to handle movie recommendations, account management, and integrations with multiple third-party APIs… a skill I’m quite competent in already. The process was fun, but was procrastination in disguise I could have created the same thing in an hour with a few clicks on Cloudflare. Instead I spent multiple weekends “building” but not advancing any of my personal goals to improve my software engineering skills or writing habits. I *knowingly* procrastinated the real work, making it a Stupid Project. Other stupid projects come in the form of comfort. Running in place on purpose because expanding means returning to a state of learning where you’re less confident. You might be producing real work, but when you no longer have to adapt, comfort limits your ability to grow. The most common form is work that looks like progress from inside the work. Things like progress trackers or wheels that build other wheels. AI makes this insanely easy. With a few half-baked prompts, you can generate a discount version of any app you’re already using! Just fix a bug here… make a small change there… and… oh, we’ve spent an inglorious amount of time polishing something that already worked or could have been handled with a spreadsheet. You don’t learn anything, and you’re probably going to abandon the creation. The project did nothing to advance anything other than an impulse to participate in a fleeting trend. Don’t waste time on stupid projects when you’re expecting that time to help you improve your craft. Learn how to pick good work to focus on instead. Great projects don’t always have to have economic potential. Not everything has to be a magnum opus. You’re looking for things with **promise** and **discomfort**. Choose work that is at least a half-step ahead of where you currently are and that you can actually finish (lest you fall into [the most ironic trap of ambition](https://weeknightreview.com/the-dark-irony-of-ambition/)). It’s important that you aren’t drowning in the deep end, overwhelmed by things you don’t understand and stifled from making any progress at all. But also don’t opt into trivial things that don’t require your thought. This might mean volunteering for something to improve your networking skills. Or helping a teammate with something you’re not as savvy in. Or even, and this is crazy, being willing to create something that you KNOW is not going to come out very polished. The courage to try something without confidence that the result will be satisfying is an underrated path toward mastery in many trades. Good project selection is a map of where you’re headed and where you’ve been. They’re stories of the challenges you overcame and how you had to transform to reach the end. The more meaningful projects you finish, the more storied your career becomes. But, you don’t have to make everything a project. The biggest difference between the mindset peddled by hustlers and ambitious people is that it’s healthier to invest into areas of your life that are traditionally classified as leisure or non-productive. You don’t have to spend every waking moment of your life engaged in work that looks impressive to the outside world. Sure, you can say no to everyone, huddle in a windowless basement room and embrace the grind. This could technically be a smart project, but it would come at the cost of relationships and possibly even health - mental AND physical. Life is incredibly short. There are a million ways to build a meaningful life, not all of them involve traditional professional activities. Meaning is found in friendship, faith and family just as much as the workplace. If you’re truly worried about making a difference with your life, consider the impact you make with others too. Don’t waste time on stupid projects, but don’t feel like you have to make your entire life a project either.