2 things have always worked for me - well almost: 1) listing out the tasks and sub-tasks required for a particular project and crossing them out as I complete them. Then, when I feeling particularly morose about accomplishing "nothing", I check out my list with crossed-out tasks and realize I've completed something after all. Timing/sprints don't work for me. I'll work on a particular task/sub-task until I've reached a good stopping point or until I'm feeling burnt out or I'm bored out of my skull. (Actually, as I'm writing this, I realize Pomodor or something similar is something I should consider for those boring, but necessary grunt tasks.) 2) When I realize I'm actually at or close to completion (and sometimes adding more tasks), I think of the 80/20 rule and ask myself if I would be merely "polishing the apple" if I continued on that project vs. the more substantive work I could do another.
Also, if I "complete" a project and it never really gets any traction, I try to think of the lessons learned from it so that I won't feel like the entire project was a waste of time. Admittedly, that last part can be pretty tough sometimes. . .especially if you paid a price in lack of attention on your "day" job, social interactions/occasions/relationships that got short shrift while you worked on the project, etc.
What I Learned by Going It Alone
31–36 of 36 posts
Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone
#32Yes, 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 y…
exactly. my girlfriend asked me to agree to finishing at 6 on weekdays, and 2 in the afternoon on weekends. I couldn't believe that would be an improvement... was I really working 7 days a week on my own project? She assured me it was!
Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here, here. Last night I checked my commit history for my side-project and noticed I started it over six months ago. There were frequent gaps of up to three weeks with no commits. It was my New Year's resolution to ship stuff, instead of jumping into learning something new every two weeks. Each of those long periods of time could've been a great time to start something new. I can finally see the light at the end of t…
I discovered my app involves 15,000 lines of JavaScript that I hand-wrote, and another 15,000 generated from templates. The moment I saw that, I began to realise just how much work I had done. It soon adds up. The light at the end of the tunnel is certainly there, so keep pushing, don't let the fear of how much work it seems daunt you... you'll get there :-)
Thank you. This prompted me to take a look at my codebase. About 20,000 lines of code. I barely knew C++ before I started out. Very excited to note this and a bit more confident now that I am planning on pricing my product.
Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone
#34Are any of ya'll enjoying this more now than when you worked as a team? I've found the whole process of programming far more fun now.
Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone
#35Great post Ian. I can totally relate to it and there are some fantastic tips that I need to apply to my work. I hope I can fix my procrastination and focus on one thing at a time.
Re: What I Learned by Going It Alone
#36@iancackett Awesome first post!