Ask HN: Is it better to work on a low-passion project or work on nothing at all?

Wow, I'm clearly a minority, but I'd say "NEITHER". The first thing is to find something you like and can be passionate about. Then - work on it. It can be stupid or crazy, that's fine. Go get a horse or hang-glider or a kiln or a 3d printer or a commodore 64 or a guitar or lima beans or astronomy or trolling reddit or...

Don't work on something you don't really care about. No reason to ever do that.

Don't work on nothing at all. It's literally the same thing as working on something you don't care about except less productive.

Everyone can find something interesting to be passionate about. No excuse.

Working on your best current idea is probably the best way to go (assuming that you cannot find another project that you can contribute to that you are more passionate about). Working on a project will help to hone your skills so that you are better prepared once a project you really care about comes to mind. Also, a lot of projects will evolve over time and may eventually become something that is more interesting that you envisioned it to be.

If it helps me to learn something that might help me in a project that I care about, then I'd go for it.

I would say working on something is better than nothing at all. Mainly for two reasons:

1. You'll get to learn something new by building it yourself. 2. It will instill a sense of discipline in you which is invaluable.

Think of it like working out, even though it may not be exciting it is almost always a net positive.

I'd ignore excitement -- if you are actually dying to work on something then put the motivation to fruition. If the problem you're working on isn't fulfilling then challenge yourself by trying to solve it by using a non-conventional approach.

Do you something you're not excited about with the express goal of learning the language/framework a lot better. That way when you get the great idea you can spend the time building it rather than learning.

You can work on the top idea and just fast-forward to finish it when you find a new one. People are time-structuring creatures.