This is not supposed to be a bragging post but I have been managing part time school + full time job + hackathons/projects for 3 years now. I think I'm in the extreme end so I recommend sticking with your job + projects. But if you are truly motivated, you'll wakeup at 6AM and grind out side projects till say 9AM on Saturdays and Sundays. Again the key here is motivation. I cannot live without personal projects as building stuff on the side has been a hobby since I was 13 years old.

Figure out why you want to do projects on the side. You'll automatically find time for them 😄