Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 72 posts

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#41

Post by james_s_tayler »

Crazyontap wrote: post #36

I've been through this and in my case it turned out to be clinical ADHD. Unfortunately my diagnosis came at the very late age (40+) because whole life I thought it is just me being lazy and unfocused and seeking medical help / medication is the wrong answer to such problems - only to discover now that some of our brains are actually wired differently and it's not that we are being weak or unfocused but it's actually…

Same here. I would add if you experience what the OP does combined with looking around the house every day and seeing piles of unfolded washing and dirty dishes waiting for you that fill you with existential dread every time you look at them while you quietly ignore them and go back to whatever it is you're excited about at the moment then seek an evaluation.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#42

Post by danudey »

trms wrote: post #31
danudey wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I have ADHD, and your description sounds exactly like our lives. Dive incredibly deep into a new thing because it's new and exciting, immerse yourself for a while, and then be completely unable, even if you really want to, to go back to it. I've had more than a few projects which I did because I thought they would be interesting, but never did anything with; I learned XPath for parsing out character data…

Your comment hits incredibly close to home. At this point, at least in my career, the ability to learn new things is my ability and 'selling' point. While I do understand this has great benefits and that there's few people like this, one can't help but wonder what being a specialist would bring. I should perhaps be less harsh on myself and reframe what I've done so far as being 'succesful'... with processes. Thank yo…

There are lots of people who can specialize though; being the person who can bridge specializations (or determine what specialization even applies) is incredibly valuable. It's hard to reconcile that with our society's typical examples of success, but it's still valuable!

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#43

Post by forgotmypw17 »

trms wrote: post #25
forgotmypw17 wrote: post #22

I commit to doing at least one commit to my project every day, and make it a point to not skip a day. It can be a one-line change to a text file, but I have to do it.

Committing to a daily/weekly absolute minimum looks really helpful. Back in June I committed to writing a blog post a week and somehow, I managed to stick with it even though sometimes the posts ended up being written in a rush two hours before publication. I should be taking advantage of this system more. Thank you.

I find that the smaller the minimum commitment, the more likely I am to stick to it. It's much easier to convince myself to do a 5-minute task than a longer one.

Once that's done, I may gain some momentum and keep working, or I may not, but it's up to me, and the knowledge that I can always step back helps a lot.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#44

Post by retox »

empressplay wrote: post #38

My wife and I work on software projects. They become fairly advanced because she codes and I PM / test. Every time she implements a new feature or fixes a bug, I'm happy because the bus is moving forward, and she's happy because she's made me happy. I also update her on happy user stories, and make it obvious they make me happy because once again, it makes her happy. Anyway, that's just one way. I'm sure there's othe…

This is good advice from experience, and not just in software. If I have an audience I'm much more likely to stick to something, whether it's a side project or just going to the gym.

It doesn't necessarily have to mean shipping something and getting actual users, just having someone that you arrange to regularly show your stuff to is a huge help. If I skip out on going to the gym, or break a regular show-and-tell on something I'm tinkering with, a friend will give me a gentle ribbing which gradually begins to escalate.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#45

Post by syntheweave »

Maintaining coherency of the project's core ideas is my key. I was introduced to this through a philosophy of truth course. If the ideas avoid contradiction and are of genuinely new ground, pursuing the project is a matter of executing until either the project fulfills the concept or some unexpected barrier was discovered. In doing this you have to set testable benchmarks for what makes it "done" and "successful". List them all out. Sometimes you learn your principles through your benchmarks, other times the reverse. The project is often better motivated by a study goal ("I learn this") rather than a utility goal ("I earn this").

If contradictions slip in, then scope becomes unlimited. Most businesses will eventually end up in a contradictory position - and this sets a definite limit on their lifespan. But you can avoid this fate in a side project by removing some of the assumed requirements of business and allowing it to be an obscure toy or a money-loser, instead setting other benchmarks for success.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#46

Post by s0rr0wskill »

saruken wrote: post #33
trms wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad to know I'm not the only one on this boat. Hopefully we'll touch land soon.

I think you may have answered your own question, at least in part: > I always seem to find an excuse as to why it's not worth continuing, *right before actually accomplishing anything* [emphasis mine] Certainly "diminishing returns" and "the skill of consistency" are real issues, but is it also possible there's something psychological going on here, like a fear of success? This is something I've struggled with for al…

>Certainly "diminishing returns" and "the skill of consistency" are real issues, but is it also possible there's something psychological going on here, like a fear of success?

> This is something I've struggled with for all of my adult life – not with success per se, but with the way succeeding at something defines who/what you are.

This is very true, success often means change and we're not always comfortable with change.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#47

Post by s0rr0wskill »

It might be a matter of deciding how far you want to go with something.

If you want to try something just to see if you like it then it doesn't matter if you drop it any time. However, if you choose to commit to something then you must follow through and that requires discipline.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#48

Post by ultrasounder »

Crazyontap wrote: post #36

I've been through this and in my case it turned out to be clinical ADHD. Unfortunately my diagnosis came at the very late age (40+) because whole life I thought it is just me being lazy and unfocused and seeking medical help / medication is the wrong answer to such problems - only to discover now that some of our brains are actually wired differently and it's not that we are being weak or unfocused but it's actually…

reading Finish by Acuff RN(was recommended in an earlier post-https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29170578). Absolutely recommended. Also starting to realize I have ADHD(surprise- son was diagnosed with ASD when he was 5 :-)). Will move to Driven to distraction when I finish finish this weekend.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#49

Post by ffhhj »

Nowadays I begin every project defining the most important tasks to build an MVP, and sort them starting the the most difficult. Cool ideas that won't make it into the MVP go to another list. Then move back some of these tasks into the main MVP list for the next iteration.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stick to projects?

#50

Post by trms »

phaedrus wrote: post #40

The No Free Lunch theorem tells us no search algorithm is optimal over all possible problem-spaces. Without prior knowledge about what may be found and what will be needed, no one can say whether deep-dive in one place or shallow-jump into many places is optimal. And optimal according to whose metric? I've done a fair share of both. I think the perception accomplishment was just around the next turn (but you stopped…

That's exactly it -- if you stick to some stuff, at least there is a chance, however small, that you'll accomplish or finish something. If you don't, that chance is reduced to 0.

The initial rush gives tons of dopamine, I need to find a way to persist even after the dopamine has worn off. Continuing a project has its own benefits and points of pleasure, I just need to start gaining an appreciation for those benefits and start getting pleasure from sticking to things. Thank you for the comment, I loved your story and appreciate you sharing it with me.

Post reply on HN