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Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#81

Post by jkingsbery »

As a couple of others have said, it depends some on what sort of project you're talking about - how to approach a hobby vs. a habit you want to develop vs. a project for work seem like they're pretty different.

This week, I'll be releasing an internal project beyond a small beta group that I've been working on since 2017. Here are some of the things that I've found helpful in keeping disciplined in advancing the project:

1. Acknowledge it's going to take time. Unrealistic expectations can frustrate. I knew going in that to get the project to where it is today would take over a year, so when things took longer than I wanted it wasn't so bad.

2. Getting feedback from others. Is this feature I made useful? Is this game I made fun? Does anyone like this story I wrote? This feedback on a project can help fail fast on a project not worth doing. Also, remembering the positive feedback on early states can help stay motivated. I keep all feedback on the project since I first came up with the idea in a giant Org-mode file, and I periodically re-read through it (or at least parts of it).

3. Mixing it up. Even the most exciting projects can turn monotonous. Periodically work on a different facet of the project so that your work seems "new" again, even though you're advancing the same cause.

4. Remembering that it's hard for (pretty much) everyone. All the authors I've ever heard about writing books has said that writing a book was way harder then they imagined. That's because writing books is hard. The same is true for writing programs, launching a product, or finishing any other project like that. It's just hard.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#82

Post by alvar0 »

You need to figure out why you and your project only get to 25-50% completion. Address the issues on your side and pick projects you're more likely to finish. The biggest motivator is doing something you like. The biggest "demotivation" nowadays is being young and used to constant rewards for doing tiny tasks (or nothing at all)- of course you'll find hard work with no reward over a long time horizon impossible to do.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#83

Post by npcdevops »

maimeowmeow wrote: post #22
jshowa3 wrote: post #2

Follow through and don't use what people do on HN/Reddit/etc. as 100% truth. Allow yourself to take breaks, but just continue exploring and doing. People are always trying to sell themselves and embellish what they do. Plus, in posts, you're only viewing a small window of their lives. You have no idea if they suffer the same problems and just happened to write about completing one thing, ignoring all the failures alo…

This so much, in real life, Im not very productive, but on my reddit account, Ive write so much advice youd think I was some 10x developer, when most of the time Im just sweetening things up. At work, we have a bunch of accounts that troll on the alt right subreddits, and its a common joke that everyone secretly does the same thing at home.

^ Don't feed the trolls.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#84

Post by stanmancan »

The vast majority of people don't even try at all, you're way ahead of the average person.

Everything you have done so far, even if you quit half way, has taught you something. You've picked up new technical skills, you've learned about your physical and emotional health, and you know more about your strengths and weaknesses that you did before.

I don't think enough people self reflect. If you gave up, try to think about why. Did you quit when you got bored? Or when it got too hard? Did life get in the way? If you can start to recognize patterns, then it makes it easier to spot those same behaviors/situations earlier next time, and maybe you can make the necessary changes to push through.

Lots of people are quick to label themselves or their actions as failures; but you/they are not not. Even if you abandoned the project or gave up the health kick, if you came out it with ANY sort of knowledge that you didn't have before then you have improved yourself and should consider the effort worth while.

Really, figure out what your goals are, and work towards them, slowly. Don't try to make huge changes over night; it can take many small, incremental positive changes to get where you want to be.

Why do you want to launch a project? Is the goal self employment, or do you just like tinkering and building things? Both are totally acceptable! Figure out what motivates you!

Also, I highly recommend trying to connect with people with similar goals. This is a fantastic way to meet new people, and having people there to encourage you when you're feeling down or like giving up can make a huge difference. If they have similar goals, they've most likely felt like you do at some point, and can provide the support and encouragement needed to persevere.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#85

Post by AtHeartEngineer »

This...is my life. Not necessarily finding stuff on HN and pursuing them, but just projects in general.

Here's how I deal with that:

I don't start a project for a while, I think about how I'm going to implement it in pretty good detail in my head.

Then, I move on to a project I've already started, or a new idea.

After a few days/weeks/months, I'll cycle back, order parts if it's hardware, or scaffold out an application, or start writing the big picture idea of a podcast. (I've been remodeling my house, and writing a podcast for 2 years, work still continues, but I bounce between them.)

Once I have the parts/materials/scaffolding, I bounce between projects usually dedicating days to weeks on them, until I get bored or frustrated.

I've been doing this since I was a kid. I've started two businesses, written a few Android apps, I've remodeled half my house (so far, windows, drywall, and insulation are happening next week) in the past 2 years.

There are 3 projects I've been toying in my head with for a few years that I've been struggling to figure out how to start. Fully automated made to order vitamins, a backpack that has the features I want, and a "life logging" app that doesn't suck. I'd be very happy if someone else made those, I don't care about the money from them, they are things I want to exist in the world.

