I'm a serial over committer • Hacker News Board

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#21

Post by lukeholder » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 1:53 AM UTC

This is me right now exactly. I am swamped because i have over committed to too many thing. It is stressing me out and I don't know how to escape.

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#22

Post by forrestthewoods » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 1:54 AM UTC

Starting things is easy. Finishing is hard. Most people start various side projects. Very, very few have the resolve to finish them.

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#23

Post by erikpukinskis » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 1:59 AM UTC

I thought this was going to be about someone meticulously doing git commits after every tiny little change.

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#24

Post by swanson » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 2:03 AM UTC

lukeholder wrote: post #21

This is me right now exactly. I am swamped because i have over committed to too many thing. It is stressing me out and I don't know how to escape.

Are there any commitments that you can put on pause? Maybe you can't just drop the project, but if you aren't going to have time to work on it for a month, then officially delay it for a month so it's at least off your mind.

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#25

Post by georgieporgie » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 2:04 AM UTC

It sounds like the problem is a boss who knowingly asks you to work on projects on your own time. The rest of the example story sounds like a poorly run, passive aggressive workplace.

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#26

Post by sliverstorm » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 2:04 AM UTC

forrestthewoods wrote: post #22

Starting things is easy. Finishing is hard. Most people start various side projects. Very, very few have the resolve to finish them.

It's not just about resolve. Plenty of side projects turn out to be not worth finishing.

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#27

Post by glenbo » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 2:35 AM UTC

Well said. I completely empathized with your sentiment. So much so that I had to write more in response them what is probably appropriate in a comment section.

I commit to small one-off projects for friends, longer-term work with acquaintances, and whip up my own projects all the time. Sometimes the projects are freelance, and sometimes they are simply "free." All this serves to satiate the needling feeling in the back of my brain that I might just be missing out on something.

Here's the rest of my thoughts: http://blog.glenelkins.com/the-over-committers-dilemma/

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#28

Post by colanderman » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 2:48 AM UTC

Nothing undesirable happens immediately as a result - except that maybe your manager is a little bummed out. But maybe the next time one of these projects comes up, they’ll ask Bob first. Maybe that speculative project turns into a full fledged project and you missed your chance to work on it.

And when the over-committer Bob ducks out of the project due to time constraints, the manager will come back to you, knowing you have a good track record of completing tasks.

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#29

Post by treetrouble » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 2:52 AM UTC

erikpukinskis wrote: post #23

I thought this was going to be about someone meticulously doing git commits after every tiny little change.

I'd like to read a post about the optimal granularity of git commits in different situations. I don't think I'm experienced enough particularly when it comes to intense collaboration to write it myself

Re: I'm a serial over committer

#30

Post by pjscott » Wed, Nov 02, 2011, 3:14 AM UTC

erikpukinskis wrote: post #23

I thought this was going to be about someone meticulously doing git commits after every tiny little change.

I thought it was either that, or someone who carefully used fast-forward merges and rebasing to give the illusion of a completely serial history for a project that actually involved a fair amount of branching.