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Idea Debt

jessicaabel.com

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Re: Idea Debt

#11

Post by vog »

stared wrote: post #9

I used to have ideas on a to-do list, but it was torturing me (especially as it takes a few orders of magnitude to come up with an idea, however elaborate, than to do it; and doing it is also a reality check - some things seam clever until you start doing it and meeting contradictions). Now it is a separate list, entitled "n-th-priority-tasks-tml.md". And I try to keep no regret for not doing things. For doing, as ch…

> Now it is a separate list, entitled "n-th-priority-tasks-tml.md". And I try to keep no regret for not doing things.

It's interesting to read that I'm not the only one doing this. See also my comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11032799

I chose the name "ideas" instead of "n-th-priority-tasks" to clearly distinguish this list from actual tasks. Because they aren't. None of those entries deserves to be named "task", until one starts to get serious about them and creates a prototype. And this will happen only to a tiny fraction of those entries.

Re: Idea Debt

#12

Post by seivan »

bobby_9x wrote: post #2

This has happened to many so many times. The other situation I've had is that even when I start working on my next idea, I start getting distracted by a ton of new ones.

Yup same here. It's hard to make decision on what to stick with and finish.

Re: Idea Debt

#13

Post by jib »

benjaminjosephw wrote: post #7

> "If… you have 'binders of lore' and no book... you’re living with serious Idea Debt." Moving from a daydream to some actual artefacts the first step _away_ from Idea Debt, not further into it. In technical terms, this could be writing a script instead of building an application or creating a spec and some documentation before writing some code. I'd argue that this is where you start to flesh-out and make real your…

Inventory is waste. It is one of the most insidious kinds of waste since it feels productive generating it. In reality it is waste.

It being waste doesn't mean you dont need it - that's how waste builds up: you create stuff in case, or you save things in case, or you build an extra large buffer just in case. It's all done with good intentions. If one of your goals in life is to be effective you need to work to eliminate as much inventory as possible, same as the other types of waste.

Overproduction, Inventory and Overprocessing are the three most insidious types of waste - they seem like good things.

Why not gold plate the thing? Just add these few features in case you need them. Why not make a few extra just in case, why not save that thing that you may need later or maybe you will finish at some point.

The other types of waste are more clearly negative.

Re: Idea Debt

#14

Post by boothead »

vog wrote: post #4

This is why I moved a huge portion of my TODO list into an IDEAS list. This is an outliner document (Org-mode) that contains notes on lots of different ideas. So why didn't I just delete those items? Because writing down that stuff helps me not to think about it the whole day if I don't want to. The IDEAS list grows and grows, but that's okay. I don't feel obliged to implement any of these ideas. Whenever I recall an…

This seems similar to the idea of a spark file?

http://lifehacker.com/5941997/defrag-your-brain-with-a-spark...

edit Also do you have anything written down about using org-mode for todos and ideas?

Re: Idea Debt

#15

Post by stared »

vog wrote: post #11
stared wrote: post #9

I used to have ideas on a to-do list, but it was torturing me (especially as it takes a few orders of magnitude to come up with an idea, however elaborate, than to do it; and doing it is also a reality check - some things seam clever until you start doing it and meeting contradictions). Now it is a separate list, entitled "n-th-priority-tasks-tml.md". And I try to keep no regret for not doing things. For doing, as ch…

> Now it is a separate list, entitled "n-th-priority-tasks-tml.md". And I try to keep no regret for not doing things. It's interesting to read that I'm not the only one doing this. See also my comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11032799 I chose the name "ideas" instead of "n-th-priority-tasks" to clearly distinguish this list from actual tasks. Because they aren't. None of those entries deserves to be name…

The title may be misleading (actually, I remember it is "n-th-priority-things.md"). I've just checked its heading (I keep this file always open) and it's "n-th prority ideas".

I read your comment before posting my own. :)

When it comes to their length and (what is more important) being specified, it varies a lot. From a blog post I have in mind and can write in a few hours, to things that make take months or years.

I was thinking about making it public, but:

- most of them are idiosyncratic and a few words stands for a long idea,

- I am afraid of self-censorship (is it good enough for the public? doesn't it sound offensive?).

When it comes to tasks-ideas separation, it reminds me of http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd073010s.gif (I used to have to do bullets which were there for years - and they were causing so much pain).

Re: Idea Debt

#16

Post by k__ »

benjaminjosephw wrote: post #7

> "If… you have 'binders of lore' and no book... you’re living with serious Idea Debt." Moving from a daydream to some actual artefacts the first step _away_ from Idea Debt, not further into it. In technical terms, this could be writing a script instead of building an application or creating a spec and some documentation before writing some code. I'd argue that this is where you start to flesh-out and make real your…

Yes, I'd say "binders of lore" are a rather good approach to a book.

While they would be far away from a video game or something...

Re: Idea Debt

#18

Post by slavik81 »

benjaminjosephw wrote: post #7

> "If… you have 'binders of lore' and no book... you’re living with serious Idea Debt." Moving from a daydream to some actual artefacts the first step _away_ from Idea Debt, not further into it. In technical terms, this could be writing a script instead of building an application or creating a spec and some documentation before writing some code. I'd argue that this is where you start to flesh-out and make real your…

I agree. It's a very thought-provoking piece, but I think the problem with the analogy is highlighted when the debt is transformed into an investment. Debts don't turn into investments. Assets turn into investments.
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