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Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?

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Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?

#151

Post by poxrud »

huydotnet wrote: post #103
dpcan wrote: post #55

I use Trello, then it gets messy, switch to Keep to start over, that gets confusing or messy, I have a txt file with my todos, that gets messy, I try a project management tool like Basecamp, doesn't do the trick, start over fresh on Trello, that gets messy.... I think you see where I'm going with this.

I also use a text file to keep a daily development note, like a blog post but keep it in the project’s root just for me to see what’s I’ve done and what I’m planning to do in the next day.

Do you add a new entry every day to the top of the file? Do you check this into git?

Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?

#152

Post by drums8787 »

closed wrote: post #92

Many comments are focusing on kanban procedures, but the most important parts of solo development for me are social milestones. For example... * Who will I show X feature to? * When will I show it to them? * Can I show them a draft? To me, the biggest risk of solo development is not how I manage a todo list, but that I'll build the wrong thing, because I waited to get feedback. Some things that have helped me a lot..…

100%. I'm essentially solo in a larger group of "stakeholders" and shoot & share videos on a semi-daily basis to verify progress. More frequent dependent on the complexity & uncertainty. But I try not to overestimate my own certainty on a feature.

People generally appreciate being kept in the loop, and that they can review on their own time. It also helps me to drive towards a level of completeness that I can show something in a 1-2 min video.

Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?

#153

Post by ribtoks »

I was shaping such system myself and after some time I understood that global kanban boards are enough, but what is more important is how do I focus (and return to the focused state) during the work.

To focus and return to the focus better, I'm using a mix of:

- project microtasking with kanban board (automatically handled using scripts/app) and TODO/FIXME comments

- lazygit utility

- global todo kanban board (think Trello, GitHub Projects etc.)

I was looking for a system that will maximize my productivity during few hours per day when I work for myself. I discussed this system before on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20780939

Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?

#154

Post by john-radio »

cacozen wrote: post #58
forgotmypw wrote: post #7

I have a file called todo.txt, with the current tasks at the top, and everything else below that. It is in version control. As I finish stuff, I delete it out of the file. I add new stuff towards the top if I want to do it soon, towards the bottom if I want to save it for later. For things which are just ideas, I have a second file called brainstorm.txt.

I use a todo.diff - so the text editor color codes my lines started with `+` and `-`

So you add tasks starting with `-` and change them to `+` when they're "checked off"?

Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?

#157

Post by jvanderbot »

forgotmypw wrote: post #7

I have a file called todo.txt, with the current tasks at the top, and everything else below that. It is in version control. As I finish stuff, I delete it out of the file. I add new stuff towards the top if I want to do it soon, towards the bottom if I want to save it for later. For things which are just ideas, I have a second file called brainstorm.txt.

I use todo.md, and have VIM highlight "[ ]", "[x]", "[>]", "[v]", and "[-]" for bullet-journal-like TODO, DONE, Deferred, Dropped, and FAILED, respectively.

Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?

#158

Post by jvanderbot »

cacozen wrote: post #58
forgotmypw wrote: post #7

I have a file called todo.txt, with the current tasks at the top, and everything else below that. It is in version control. As I finish stuff, I delete it out of the file. I add new stuff towards the top if I want to do it soon, towards the bottom if I want to save it for later. For things which are just ideas, I have a second file called brainstorm.txt.

I use a todo.diff - so the text editor color codes my lines started with `+` and `-`

Similarly, I use todo.md, and have VIM highlight "[ ]", "[x]", "[>]", "[v]", and "[-]" for bullet-journal-like TODO, DONE, Deferred, Dropped, and FAILED, respectively.

Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?

#159

Post by flyinglizard »

Get yourself a large, high quality whiteboard. Working with it is great for visualizing things and it never gets too messy because you’re ultimately space limited. Every now and then you go through the upkeep - this way it doesn’t ever go stale. And it’s always right in front of you. No files to open.

I use a combination of the white board + Keep for more detailed stuff + per project TODO under version control.

Re: Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?

#160

Post by forgotmypw »

z3t4 wrote: post #47
forgotmypw wrote: post #7

I have a file called todo.txt, with the current tasks at the top, and everything else below that. It is in version control. As I finish stuff, I delete it out of the file. I add new stuff towards the top if I want to do it soon, towards the bottom if I want to save it for later. For things which are just ideas, I have a second file called brainstorm.txt.

Does anyone else have a problem that this file just keeps growing?

It does grow quite a bit. Sometimes I go through the whole file and take out things which I've finished. I haven't found this to be much of a problem.
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