If you are working professionally as a creative, or even just a creative person working professionally – I can’t stress enough the importance of personal projects. Personal projects are the fun things designed to engage yourself. They are a creative outlet, a way to practice and a platform for finding something new.

I know people who find it a little crazy that I devote the time that I do to these since there is no direct financial gain involved, however I don’t think I could do what I do professionally without them.

1) Personal Enjoyment and Satisfaction
When doing professional work you are being paid for your skill to turn some type of product. A client wants what you do best, but they don’t want the experimental, learning side that we all have. Sometimes clients have very specific wants and sometimes those wants don’t agree with your own opinion and vision. This can be frustrating – but having personal projects to work on does give you an outlet and an escape when this comes up.

2) Complete Control
There is no one with ultimate say influencing your work except you. Its all yours.

3) The freedom to experiment and make mistakes
Working in technology and creative fields can be difficult. There are always new things to learn and new concepts to explore. You should naturally want to grow your skill-set as a professional. This is what makes some people better at what they do than others. Clients however, are paying you to be your best. They’re not paying you money to learn on the job. They want your best product. For me, having personal projects provides a pressure free zone to experiment, make mistakes and try new things. I use them to iron out all of the kinks and learn all the possibilities preferably to the point where its mostly second nature when doing a paying job. I don’t have to think nearly as much. This in turn, makes it easier to be creative “on the job” and continually produce better quality material. When I don’t do personal work, I start getting stale and in a rut.

4) A better benchmark of accomplishment
One of the most dangerous traps creative people can fall into is identifying self-worth with their “work”. Sometimes paying work doesn’t go like you want it to. Sometimes clients are difficult. Some days you just don’t feel creative. There are lots of factors that go into professional work – most of them are things related to being organized and dealing with people. You’re being paid to do more than just what you’re interested in and love to do. When a job goes bad or a client gets difficult or we just have a project we’re not proud of – its easy to start measuring your own personal worth from this. This is a terrible mistake. You’re only as good as your last job, but you should never let it define you. Now personal projects can help with this. I’ve found that when I have my own projects to identify with, its makes things a lot easier when things become difficult or stressful.

I’m writing this with 2 weeks left in the calendar year and I always find this the perfect time to take inventory on what I’ve accomplished in the last 12 months and to get excited about what I want to achieve in the next 12. Now if you’re not used to doing a lot of personal work – start small. Maybe plan several small projects that are easy to do and won’t leave you frustrated if they don’t get completed. If you’re a photographer, plan a series of portraits of friends. Make yourself go somewhere you haven’t been and do a documentary series. Start a podcast. Start a blog. Blogs are great projects in that you contribute over time. If you have experience with smaller projects, try sometime a little bigger – write a book, plan an exhibition of your work. Whatever you do just be realistic and don’t expect something you can’t deliver. Remember the idea is to create an escape – not a nightmare.