This is called undiagnosed ADHD.
Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
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Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
#12That is a trait of ADHD. Hyperfocus until you find the next thing to hyperfocus on and then completely forget about the previous one.
The best way to deal with it* IMHO is to have a long term goal - and a reason why you want to achieve it. The reason should be chosen so that it motivates you to continue with the project. If you cannot think of a good one that will meet that requirement, then consider switching to a project that you can think of a good reason to keep you motivated. Set targets and then break it down into small tasks that are easy to track and achieve (the same as you probably do professionally). Ideally this task list should be somewhere visible, to remind you of it - along with your long term goal/reason.
edit: *it referring to the original complaint. I'm not a Psychiatrist.
Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
#13This is called undiagnosed ADHD.
Not every bad approach is some illness to pop pills about.
Terrible comments
Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
#14I have built and released 4 webapps this year. Not more than 2 weeks (50hr) i spent on any project.
One of those got about 20k unique users when it's launched here, one got few thousand users and another one will be launched next week.
Having said that before all of this i spent a year building a mobile app which ended up abandoned after all done due to lack of confidence. After this failure i asked myself just one question "how much more time i have on this planet?" That's it . I became super productive overnight after that. I still have slow days but mostly everyday equals to 3days for me. Trying my best to cover all the lost time.
My advices are 1. Count your remaining days everyday 2. Good enough product is enough. Don't think about outcome. Just enjoy the process
Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
#15I believe it’s motivation, interest and having some idea of an mvp; although a complete product of some kind is great and is the end goal, it’s best to not be overwhelmed and better to enjoy the process.
Anything worth your time will keep you motivated. Otherwise keep looking for that product or idea, you haven’t hit the big one yet.
Start the project using a new language, tool or framework that you’ve been wanting to try out or use; this will motivate you.
As you get closer to a mvp, things will get interesting. Keep the mvp achievable in a short time period; everything else that comes after are features, enhancements and tasks.
Each iteration you’ll find yourself with new ideas and tasks such as enhancements and features. Be sure to store these on something like trello. A checklist works!
Rinse repeat.
Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
#16Take the comments here with a grain of salt. There's a lot of bad advice, even of the medical excuse kind.
One thing that jumps out to me is, if you can't finish why not scope it in a way you can?
Focus on making it so simple and break it down into steps so clear that you can accomplish it in one or two weekends. If you can't, make the scope and project even simpler the next time.
Once you get into the mode of simplifying the problem and the iteration, completing things becomes easier.
Don't auto diagnose anything. If you think there's a real problem go see a professional.
Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
#17What I do is: write in down in a text file. Work on it a tiny bit until the idea stops looking so good.
Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
#18You’re probably over-planning.
Scale back and just plan for a release in 2-4 weeks. Ignore everything else outside of what you can get done in that time frame. Drop the consideration of things like the domain and the name. Fight the urge to play with fancy scaffolding that eats productivity. Once you’ve launched, you’ll have a foundation to iterate on.
Release early, release often.
Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
#19External accountability can help with this. It's one reason why building something small helps - you can get it in the hands of users more quickly. Then they want this or that and it gets you motivated.
Of course, it's hard to build something at any scale that people WANT to use. So you might find accountability to start some other way. One thing to try is to solve a problem for ONE person and make it your mission to make them happy. Maybe your mom has a problem that you could fix, or a friend. Maybe it's simple, like needing a new way of listing to-dos or groceries. But find a problem for one person and tell them you're doing it. That can help you find the motivation to finish.
Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything
#20Maybe it's not a problem to let your brain wonder without constraints deadlines and stress. Let it be creative. You can do this and still release something once in a while.