I’d heard it a millions times, read a thousand articles and had hundreds of conversations about it. I never realized how rewarding and inspiring it can be to build products for yourself. Most people don’t even build products related to their industry. Take Elliot Jay Stocks for example. He wanted to do something outside of web design and created one of the most beautiful ongoing typography publication, 8faces. Others have created t-shirts, or written books in seven days instead of always focusing on the web. For me, I kept my focus simple, straightforward and related to my day job. Why you might ask?

My answer is that the web is my passion. Ever since the first site I created using ImageReady, I have loved what I do. So for me, my inspiration to create a personal product came from a need that I had in my design process. I’ve mentioned before that it used to be a struggle to articulate functionality and repsonsiveness to clients, but once I started introducing Wirefy into the mix, I relieved that issue. Clients continue to be happier with the process as they now have something to feel, to touch and to interact with.

I will admit when I first created Wirefy. I had no intention to continue to update it, fix it or evolve it as my needs changed. I found as I worked with it more and more, I wanted to. There is a certain internal satisfaction while working with your own product that allows you freedom to evolve it at your own pace. Of course the continuous support and positive feedback from the global community helped as well. And I want to say thank you to all those individuals.

Through this process, I discovered that I wasn’t alone. Through conversations I started having with companies like ZURB and MailChimp, I found that they continually supported employees in their efforts to create personal products. I began hearing stories of how certain features came to light through the ideas and inspirations of these employees. This has always been true for companies like 37Signals as well with products like Basecamp and Campfire.

These companies have found a way to monetize these self fulfilling projects, but that shouldn’t be what drives you to do one. Let it be a gateway to further ideas. Even if the idea already exists, maybe there is something that you don’t like about it. Create your own and make it yours.

For me the true beauty of creating my own products has helped me see other ways to create things that may not be for me at all, such as a graphic design poster I posted on Society6. Or you can write an article. For me I was able to write for one of the publications that has taught me so much over the years. These side projects will help you to continue to learn and reduce your burn out.

Go out and try it. It can be a scary thing at first, but remember you don’t have any deadlines or clients breathing down your neck. Do it for you. Make it your own and be proud of it. Don’t wait. If you do it will never get done.