“The sushi card. Someone wants to take you out.
It’s a potential client. Please answer their email.”
My feed’s breakup messages have inspired a tarot reading for people who also have projects to finish. The unicorn predicts that you’ll finally finish the thing you started six months ago. The three cups are your third coffee. Open the document.
And yes, they’re waiting to hear from you. The client. Again.
This is one of the scripts in my video backlog. It came from noticing a ridiculous pattern and wondering what would happen if the mysterious person desperate to contact you had a project brief.
I’ve been trying to work out how to make that backlog consistently. When to film, how much to batch, how often to post. Those are useful questions, but they only deal with getting the videos out. I also need something worth saying, people to share it with, and enough willingness to let them respond.
That’s what I want my time online to support. If you’re building a side project, a posting schedule can help people see your work. It’s worth making room for the conversations, feedback, and discoveries that help you develop it too.
Join conversations around the work
This week I gained about 200 Twitter followers in three days while engaging three times a day and scheduling posts. Instagram gained about five, with more moderate engagement. The difference was noticeable, although I wasn’t giving both platforms the same attention, and I can’t separate the effect of posting from the effect of engaging.
The Twitter result makes me want to keep experimenting. It also gives me a reason to think more carefully about what I mean by “engaging.”
There’s a person on the other end of a reply. I want to read what they’re making and have something to say about it. If I treat every interaction as a way to get someone back to my profile, I’m going to miss most of what makes talking to people interesting.
For a side project, those conversations can have a practical purpose. You can ask how somebody solved a problem you’re stuck on, compare approaches, or find out how they currently do the thing your app is supposed to help with. You also get to know people whose work you enjoy following.
A manageable place to start is with one conversation about something you care about. Ask a specific question or contribute something from your own experience. Give yourself a reason to come back beyond checking whether the follower count moved.
Give people a chance to respond
Talking about work can eventually lead to asking for something. This is where another script in my backlog comes in: “Stop rejecting yourself in advance.”
The idea is to practise asking for things you want, from inviting someone for coffee to asking them to try your app or collaborate on a video. I’m interested in how easily I can decide the answer will be no before another person has even heard the question.
That can keep a personal project private for a very long time. There’s always another change you could make before showing it to someone. Asking for a small, specific response gives you a way to learn what needs attention.
“Would you try creating your first project in this app and tell me where you get stuck?” gives someone a clearer task than “Any feedback?” It also gives you something useful to work with if they agree.
The line in my script is: “Pick something you genuinely want. Ask clearly. Let them answer.” I haven’t completed some grand rejection challenge. These are asks I want to get more comfortable making, including accepting that somebody may be busy or simply uninterested.
For your own project, think of one question another person could help you answer this week. Choose an ask small enough that they understand what they’re agreeing to, then give them room to decide.
Find things that feed your imagination
Instagram has been less encouraging on the follower front. But the film accounts there have helped fill my movie list, which matters to me too.
I’ve been watching one film a day. So far: The Worst Person in the World, Sentimental Value, Sorry to Bother You, and Eternity. Those recommendations led me away from the feed and into watching somebody’s finished work.
I want time for that. When I’m making videos and writing, I can get very occupied with my own next piece. Watching a film means spending time with somebody else’s decisions: what they show, what they leave out, how long they let a moment last.
I don’t need every film to produce an idea. Enjoying it is enough. But I do want a creative life with room for encountering things I wouldn’t have thought to make myself.
The tarot script is a smaller, sillier example of paying attention. I recognised a format and wanted to play with it. There was no need to turn the whole feed into useful material; one observation gave me something I wanted to make.
If your ideas are starting to feel repetitive, follow an interest beyond the topic you usually post about. Watch the film someone recommended. Read the story. Let yourself spend time with it before deciding whether it has anything to do with your project.
Leave room for more than publishing
I still want to finish my backlog. One approach I’m trying to figure out is recording a few videos when I feel chatty and editing on quieter days. Sometimes I sit down after work with an idea I like and deliver it like a mandatory presentation. Having footage ready would help on those days.
The point of finding a manageable pace is that I want space for the rest of this: making the project itself, talking to people, asking for a response, watching something I’m interested in.
When you plan your next week, put one of those beside the thing you intend to publish. Maybe you need someone to test a feature. Maybe you’ve been meaning to contact another maker. Maybe you’ve spent so much time producing that you’d like an evening with somebody else’s work.
My next batch has a tarot reading and an asking video in it. I’d like to leave enough room to make an ask myself, too. Otherwise I’ll have a very well-edited video about something I’m still avoiding.