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Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?

#21
post #20
post #17

Is this an ad or a question? I would say domain knowledge and experience. I've been in my industry for long enough to spot situations where my work will have disproportionate impact. The longer I am in this industry, the more knowledge, contacts and followers I have, so I can be very effective at building things, getting them validated, and finding users for it.

It’s a bit of both. I’m not in the industry or part of a company yet—I’m still on the younger side. I’ve had many ideas and I work on them, but nothing really takes off. I keep coming back to the same question: is this worth it? Especially because every idea I have, I run it by my friends—they love it, I build it, they don’t use it, and I’m left with a dead project, a half-empty wallet, and goals I could have pushed…

That’s in poor taste.

> Please don't use HN primarily for promotion. It's ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity.

Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?

#22
post #19

For me, one signal has been whether the problems remain interesting even when progress is slow. When working on complex systems (like anything involving long-running automation or agents), most of the real work happens in areas that don’t show up in demos: defining “done”, handling partial failures, and keeping behavior predictable. If those problems are still worth thinking about after repeated failures, I take that…

That resonates a lot. I’ve noticed the same thing: if the shape of the problem is still interesting after the novelty wears off and progress stalls, that’s usually the real signal. The visible demo work is easy; the hard part is exactly what you said—defining “done,” handling edge cases, and making systems behave consistently under stress. If those invisible constraints keep pulling you back, it’s usually because the…

Exactly. I’ve also found that once those constraints become boring, that’s usually when the work itself is done — or not worth doing anymore.

Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?

#23
post #21
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a bit of both. I’m not in the industry or part of a company yet—I’m still on the younger side. I’ve had many ideas and I work on them, but nothing really takes off. I keep coming back to the same question: is this worth it? Especially because every idea I have, I run it by my friends—they love it, I build it, they don’t use it, and I’m left with a dead project, a half-empty wallet, and goals I could have pushed…

That’s in poor taste. > Please don't use HN primarily for promotion. It's ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity.

Got your point, I’m done with the promotion now. Pivoting to curiosity related stuff
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