What I Learned by Going It Alone • Hacker News Board

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#11

Post by jackschultz » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 2:21 PM UTC

I like it when some of my own thoughts are validated by others. I've been working on a few projects now for the last few months and it amazes me how much better the next on is than the first, like he mentioned in the first point.

The other thing I'll add is that you shouldn't get caught up on having your favorite idea be "the one" and waiting until you're better. Odds are it won't be, and even if it is, you're not going to wreck it if you're a little inexperienced. Just keep plugging away.

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#12

Post by ronilan » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 2:41 PM UTC

OP didn't do it alone. He did it by himself.

A person can do almost everything by himself, but almost nothing alone.

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#13

Post by neltnerb » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 2:42 PM UTC

One of the posts I can relate to more than most. Can't disagree with a single point, and particularly relate to the point about it getting better with each revision.

It takes longer to go through iterations due to lack of resources, but you have to seriously allocate your personal resources in such a way that you spend more time thinking about what you're going to do before you commit to it than most big companies.

I often will go through entire product designs without even making something because I'll CAD it up on SolidWorks, show it to people, think about it, and not actually invest the money and time in doing it for weeks. That cycle is shorter now that I've gotten better at design and have a larger toolkit to work with, but I'm on version 30+ of my LED lights despite having only actually produced four things I've attempted to sell.

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#14

Post by msrpotus » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 3:00 PM UTC

sturadnidge wrote: post #8

Really useful post, thankyou. Specifically for me, the part about wrestling with focus... I tried Pomodoro a while back but assumed it was something you just either 'got' or didn't - it didn't seem like something anyone without ADD would have to work for. So when it didn't quickly work for me, i just threw in the towel. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

If only it was something you either "got" or "didn't". I think it really depends on your personality and what you're working on. I find that it works best for long, drawn-out projects where each single task can take hours (so I used it a lot during school). Now, sometimes a task will take 10 minutes, others 45 minutes, others 3 hours, and so I find that it's much more difficult to break down work into Pomodoros.

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#15

Post by cpursley » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 3:20 PM UTC

dominostars wrote: post #4

Has anyone else had experience with the Pomodoro Technique? It feels like a way for the website to just sell you books/timers/etc.

Free: http://tomatoi.st/

I use it daily.

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#16

Post by graeme » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 4:05 PM UTC

dominostars wrote: post #4

Has anyone else had experience with the Pomodoro Technique? It feels like a way for the website to just sell you books/timers/etc.

It doesn't cost anything. You just set a timer for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break, and repeat. Take a longer break after 4.

The greatest productivity tool I ever found, for certain types of work.

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#17

Post by SEMW » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 4:19 PM UTC

ronilan wrote: post #12

OP didn't do it alone. He did it by himself. A person can do almost everything by himself, but almost nothing alone.

I've read your comment a few times, but I'm still failing to extract anything semantically meaningful from it. Could you clarify?

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#18

Post by sthatipamala » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 4:29 PM UTC

SEMW wrote: post #17

ronilan wrote: post #12

OP didn't do it alone. He did it by himself. A person can do almost everything by himself, but almost nothing alone.

I've read your comment a few times, but I'm still failing to extract anything semantically meaningful from it. Could you clarify?

"By himself" = physical isolation

"alone" = societal, emotional, or other abstract isolation

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#19

Post by durkie » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 4:41 PM UTC

Yes, thanks so much for this post. The advice is good, but I feel like the best part is just seeing that other people are going through the same things you're going through. 2 months out of my full time job and definitely going it alone off in to the wild unknown here...

If I may add something: don't let going it alone fuck up your relationships. You're wearing all the hats all the time. Something will always be on your mind with your project, and if it's bad or worrying it can really sour things. Bring it up and say "this shitty thing happened today..." or "I'm worried about this..." or whatever, but then be done with it. Air it out and move on.

Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone

#20

Post by graeme » Sat, Aug 17, 2013, 4:48 PM UTC

sthatipamala wrote: post #18

SEMW wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read your comment a few times, but I'm still failing to extract anything semantically meaningful from it. Could you clarify?

"By himself" = physical isolation "alone" = societal, emotional, or other abstract isolation

You could interchange these definitions, and they would be correct.

English has a lot of word pairs where you can say "This is not X, it is Y", where the statement would work in reverse.

Both alone and 'by himself' have both physical and moral meanings.