If you don't mind: What would you working on it look like, on a typical work-day look like, hour wise? Raise up at 5am and hack away for 2h, or come back from day job and straight into the fun thing, or wait a bit and than hack away... What worked for you?
Lately, I seem to manage 1-3 days of coding on my hobby project after work, provided I have some features where I can see meaningful success within 90 minutes of coding (+ the same time for debugging or researching new libraries, if needed)
I think it helps that I'm not working as a software developer right now, so I have more energy for coding projects. (I'd like to write software professionally, but no company responds to my applications.)
Regarding time, I have thinking periods and coding periods. On thinking periods I'll take a 30-60 minute walks and figure things out in my head. On coding periods, I'll spend 1-2 hours in the text editor per day, sometimes more, at whatever time suits me. It's pretty laid back and I don't beat myself up if I stop.
Sorry for the assumption and thank you for your answer! Regarding time, I work similar. In work-life, it gets a bit more muddy (basically the time talking walks expands and turns into time spent in meeting, talks, support etc.)
I would encourage you to ask here on HN and maybe also over at reddit (i.e. https://old.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions) for feedback on landing a software dev job. Getting the foot in the door can be tough, after that it get easier. I wish you best of success in landing a job! :)
Edit: It might be a good idea to mention your current job search in your most visible comments here in this thread. Also, you could mention it on your website! ;)
Lately, I seem to manage 1-3 days of coding on my hobby project after work, provided I have some features where I can see meaningful success within 90 minutes of coding (+ the same time for debugging or researching new libraries, if needed)