How I Treat My Side Projects Like TV Shows (And Why It Works)

January 29, 2025

The Netflix Approach to Side Projects

Open my GitHub and you’ll see it: a digital graveyard of half-finished ideas. There’s a landing page for a tool I never launched, a Supabase thing I swore I’d “circle back to,” and one repo simply titled test-final-v2-fixed-new (don’t judge me).

For the longest time, this clutter made me feel like a failure. Why couldn’t I just finish what I started?

And then it hit me — what if side projects aren’t meant to be finished?
What if they’re meant to be enjoyed?

What if I treated them like TV shows?

Episode 1: The Pilot

Every project starts with a vibe. Maybe it’s a name, maybe it’s a UI idea, or maybe it’s a random urge to clone something and “make it better.”

This is your pilot episode. You set up Tailwind. Install shadcn/ui. Deploy something empty to Vercel just to feel productive.
You’re excited. You’re moving fast. You don’t even know what the project is yet — and that’s the best part.

The pilot isn’t supposed to be perfect. It’s just there to help you decide if the idea deserves more time.

What I do in the pilot:

Hack together a rough UI in one sitting
Test core logic (auth? DB? whatever’s exciting)
Pause when I’ve “seen enough” to decide

If it’s fun, I greenlight Season 1.
If it’s not, I cancel the show. No shame. Just vibes.

Season 1: The Hook

If the pilot had potential, Season 1 is where I build the MVP. A few meaningful features, nothing bloated. Enough to:

Share with friends
Use it personally
Or just feel proud that it works

I resist the urge to over-engineer. Season 1 is supposed to be short, scrappy, and experimental.

How I keep it fun:

Break tasks into “episodes”:
S01E02: Dark Mode Unlocked,
S01E03: Group Chat Drama
Write commits like a script
Focus on what’s fun, not what’s “required”

This narrative style keeps me invested. I don’t burn out — I binge-build.

The Mid-Season Cliffhanger

You know that moment when everything kinda works, but things are getting… weird?

Maybe you’re considering a new stack. Maybe you opened one too many “refactor auth” tabs. Maybe you haven’t touched it in 3 weeks and don’t remember the file structure.

That’s your mid-season cliffhanger.

Now you have three options:

Rewrite the whole thing for no reason
Add 10 more features you don’t need
Ghost the repo until next year

There’s no wrong answer.

TV shows go on hiatus all the time.
So can your projects.

The Cancelled Shows Shelf

Some projects will never see a second season. And that’s okay.

Not every repo needs to be a product. Some are just pilots that helped you learn:

A new database
A better file structure
Or that you hate dealing with OAuth

I keep a folder called cancelled/ in my projects directory. No drama, no regrets. These are my little art experiments. They served their purpose.

Renewals and Reboots

Every now and then, I stumble across an old repo and think, “Wait… this still kinda slaps.”

That’s a renewal.

Maybe the idea finally clicks. Maybe you’ve grown as a dev. Maybe you’re just bored.
Whatever the reason — it’s back.

I open a new branch. Clean up the mess. Rename it. Start fresh.

It’s the same project, but with better pacing and a stronger plot.

Just like Gilmore Girls.

Finales, Not Forever

I’ve stopped trying to make my side projects “ongoing.”
Now I build mini-series.

If I:

Solved a real problem
Learned something new
Blogged it or shipped a v1

That’s a wrap. Season complete. Time to archive and move on.

Because you know what?
A finished season is better than an endless rewrite.

Treat Projects Like Stories

Once I started thinking of my codebase like a storyline, everything changed.

Old Mindset	New Mindset
“I never finish my projects.”	“That season was fun. What’s next?”
“Should I keep working on it?”	“Is this story still worth telling?”
“Why so many repos?”	“Each project had its own arc.”

Not everything needs to scale. Some things just need to make sense — for now.

TL;DR: What This Mindset Gave Me

Creative framing that keeps burnout away
Natural reflection points (episodes, finales, reboots)
Permission to pause or cancel guilt-free
Faster experimentation, less pressure

So next time you spin up a new project, give it a show title. Write a pilot. Ship an episode. Let it breathe.

And when someone asks, “Why don’t you finish your side projects?”

Just say:

“It’s on hiatus. Season 2 drops soon.”
🎥✨