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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

#91

Post by enos_feedler »

redgetan wrote: post #59
endymi0n wrote: post #41

Here‘s my hack: Surround yourself with equally capable finishers. Once I figured out that there were lots of people out there who had great finishing, endurance and project management skills, but lacking the knowledge and the creativity in how to build them, I just started to put both of them together. Granted, it often doesn‘t feel good being pushed into finishing your own things, but the joy of having delivered som…

But where do you find such community? twitter? indiehackers?

Another hack that doesnt have a high bar: find a friend who is preferably technical and say you want to show them a demo of something you are making. Invite them to your “demo” 6 or 8 weeks out. Now start building. If you hold yourself to sharing that demo with a friend you will be amazed at what steps you can take to get there. If not, debug why? Try to understanding why showing that demo is not inspiring? Does it really excite you? What would it mean for it to work? What possibility does it create next?

Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything

#92

Post by Nidhug »

Don't jump on the assumption that you have ADHD. Get it diagnosed by a competent professional if you want to be sure. But even then, I feel like a lot of people get diagnosed with ADHD (or self diagnosed) while they probably don't have it (mostly in America is my impression).

Instead, it might simply be related to your personnality. I tend to be like you, and for me it is simply that finishing all the little details at the end of a project get boring and the new and grand ideas are more exciting.

Some suggestions:

Surrounding yourself with people who are good at finishing stuff can help, especially if it's on the same project.

Cycle between projects: when project A becomes boring, does project B become interesting again ?

Filter things to get the things that you're the most excited about and focus on the those instead. I found the book "Essentialism" to be particularly helpful for me in that regard. Check for patterns: what are the commonalities between the projects that you are interested in ? Try to find what really gets your excited.

Finally, this is perhaps more controversial, but I recommend looking into the 4 sides of the mind theories by C.S Joseph on YouTube: your personnality type might be ESFJ-ESFP-ENTP-ENFP, and learning to leverage your psychology instead of going against it can help. It's similar to MBTI but less.. horoscope like in my opinion. Maybe the big 5 model also has something interesting to say in that area if you're more comfortable with something less novel but more accepted within psychology. For me, learning about my strengths and weaknesses is something I found extremely useful.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything

#93

Post by danielfoster »

keyle wrote: post #39
Ballas wrote: post #12

That 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 p…

That's a very rash assumption. I'd go easy on diagnosing people with ADHD based on 4 paragraphs when it can be explained with either unrealistic expectations or lack of discipline. I'm not saying it's not ADHD, I'm saying it's a risky thing to imply it.

As someone with ADHD, the author’s issues sound very much like ADHD. I have yet to hear of someone who has a “lack of discipline” to this degree who does not have ADHD. I used quotes because the concept of discipline is also very relative.

I have yet to hear of anyone being told by a medical professional that they don’t have ADHD but instead simply lack self-discipline. Yet probably many people become depressed or feel hopeless because of comments like this.

Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything

#94

Post by fwungy »

Practice non-distraction. Start little.

Decide, for example, that you're going to make your bed. Then don't do anything but make your bed. Don't check your phone in the middle or go on a side quest to dust the headboard. Just make your bed.

Just keep practicing that on easy things and you'll get better. The key is to set tasks that you can achieve. As your brain gets used to this it will let you do more involved tasks undistracted.

Eventually you'll be able to non-self-distract for 30 minutes, at which point you can strategically use your time and make major accomplishments. That's about as long as anyone can work without some sort of break. If you can stack 10-15 good half hours in a day of work you're going to take over the world.

Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything

#95

Post by codersfocus »

Start a page on eg notion titled ideas. When you have an idea, write about it (all the sub ideas) instead of starting it immediately.

Then go back to what you were already working on, until they’re finished. I keep 2 projects active, when I’m tired of one I work on the other. My idea list probably has 100 items.

Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything

#97

Post by are4 »

I'm not an expert, not a person with ADHD, nor an accomplished developer who manages to finish his projects constantly. I have a few ones going on for years and I struggle with the same issue both at work and outside of it. BUT lately things have improved, and by a very simple method: I keep a journal. Specifically, it's to record what I do daily, what I read, the projects I start, etc. Then, I keep a list of daily, monthly and yearly objectives, and at the beginning of each month I plan my goals, which are mostly projects I want to complete. I keep a list of open projects, sort them by priority and stuff them in there each month. It's not automatic thet I manage to work or finish the projects, but at least it builds some pressure which leads me to remember about them, so I'm compelled to work on them. This month I managed to finish my new website revision, which was an outstanding issue since last year's june. This makes me happy, it's a push to continue on this path, and it lift my morale as I see I can complete things.

Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything

#98

Post by jschveibinz »

shubhamjain wrote: post #28

Having gone through the same problem, I think it's important to develop a mental framework on how to evaluate ideas. I no longer feel excited by the prospect of a new language, or a framework, because it would be an uphill battle to drive up the adoption. Once you start thinking critically, you'd have fewer competing ideas, and hopefully, a longer lasting motivation. Instead of acting upon the idea by coding it right…

This is a very good answer, and it can be summarized with the word “value.” I would just add that value is shared between the user and the maker: it needs to be a win for both sides. So that “maker value” has to be included in the evaluation. Cheers!

Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything

#99

Post by than3 »

As several have mentioned this is a common symptom with ADHD, what no one has mentioned is it is also a common symptom from various types of heavy metal poisoning.

While I am not a doctor or a psychiatrist, you may want to speak with one to get an idea of various things you might do to help yourself.

I can tell you from experience, structuring your life is important when you drift. That means enforcing strong boundaries; creating a routine which you do not deviate from, and following a process methodically, and other things like meditating and visualizations can help. A lot of developing habits is simply to set a process and not give yourself the choice to deviate. After you've developed them (several months later) you can choose when you have the choice; i.e. there are conditions where you can reasonably give yourself a choice.

Its very hard to get properly tested for heavy metal poisoning because they can really only test for acute poisoning. Chronic poisoning commonly goes undiagnosed because the heavy metals get bound into your cells and out of your blood so quickly. Literally, to test for heavy metals the doctor needs to cause acute poisoning by using a chelator. As far as I'm aware that is still the case.

Common avenues for heavy metals are lead paint, arsenic in contaminated water, and mercury from silver dental amalgams (50% by weight; it leaches from acidic foods).

If you've had any of the following symptoms, its more likely this is poisoning than anything else.

Mercury: Tremors, Emotional changes (such as mood swings, irritability, nervousness, excessive shyness); Insomnia; Neuromuscular changes (such as weakness, muscle atrophy, twitching); Headaches; Disturbances in sensations; Changes in nerve responses; and/or Poor performance on tests of mental function; Brain fog; Skin rashes and dermatitis; .

Lead: stomach cramps, constipation, muscle/joint pain, trouble sleeping, fatigue, irritability, and loss of sex drive

Arsenic: Has quite a lot see below. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/arsenic

Re: Ask HN: I am overflowing with ideas but never finish anything

#100

Post by jasmer »

Hey man, we all do this, it's normal. I don't know what to say to improve so much but definitely don't fret.

Maybe try to think a bit bigger picture, and as some authors like to do: just grind.

I've read that some authors force themselves to sit down and write x-page in the morning and that's that.

You know the Beatles used to clock into the studio every day like factory workers - making the best albums of all time was mostly not impulsive, it was 'work'.

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