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There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

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Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#181

Post by NaggingVoice »

scarygliders wrote: post #58

Forget what most here are saying about Adult ADHD, ADD or whatever fancy schmancy TLA is this era's Mental Illness Du Jour. You, my friend, are suffering from Procrastination. You have the idea - but you're putting SO MANY barriers in front of implementing that idea. You're finding excuses NOT to just sit down and write code. You're procrastinating. I know this because I too am guilty of it - been guilty of it all th…

Good advice, except: "1. Just sit down, decide on an IDE - vim will do, even!"

Skip the part about deciding on an IDE or you are off to shave the yak again!

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#182

Post by toddkaufmann »

groby_b wrote: post #132
drawkbox wrote: post #45

You aren't able to get out of the sketchbook or notes in your over-architecting phase. It is normal. It is a typical developer arc. You are probably around 4-8 years in. - The first 2-3 years are focused, prototype like, just happy it is working phase. Piles of crap code here and a few successes. Underplanning is the key problem with a focus on proving you can do it. - The second phase it the overly architected phase…

Huh. And here I am, having spent 25+ years doing this, and new things still attract me. I've learned to watch this behavior (mostly - I'm here commenting, aren't I? ;). But I have not yet reached a stage of "balance". Granted, the shinier things are more high-level this time around - but this seems to point to the fact that this is a repeating pattern, not something that you conquer and forever solve.

Me too. Maybe 30+. I have alternately thought that it was procrastinating, ADD, FOMO, the distraction of shiny objects, etc.--new terms keep appearing.

In the past this has been "useful", because I learned a number of tools before I had need for them. "Useful" in quotes because I might not have been most productive at that moment but maybe it amortizes over time (ie, maybe I "10x" for spurts at later time), and it got me skills and opportunities that I wouldn't have otherwise.

If I don't a creatively productive day in doing what I'm "supposed" to be doing, I need to feed that hunger by learning something new. Sometimes it's shopping for shiny things, other times it's going deeper into something... still looking for the balance.

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#183

Post by paul_milovanov »

scarygliders wrote: post #165
paul_milovanov wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scarygliders is totally right! Indeed, forget about that fancy shmancy ADD, or all that bullshit the big pharma wants you to believe in like diabetes, heart disease, thyroid-affecting diseases, schizophrenia and cancer! No such thing! Just try harder and stop procrastinating and if you can't just go and off yourself, you loser. Works for me!!!

Let's see now... Passive-aggressive rant? Yup! Knocking down your own Straw Men? Yup! Added nothing to the conversation? Yup!

What part of my above comment was passive?

You just told the person that might really benefit from seeing a psych* specialist that adhd is bullshit and they just need to stop procrastinating. You are obviously neither a doctor nor a psychologist and have no appropriate professional qualifications nor personal experience with real ADHD, but please consider that what you said has real potential to cause harm and can needlessly prolong somebody's suffering or worse.

Toodle-doo.

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#184

Post by paul_milovanov »

jrapdx3 wrote: post #159
paul_milovanov wrote: post #149

Something you can start doing right now: exercise and take non-computer breaks. Even 30 minutes of walking around will sharpen your focus. 20 minutes on an elliptical will be even better. There's ample clinical evidence on how exercise is really helpful with focus and mood. Then, importantly: don't just "talk your doctor into giving you ADD drugs". Go find a good psychiatrist, or at least, a psychiatrist who will giv…

> Go find a good psychiatrist, ... who will give you a proper ADHD assessment and with whom you can work on medication if needed. ... As one who does the assessing, I'd endorse your advice. It is of utmost importance to rule out concurrent conditions, but it's a fact that "comorbidity is the rule, not the exception". These other conditions like depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, etc., need to be addressed to reall…

Thanks! Of course you're right -- I just mentioned several hours worth of non self-reported tests (performed by a psychologist by referral from an MD that has perhaps already taken history and self-reported stuff) because that is at least better than what the vast majority of people with suspected adhd get. Obviously nothing beats an ongoing patient-theurapist relationship where therapist can continuously refine or modify her hypothesis based on totality of data to date. Same thing about meds as tools -- absolutely right and typically misunderstood ☺

Cheers!

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#185

Post by toddkaufmann »

DonHopkins wrote: post #127

All these best practices and ADHTDD crap and frameworks are for driving teams of horses, but you are a wild stallion, waiting for somebody to hook you up to a wagon and tell you where to pull them. Just run wild and do what you feel like needs to be done, not what everybody else is doing. Industry standard best practices aren't best when they keep you from practicing and improving your own weaknesses.

