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On finishing projects

alexreichert.com

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Re: On finishing projects

#31

Post by j_bum »

haswell wrote: post #9

Over the years I’ve noticed that I’m often operating in various “modes”. Some of this is related to depressive episodes, but often it’s just a more neutral ebb and flow. I’ll have a week where ideas are flowing and connections form easily. I’ll have a week where it feels like I can’t engage so deeply - like my system is cooling off after exertion. And this is one of the reasons writing things down has been such a use…

Your comment resonates with me.

I totally agree about writing things down being useful. I also like the author’s timebox plan as well. I’m great at writing specs to define what I want to build, but my hobby project timelines are nonexistent. I think I’ll give this a try!

Re: On finishing projects

#32

Post by maroonblazer »

g4zj wrote: post #19

I genuinely consider two of my greatest accomplishments to be building a game and composing a song. Neither are very impressive, but in both cases, I ended up having to simply decide I was done and stop working on them. I could continue making changes indefinitely, adding little improvements and such every day, but they were also complete as they were. Once I learned to be okay with that and move on, I learned what f…

‘Art is never finished, only abandoned’ - Leonardo Da Vinci

Re: On finishing projects

#33

Post by j7ake »

I found it takes the same amount of time to go from 0 to 50% completion as it is to go from 50% to 80%, and similarly from 80 to 90%.

This means when you are at 50% completion, you need to spend more than two times more effort to hit >90% completion.

99 to 100% takes an infinite amount of time.

Re: On finishing projects

#35

Post by turtledragonfly »

munificent wrote: post #24

Reposting an old Reddit comment of mine that I think agrees with much of this article: I'm in my 40s and for most of my life I had an unending series of unfinished projects that I felt guilty about. Today, I am able to finish some stuff, including some pretty large, hard projects. Better, I don't feel guilty about the stuff I don't finish. The trick for me is to be deliberate and mindful about why I'm embarking on a…

> Better, I don't feel guilty about the stuff I don't finish.

I think this is key, and demonstrates the real personal growth, which is more valuable than being able to finish things per-se.

It's the old saw: "what's the hardest thing? To know oneself."

There's a lot of eagerness to jump on bandwagons and do whatever the motivational speakers recommend, but you're not going to find the answers specific to you until you look inside yourself.

Anyway, in short: I agree (:

I'd also add: the reasons and mindset can change not just from project to project, but from day to day as well. Very context-dependent (at least in my experience).

Re: On finishing projects

#36

Post by TrainedMonkey »

haswell wrote: post #9

Over the years I’ve noticed that I’m often operating in various “modes”. Some of this is related to depressive episodes, but often it’s just a more neutral ebb and flow. I’ll have a week where ideas are flowing and connections form easily. I’ll have a week where it feels like I can’t engage so deeply - like my system is cooling off after exertion. And this is one of the reasons writing things down has been such a use…

Do you keep a journal? Things like sunlight, diet, schedule, socialization, can have a big effect.

Re: On finishing projects

#37

Post by haswell »

TrainedMonkey wrote: post #36
haswell wrote: post #9

Over the years I’ve noticed that I’m often operating in various “modes”. Some of this is related to depressive episodes, but often it’s just a more neutral ebb and flow. I’ll have a week where ideas are flowing and connections form easily. I’ll have a week where it feels like I can’t engage so deeply - like my system is cooling off after exertion. And this is one of the reasons writing things down has been such a use…

Do you keep a journal? Things like sunlight, diet, schedule, socialization, can have a big effect.

I do. These days, I'm all in on Obsidian. It's been a great tool for thought that ebbs and flows with me, and helps me see how things have been going.

Without peeling the whole onion, I've been dealing with a series of autoimmune issues in combination with complex PTSD. I'm working with some really great people to address these issues on all fronts and I'm much better these days than I've been in the past, but it's a work in progress that I'll have to manage for awhile.

A huge +1 to the importance of core habits. Focusing on this has been a key aspect of recovery.

Re: On finishing projects

#38

Post by anon291 »

There's no such thing as finishing a project. My most successful open source projects requires ongoing maintenance work to this day and the various dependency updates require constant refactoring.

To me something is done when it reaches a state where you don't feel you need to tend to it. But it's never actually done. The only things that are truly done are things that will never be used again.

Re: On finishing projects

#39

Post by bbor »

Great stream-of-consciousness style article, I relate and appreciated the practical advice!

This isn't enough on its own obviously, but just in case anyone's been noticing something of a trend: inability to finish projects is verbatim one of the DSM-V entries for Inattentive-presenting ADHD: https://www.cdc.gov/adhd/diagnosis/index.html

Re: On finishing projects

#40

Post by maninblackv2 »

Im on the same sitatuation, i had an idea month ago that i thought it might be useful,started building, but when i finished the main parts i gave up, i just had the "what if" question, what if nobody actually want this and i've never touched since then the code is still in github tho
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