The made to order vitamins, costly and risky to start. The backpack I've attempted and broke the shit out of a sewing machine. The life logging app Ive started like 3 times, first on Android, then on Django, now I'm leaning towards serverless with react native...but the scaffolding for what I want is complicated enough where it's overwhelming to think about if I'm implementing it right for scaling and expandability.

Either way, the point is, I cycle through projects, making sure I leave them in a state where I know what needs to be done next. Having 2-3 outside of work projects and 2-3 work projects keeps me busy and just disorderly enough where I don't get bored and if I get frustrated, I can just switch what I'm working on.

The key is, the projects have to be different enough where it doesn't feel like you are going back to the same grind. Programming, construction, design, and podcasting are very different from one another. I'm not an expert in anything really, but I can run a software team, look at the big picture, find pitfalls, and I'm always down to get my hands dirty.

Another trick I've used that hasn't worked as well as I'd hope but does work to some extent is, tell others what you are working on, ask them their opinion, and tell them to get on your ass about it. Some friends do this well, most don't, it's not their responsibility to get on your ass, that's your job...but if you have it in the back of your mind that someone might ask about project X, you'd better have updates.

TLDR: multi-tasking at a larger scale.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#86

Post by zerkten »

Haul4ss wrote: post #3

I'm convinced that almost nobody is good at the whole cycle of creating/maintaining something. Some people are great at coming up with new ideas but quickly bore with the implementation. Some people can relentlessly improve on an existing thing but can't come up with the initial idea. Some people are great stewards of an established program but don't thrive in the chaos of rapid iteration. I think instead of trying t…

> Not every starter is a finisher, and not every finisher is a starter, and not every finisher is a good maintainer, either. They're different things.

Seeing the number of responses in agreement is great, but then I think a bit and have a number of feelings about the fact that this needs to be pointed out. Isn't this obvious from basic psychology, management, sports, life experience, etc.?

It's unusual to find someone who has all elements in balance. They might seem in balance, but often you can't see how productive people really are in lots of cases. They may seem like they can churn out quality personal projects ad nauseum, but you don't know what's painful, what takes a disproportionate amount of time, what needed to redone, what drove anxiety, and many other things.

For the people who seem to have this balance, they may push through extreme toil, create undesirable consequences for others, etc. My advice would be to consider whether you should endeavour to be a "ruthless executor" because that might not be what you should do. Perhaps the OP should actually be spending time reading, taking photos, or some other activity to generate energy to drive forward projects that are truly important.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#87

Post by katzgrau »

Just do it. Inevitably you run into a boring feature that you aren't jazzed about implementing. Do it. Or you finish the project and never launch it. Do it. Or it's just taking you way longer than you thought (not a weekend project afterall, eh?). Do it.

You won't always be motivated. But you'll get over a boring hurdle and find out there's something behind it that is exciting.

7 years strong on my current startup, through plenty of lows (and eventual highs). I'm not the best developer, but something can be said for my follow-through — and it's nothing special — just the recognition that some things will suck and I do them anyway.

http://codefury.net/2011/10/your-awesome-hack-that-nobody-ev...

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#88

Post by rasengan0 »

I am in no means to speak as a serial unfinisher, but I'm more comfortable with myself and found this helpful:

I took this when Dr. Fogg started developing this: https://www.tinyhabits.com/ after finishing The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Key takeaways for me:

- Habits replace other habits: sitting at desk --> take a break in fresh nature air - I can anchor other habits on keystone habits: taichi --> plant based diet - If I don't follow through, maybe it was not worth it originally (stop doing and start being): erlang, haskell --> enjoy the lang you build stuff with

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#89

Post by JesseAldridge »

Here's what has worked for me:

1. Think deeply about what's important to you in life. Constantly ask yourself if what you are doing is aligned with your values. If it isn't, figure out what changes you can make.

2. Understand that trying to make progress through sheer force of will only works in the short term. Your environment and the people around you shape your actions way more than you realize. Change your environment and you change the way you behave.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay disciplined in the long run?

#90

Post by clevernamehere »

ohaideredevs wrote: post #5

This is tangentially related, but I think every person has a tolerance threshold that develops early for life standards. Fitness and money are easiest examples. For some, being fat is disguisting and unimaginable, so they will do everything possible to stay thinner. For some that threshold is having an actual six pack, and once you lose it, you go into emergency "at whatever cost" mode. That's def the case for me wit…

"For some that threshold is having an actual six pack, and once you lose it, you go into emergency "at whatever cost" mode." It is easy to say " i want a six pack." It's much harder to say "i want to eat a very strict diet, prioritize sleep and working out, avoid stress where possible and severely limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 drinks per week or less". But to say the former is to also say the latter IMO
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