Trouble is... I don't think I could build anything that I'd actually have a use for in less than 1-3 months, except for extremely ad hoc things that you can't really predict in advance, like a file convert and rename script.<p>I can think of 4 projects on my own, lifetime total, that I would consider ready for a "Version 1.0.0" tag, and far more that regret ever spending time on, some that required more time on top of that to disentangle myself one(Especially with hardware, where you've now got physical stuff to deal with).<p>The only small projects I've been happy with are the pure toys and decorations. One was a replacement for fortune, but it generates them dynamically using a MadLib style text replacement engine. Another was a candle flicker simulator.<p>Anything tool or infrastructure or library-like has usually become a regret, save for one multiyear megaproject, and a few things with zero reasonable alternatives.<p>I think the best small projects are the ones that are purely self contained, that will never have anything else depend on them, that will never be part of you "personal baggage" to maintain.