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Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

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Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#61

Post by j_baker »

bdickason wrote: post #37
j_baker wrote: post #33

Don't try to overcome your weaknesses; that is the way of madness and frustration. But I'll give you a piece of advice: great strengths are great weaknesses and vice versa. Therefore, rather than trying to be someone you're not, learn to harness your strengths and avoid your weaknesses. Personally, I'm the same way. I'm a good project starter, but not a good finisher. Once I've gotten a project started, I'm ready to…

Good call here. I actually considered finding a job where I would just 'start' projects and hand them off :P So far that doesn't exist.

Sure they do. It's called R&D.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#62

Post by edw519 »

anatta wrote: post #58
edw519 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I end up snubbing them a few months in because they become so pushy. You may not want to hear this, but you just answered your own original question: you lose interest because you don't care. I can't imagine "snubbing" anyone, much less my own customer. And I know lots of people that would give almost anything for a customer. You may not realize it now, but the "pushy" customers are the best ones, especially when you…

The haughtiness is really unhelpful in gaining insight from a dilemma that many people encounter to various degrees. He's mentioned that this issue is applicable to his endeavors in general, not just startups. People can be involved in business and startups for various reasons, not just a personal sense of ideological purity.

haughtiness is really unhelpful

Sorry if it seemed like that; it certainly wasn't my intention. OP asked a question and then provided some clear data: any attitude toward your customers is your problem, not theirs.

People can be involved in business and startups for various reasons, not just a personal sense of ideological purity.

I believe that caring for your customers is necessary but not sufficient for any business. I also believe that if one doesn't believe that, then they shouldn't be in business. Period. No "ideological purity" here, just basic functionality.

How long will you try to teach you child to walk before you give up? Ask that to any parent, and they'll look at you like you're from Jupiter. Then they'll give the obvious answer, "I will never give up until my child walks!"

I feel the same way about helping my customers solve their problems. And if OP felt that way, his 6 month attention span problem would just disappear. That's all.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#63

Post by prodigal_erik »

bdickason wrote: post #53
cturner wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because they become so pushy Can you give some more details about this? Is it possible you're not managing expectations, and then that's killing your motivation?

Good call. See right above this.

I'm guessing you mean http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1370622. Votes move comments around, so unfortunately we can't rely on "above" or "below" being meaningful over time.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#64

Post by bdickason »

flatline wrote: post #52
bdickason wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely have those customers and although I am 100% CSR oriented to start, I end up snubbing them a few months in because they become so pushy.

While there may come a point at which you have to say "no" to a customer, I would go to almost any length to not snub them. Why be rude or lose your temper if someone is that passionate about your product/service? It's a professional relationship after all...

I agree completely. My word choice was poor. By 'Snub' I mean that I felt negative feelings (did not act on them) towards a customer.

This is explained by my above post, which indicates that I set lofty goals which were not met (both by my fault and management inside of said company) and customers got pushy as the days progressed to weeks to months.

Again, I am nice to them and try to support them the whole time, but when pieces aren't delivered, they get angry.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#65

Post by pedalpete »

maxklein wrote: post #39

Try doing two things at the same time. Let one be the one you are hyper-excited about, but that is not going to make money. Let the other be the "work" that you carefully plan through and slowly work through. You can change the other project every 6 months, but let the main thing just be slowly worked through.

I'm normally a big fan of your comments maxklein, but I would advise to exercise a bit if caution with this one.

I suffer from the same problem (haven't found a solution yet), and I've done the 'get started on something else', but I find that I get more and more sucked into the new thing, and the old thing slides.

If it can be organized ala Google 20% time, and make sure that the overarching goals don't get in the way, then I'd say it may work, but I don't think it is for everybody.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#66

Post by ryanisinallofus »

petewarden wrote: post #50

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." Enthusiasm, like optimism, is a choice rather something that just happens to you. It requires a lot of forethought (what do I really care about?) and continual maintenance. You need to spend time discovering and remembering the fascinating parts of whatever you're doing, and the end-results you're shooting for. I was stuck in an awful job sto…

This is the perfect answer the original post. I wish I could close the thread and promote this all the way to the top.

I suffer from this same issue as the original poster and tried agency world to cure it. Projects rarely last long enough to get sick of them. However what really works is just finding something that makes you happy in whatever you are doing.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#67

Post by maxklein »

pedalpete wrote: post #65
maxklein wrote: post #39

Try doing two things at the same time. Let one be the one you are hyper-excited about, but that is not going to make money. Let the other be the "work" that you carefully plan through and slowly work through. You can change the other project every 6 months, but let the main thing just be slowly worked through.

I'm normally a big fan of your comments maxklein, but I would advise to exercise a bit if caution with this one. I suffer from the same problem (haven't found a solution yet), and I've done the 'get started on something else', but I find that I get more and more sucked into the new thing, and the old thing slides. If it can be organized ala Google 20% time, and make sure that the overarching goals don't get in the wa…

Obviously, it does not work for everyone. For me it works, because the second project is like a "hobby". Hobbies help.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#68

Post by petercooper »

You don't have to (if you don't want). Take advantage of your natural inclination and create new things every 6 months. Find a way to make the "6 month plan" work, whether that involves selling a nascent business each time or if they can become passive income streams. I see little need to fight against your innate personality traits if you can get away with it, rather, you should be taking full advantage of them.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#69

Post by billswift »

bdickason wrote: post #22
jacquesm wrote: post #19

I jokingly called it 'tass' (toddlers attention span syndrome), and I've had it since I was three. Buying toys for me was according to my family the stuff of nightmares. I'd play with something for 3 minutes really excited, then see if it could be taken apart and if not toss it aside and never look at it again. And the ones that I could take apart suffered the same lot, only in bits and pieces. It took me a long long…

Interesting. I really like the point about building things to be maintenance free. Good call. The motivating factor for me is more in the 'change the world' idea, and I think that learning is definitely a key motivator for me. If I'm not learning, and I'm just "executing" what I've learned, I get stuck. Can you give an example of how you've made things (preferably software!) maintenance-free?

I think that 'change the world' is too big for reliable motivation. Try finding smaller, more immediate goals that you can better identify with for particular projects. That should help you keep your interest up.

Re: Ask HN: Why do I lose interest in every project after 6 months?

#70

Post by billswift »

maxklein wrote: post #39

Try doing two things at the same time. Let one be the one you are hyper-excited about, but that is not going to make money. Let the other be the "work" that you carefully plan through and slowly work through. You can change the other project every 6 months, but let the main thing just be slowly worked through.

It works better if you refuse to let yourself work on your enthusiastic project until you have X amount done on the boring one, that is use it as a reward for making some kind of progress on the boring one.
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