Building a design career through side projects with Darshan Gajara (Livestream Repost)
Darshan and I talk all about how to build your design career through side projects. We discuss why we have side projects, benefits of side projects, how to choose what to focus on, how to balance side projects with your full-time job, and lots more.
Check out Darshan's work: https://darshan.design
Product Disrupt: https://productdisrupt.com
Work Abroad Guide: https://workabroad.guide
Enjoy!
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//LINKS
Looking for 1:1 mentorship or feedback on your portfolio? Book a session with me on Superpeer: http://superpeer.com/femke
Looking for a new design job? Browse my job board of fresh product design roles: https://pallet.xyz/list/femkedesign-j...
//TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Intro
0:54 - Livestream starts
2:07 - Introducing Darshan
5:10 - Darshan's journey with side projects
9:32 - Femke's journey with side projects
11:06 - Why start out with a blog?
12:34 - Benefits of doing side projects
15:40 - How to choose your side project
18:07 - Building an audience, learning opportunities
19:19 - How side projects benefited our careers (Darshan)
23:15 - How side projects benefited our careers (Femke)
25:48 - Choosing a side project and finding a community
30:13 - Recurring vs one-time side projects
31:05 - How to get started on and share side projects
32:51 - Side projects should be fun!
34:52 - Darshan's book and public accountability
36:15 - Collaborating with others for side projects
37:14 - Darshan's project Work Abroad Guide (https://workabroad.guide)
41:00 - How to balance side projects
43:02 - Reprioritization exercise
44:50 - Know your optimal working environment
45:52 - Break your work into smaller tasks
48:24 - Start of Q&A: How do you make sure your company is alright with you having side projects?
51:11 - How do you stay motivated with side projects and prevent burnout?
54:28 - How do you prioritize side projects and your full-time job?
56:57 - Creating a systemized approach for side projects
58:14 - Outro
// MORE
Website: https://www.femke.design
Podcast: https://www.designlife.fm/
Twitter: / femkesvs
Instagram: / femkedotdesign
My logo animation is done by Austin Saylor: https://www.austinsaylor.com/
My brand is designed by Black & White studios: https://www.blackandwhitestudios.nz/
Some videos are edited by Nancy Palm: https://nancypalm.com/
//GET STARTED IN UX
Visit this link for a list of curated UX Design resources and tools: https://www.femke.design/resources