Good points.

But it can also be illuminating to try one of the wagons on for a bit and see how it feels. "This is the big thing everyone's talking about? It's just like some X I put together 10 years ago, with a couple layer of warts to deal with concerns that didn't affect me."

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#186

Post by DonHopkins »

toddkaufmann wrote: post #185
DonHopkins wrote: post #127

All these best practices and ADHTDD crap and frameworks are for driving teams of horses, but you are a wild stallion, waiting for somebody to hook you up to a wagon and tell you where to pull them. Just run wild and do what you feel like needs to be done, not what everybody else is doing. Industry standard best practices aren't best when they keep you from practicing and improving your own weaknesses.

Good points. But it can also be illuminating to try one of the wagons on for a bit and see how it feels. "This is the big thing everyone's talking about? It's just like some X I put together 10 years ago, with a couple layer of warts to deal with concerns that didn't affect me."

Then try one at a time, so you can tell which wagon has which effect. This guy was trying to hitch his ride to a dozen wagons at once, all pulling in different directions.

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#187

Post by DonHopkins »

darrennix wrote: post #115
Magpies wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for giving it a name. I do believe you nailed it with FOMO. Interesting.

It's interesting that you "have tons and tons of ideas for mobile apps, web applications" but don't see them through to completion. I'm the opposite: few worthwhile ideas but consistently finish the side projects I start, however minor -- I don't allow myself to start a new one until I've finished the last one. We should trade.

I hope one of your side projects you finish is to clone yourself many times, because you've got a rare talent, finishing things you started!

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#188

Post by ralphc »

increment_i wrote: post #98
scarygliders wrote: post #58

Forget what most here are saying about Adult ADHD, ADD or whatever fancy schmancy TLA is this era's Mental Illness Du Jour. You, my friend, are suffering from Procrastination. You have the idea - but you're putting SO MANY barriers in front of implementing that idea. You're finding excuses NOT to just sit down and write code. You're procrastinating. I know this because I too am guilty of it - been guilty of it all th…

I wonder if this phenomenon is perhaps one of the side effects of the cost of producing and deploying software approaching zero. You could learn a language, framework, or library a week for the rest of your life for the cost of an internet connection. You could spend the rest of your days locked in a man-made cave studying software development methods. You can throw out your work with the sunk cost being only your ti…

I think it is, indirectly. This is a side effect of everyone else making worthy frameworks, languages, etc. I've been doing this long enough to remember when the choices were basically Microsoft C++ or Borland C++. Then Java was basically the one best choice. Now, there are too many choices.

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#189

Post by scarygliders »

NaggingVoice wrote: post #181
scarygliders wrote: post #58

Forget what most here are saying about Adult ADHD, ADD or whatever fancy schmancy TLA is this era's Mental Illness Du Jour. You, my friend, are suffering from Procrastination. You have the idea - but you're putting SO MANY barriers in front of implementing that idea. You're finding excuses NOT to just sit down and write code. You're procrastinating. I know this because I too am guilty of it - been guilty of it all th…

Good advice, except: "1. Just sit down, decide on an IDE - vim will do, even!" Skip the part about deciding on an IDE or you are off to shave the yak again!

Good point ;)

Technically (and to wriggle out from that point) you could say I decided for him (vim) :P

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#190

Post by codethief »

ISL wrote: post #92
scarygliders wrote: post #58

Forget what most here are saying about Adult ADHD, ADD or whatever fancy schmancy TLA is this era's Mental Illness Du Jour. You, my friend, are suffering from Procrastination. You have the idea - but you're putting SO MANY barriers in front of implementing that idea. You're finding excuses NOT to just sit down and write code. You're procrastinating. I know this because I too am guilty of it - been guilty of it all th…

Perfectionism and procrastination can be tightly-coupled. This page [1] convinced me, against my own intuition, that I'm a perfectionist. I thought I was lazy, but I'm not. Perfectionism is simultaneously one of my greatest strengths and weaknesses. If you can identify perfectionism and put a name on it, it's easier to manage. This book (short, small, cheap) [2] contains useful coping strategies. [1] http://depts.was…

Let me add another book on procrastination and perfectionism to the list which is a favorite of mine:

The Now Habit by Neil Fiore

Although it seems the OP has settled with FOMO, I still think this can provide valuable insights.

Another advice to reduce information overload: Close those (probably) hundreds of browser tabs & disable session restoring, block HN for most of the day and read emails only once a day.

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