The dream is familiar: build a side project, scale it to a point of financial independence, and finally hand in your notice to escape the 9-to-5. We want to trade the corporate machine for autonomy, the rigid calendar for a life lived on our own terms.
But if you spend any time in the “Build in Public” or “Indie Hacker” communities, you’ll notice a strange paradox. The people trying to escape the grind are often working harder, and under more scrutiny, than the people they left behind in the office.
They aren’t escaping the rat race; they are just becoming their own most toxic middle manager.
The performance of productivity
One of the biggest issues with the current side-project culture is the glorification of “the grind.” Influencers post screenshots of 16-hour workdays, 100-day shipping streaks, and “deep work” timers.
There is a performative element to this that mirrors the very corporate politics we claim to hate. In the office, it’s “the first one in, last one out” mentality. Online, it’s the pressure to be constantly “on”, to be shipping fast, posting updates, and maintaining a streak.
When you turn your escape route into a second shift of high-pressure output, you aren’t making progress. You’re just creating an environment that is exactly like or worse than the one you’re trying to leave. You have traded a boss you can complain about for a boss you can’t escape: yourself.
The “Move Fast and Break Things” mantra works for venture-backed startups with millions in the bank. For a solo builder working alongside a full-time job, it’s a recipe for a breakdown.
The current culture prioritises speed over craftsmanship. We feel the need to ship a MVP in a weekend, to launch on Product Hunt by Tuesday, and to have a MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) chart trending up by Friday.
This creates a high-stress environment. When we move this fast, we don’t have time for the “flow” I’ve written about before. We are constantly context-switching between our day job and the frantic demands of a side project that we’ve intentionally over-complicated.
We set rigid deadlines and punish ourselves for “low output” days. We have recreated the Sunday Scaries, but for our own hobbies.
The case for building slowly
If the goal is long term freedom, our systems need to be sustainable. Financial independence is a marathon, but we’re trying to sprint the first five miles while carrying a backpack full of corporate expectations.
Building slowly isn’t just a slower way to reach the goa —it’s a better way to live.
- Craftsmanship over Speed: When you remove the self-imposed pressure to “ship fast,” you allow yourself the space to solve problems deeply. You can obsess over the details that make a product actually good, rather than just “published.”
- Retention of Joy: If every hour must be monetised, you lose the ability to do things for the sake of it. Building slowly allows the project to be a source of curiosity rather than a source of resentment.
- Sustainable Systems: A side project should feel like a gentle breeze, not a hurricane. If you can only give it 30 minutes a day, make those 30 minutes the most peaceful part of your day. If the system you build to manage your project makes you anxious, the system is broken.
True autonomy
The goal of a side project shouldn’t just be to replace your 9-to-5 income. It should be to replace the 9-to-5 mindset.
If your path to freedom requires you to be a more ruthless version of your current boss, you haven’t found freedom you’ve just automated your own exploitation.
Real progress isn’t measured by how fast you ship or how many hours you “grind” after dinner. It’s measured by whether you’re building a life you actually want to live in while you’re building the business.
Build for the long term. Build slowly. And for God’s sake, don’t hire your corporate self to be the boss of your free time.
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