Half-Finished Side Projects You Forgot You Started

You're cleaning up your code folder and there it is: a project you were genuinely excited about in the spring. The core works. The README is half-written. The last commit is from June. You'd forgotten it existed.

It didn't fail. It didn't get cancelled. It just… stopped being looked at.

Part 5 of No Process — the quietest way a side project dies.

The short answer#

• Side projects rarely die from a decision; they disappear because nothing reminds you they exist.
• Keep every started project on one list you look at daily, even the ones you're not working on.
• Give every project an explicit state: active, waiting, parked or done — 'forgotten' shouldn't be possible.
• Park projects on purpose, with a one-line reason, so you can pick them up or kill them later with a clear conscience.

Projects vanish, they don't get killed#

Almost nobody decides to abandon a side project. What happens is simpler:

1. A new idea arrives, and it's more exciting than the hard part of the current one.
2. The old project isn't on anything you look at daily.
3. A week later it's out of mind; a month later it's out of memory.

The same mechanism that buries blockers in a to-do list buries whole projects — only slower.

Everything started stays visible#

The fix is a rule, not a tool: every project you've started stays on one list you look at every day — including the ones you're not working on this week.

That list doesn't need detail. One line each: name, phase, next step, state. If you see it every morning, you can't forget it. You can only decide about it.

No project without a state#

Give every project one of a few explicit states:

• Active — moving this week.
• Waiting — blocked on something outside you (with the reason).
• Parked — deliberately paused (with the reason and, ideally, a date to look again).
• Done — shipped.

"Forgotten" isn't on the list. A project that isn't active, waiting or done must be parked on purpose — which forces a small decision instead of a slow disappearance.

Park with a reason#

When you park a project, write one line:

Recipe Box — parked 10-15: waiting to see if the tip app earns anything first. Look again: Dec.

That line is a gift to your future self. When you come back — see coming back after a break — you know why you stopped and whether the reason still holds. And if you decide to kill it, you can, cleanly. A clear won't-do list works the same way at the feature level.

Keep reading#

• The Blocker Buried in Your To-Do List
• Coming Back to a Project After a Week Away (Without the Dig)
• The Won't-Do List: How to Stop AI Agents From Scope Creep