I've been trying to spend more time writing code in the evenings. It really is the best shot I have most of the time, because Simon is sleeping (or should be, at least). Results are a mixed bag. My motivation is that I want to turn my science project into a product. It would be swell if it made some money in the long run, but for now I just want to get a project through to completion.
The solution to making things happen, as it turns out, is the same as it would be if you were working with a team of people. Duh. So I started using AgileZen to start a backlog and prioritize tasks. Like magic, I have clarity about what to do. OK, it's not magic, it's just the same thing I'd do in any day job, but it's funny how you follow different rules when it's just you.
Has it worked? Yes, mostly. In the last week, I've managed to do at least one check-in every day. That's a vast improvement considering I hadn't touched it since July. I spent a lot of time working out how to use Azure ACS in a way that didn't take over my app. In typical Microsoft fashion, they try to abstract away the hard stuff but leave you with a mess of complexity in the process, so I basically made a secondary app to handle logins and hand the info over to the primary app.
I still haven't been as consistent as I'd like, but I am enjoying myself quite a bit. The project appeals to my server-side geek because there are a lot of simple things I'm doing to keep the performance high, while my Web geek self is enjoying front-end work I haven't done in awhile.
So what is it? I'll let you know when it's usable! Don't get too excited though... it's definitely targeted to IT people.