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Finish your projects

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Re: Finish your projects

#131

Post by BeetleB »

Eisenstein wrote: post #99
BeetleB wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Instead of creating a new thread you post directly to the author who responded to an unrelated message. Since the author is obviously responding to criticisms, why did you feel the need to expand a thread with a non-related article quotation you took issue with rather than start your own? It seems to me you wanted to ensure that the author read what you wrote because you felt it was particularly important for him t…

I stand by my original assessment. I am not seeing a connection between 'the use of 'you' vs 'I' personalization and the effectiveness of the difference in using them' and 'a request to investigate a logical fallacy and the relevance of such fallacy to the article'.

And I stand by my original response: I have no idea what you're talking about.

Re: Finish your projects

#132

Post by BeetleB »

stcroixx wrote: post #114
BeetleB wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You have a duty to your past self to release the project. It’s a way to honor your work and sacrifice. All the time spent on the project is time you could have spent on something else. That time was not without cost. Ouch! I strongly encourage you to read up and understand the sunk cost fallacy. In general, do not let past efforts be the guide for future decisions. I've quit a lot of projects in my life. And it was…

Understanding the sunk cost fallacy and having an opinion like the authors are not mutually exclusive. It doesn’t always apply and shouldn’t be used as an excuse to abandon whatever one feels like without guilt.

> It doesn’t always apply and shouldn’t be used as an excuse to abandon whatever one feels like without guilt.

Unless you made commitments to others, one should never feel guilt for not finishing a project.

Something I learned in my 20's: Guilt is one of worst long term motivators, and almost never yields anything positive. It's why those who guilt trip others are best avoided.

Re: Finish your projects

#133

Post by kaba0 »

renewiltord wrote: post #113
joecot wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Romans didn't consider opium an addiction as much as a medicine. Same as many of the drugs we now consider illicit. Marcus Aurelius was taking opium every day for "stomach issues" (krohns or similar perhaps?) and "nerves".

Interesting. Like how people are absolutely juiced to the gills on caffeine these days, riding a stimulant Shai Hulud across the sands of time.

Caffeine though really is a jackpot for humanity, it has realistically speaking no negative side effects.

Even serious physical symptoms from withdrawal are basically just a week of headaches and other minor things.

Re: Finish your projects

#135

Post by bojo »

anoy8888 wrote: post #81
jhp123 wrote: post #30

To take the contrary position: give up. Your project will take far longer than you think, and you will get much less from it than you hope (at least in terms of external validation and rewards). You may feel a horrible pressure to finish it, but you are a free person and can simply choose not to. You can free yourself from this pain without lifting a finger. Go take a walk or bake some cookies instead. If you have th…

Look , 90% of good work / product won’t exist if people all give up because they don’t want to grind and only work if they feel like it . You cannot get rid of grinding in any projects even if you are passionate about it . There are gonna be times or parts of it that you need to grind. No excuse if you choose to be a grown up

As a grown up I can choose to enjoy a project until I stop enjoying it.

Does every project actually need to be brought to its conclusion? No. Is it nice to take pride in completed projects? Yes. Do the projects I do bring me additional knowledge? Yes, usually.

I think that the ability to complete a project is a desirable skill. I think the desire to take a project to completion is worthy, otherwise why start it? Still, priorities change right along with interests. Much like saying "No" is considered a skill, knowing when to finish, and when to throw in the towel, are both equally valuable skills.

When I signed my daughter up for soccer this summer I had to willingly drop a personal and extremely fun side project because I've committed an extra 4+ hours/week to her development. Am I not a grown up for making this decision?

Re: Finish your projects

#136

Post by solatic »

anoy8888 wrote: post #81
jhp123 wrote: post #30

To take the contrary position: give up. Your project will take far longer than you think, and you will get much less from it than you hope (at least in terms of external validation and rewards). You may feel a horrible pressure to finish it, but you are a free person and can simply choose not to. You can free yourself from this pain without lifting a finger. Go take a walk or bake some cookies instead. If you have th…

Look , 90% of good work / product won’t exist if people all give up because they don’t want to grind and only work if they feel like it . You cannot get rid of grinding in any projects even if you are passionate about it . There are gonna be times or parts of it that you need to grind. No excuse if you choose to be a grown up

The difference is perspective. You're right that grind is unavoidable, but it requires a big-picture perspective that the work is still valuable and therefore worth completing. If the wider circumstances have changed, then grinding because success demands grinding belies the fact that success will no longer be achieved through grinding. The key, in the beginning, is to attempt to reduce the amount of grinding that will be necessary by reducing scope as much as possible for what is needed to ship; the less grinding you need, the more likely you are to ship, and the more likely you are to continue to ship in the future.

Re: Finish your projects

#137

Post by SanderNL »

joecot wrote: post #95
jmort253 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, the book was written in second person point of view (using you/your vs I/my or they/theirs). It sounded like the former emperor was talking directly to me, but later I found he was writing to himself. He never intended for his works to be published. With that in mind, it may be possible the blogger, Aaron Francis, in this case is also speaking to himself.

As an aside, when I see people beat themselves up for not being able to face their struggles with the stoic reflection of Marcus Aurelius, I want to remind them that unlike them, Mr Aurelius was extremely wealthy, one of the most powerful men in the world, and absolutely blasted on opium for most of his day.

That sounds like it would complicate life, not make it easier? His wealth and power is predicated on him being the leader of the friggin’ Roman Empire. I don’t see that as an easy life.

Being an emperor and even trying to do a good job is damn near impossible in my eyes. Lot of respect for that. My tiny life sometimes overwhelms me already.

Re: Finish your projects

#138

Post by foobiekr »

kaba0 wrote: post #133
renewiltord wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. Like how people are absolutely juiced to the gills on caffeine these days, riding a stimulant Shai Hulud across the sands of time.

Caffeine though really is a jackpot for humanity, it has realistically speaking no negative side effects. Even serious physical symptoms from withdrawal are basically just a week of headaches and other minor things.

Disrupted sleep, lack of REM sleep, poor attentiveness, …

Re: Finish your projects

#139

Post by rconti »

Funny, I have the exact opposite reaction. Solving for edge cases, for optimization, for bugs, is all so much easier.

The "infinite possibilities" means infinite wrong decisions. Infinite ways that the decision you just made will prove to be a colossal fuckup in 2 months' time.

Re: Finish your projects

#140

Post by mach1ne »

rocho wrote: post #120

I found this paragraph so relatable: > Personally, I like to put a single song on repeat for hours and hours, days even. It helps me zone in. Why does this admittedly strange behavior help me? I'm not sure exactly, but I've known it to be helpful for more than half my life. I like to get up early before the family is awake, close Slack, put my phone in Do Not Disturb mode, and work. I even put a Post-it note on my mo…

Interesting that music works for you. I’ve noticed that besides just white noise, music significantly degrades my work results. I might produce similar amounts of content line-wise, but the solutions are of much lower quality when I listen to music. As a result, I only listen when work feels too painful and I’m okay with decreasing my output.
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