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On finishing projects

alexreichert.com

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Re: On finishing projects

#91

Post by kazinator »

This is more about launching. Launching is not finishing. We are using recent versions of things that launched decades ago.

When you're working on software that has no obvious finish (development could go on indefinitely) you have to set up small milestones. Okay, in this release we're going to get this and that and other thing working, with documentation and test cases. That is in a concrete target. When we have those three things with documentation and test cases we've hit the target and nothing blocks that release anymore.

Re: On finishing projects

#92

Post by NicoJuicy »

vouaobrasil wrote: post #53
NicoJuicy wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hard thing is staying focused on finishing things. New projects are always nice and "productive", because it's fine. It's meeting the end goal that is harder.

Personally, I find that meeting the end goal is easy if the project suits my personality and tastes. So my point was to discard the projects if I eventually discover that some part of the work doesn't satisfy that criteria.

I think that mostly means, for a lot of people, working on your own projects instead of customer projects

Re: On finishing projects

#93

Post by 0x008 »

notjoemama wrote: post #73
TrainedMonkey wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

But also, don't over optimize. For example, if your routine or schedule is mostly working but you feel like you need some less structured time, don't schedule it, just go out and do that. Don't work it in for the purpose of being more "productive" later. I've been feeling like the software industry is over optimizing engineering output just a smidge beyond what is morally acceptable. Not enough to raise red flags abo…

These pointless meetings are usually a result of the fact that people feel things are going better if they are a little bit involved, even if their involvement is not actually contributing to the solution.

Also it’s a lot about lack of trust in large orgs.

Re: On finishing projects

#94

Post by 0x008 »

halfcat wrote: post #59
cloverich wrote: post #5

I resonate strongly with this. I found something pretty simple thats been helping me lately though. I uhh, i just force myself to keep working on it until its done. Grind it out. Work on it especially when i dont want to. Ditch those little relaxing moments for it. Wake up early to find time for it. Its torture. And also therapeutic. I see the incompleteness of my original idea, or plan. I see that the things i decla…

> ”i just force myself to keep working on it until its done.” I’ll admit I’m jealous of this. Most days at 5pm I’m just hitting a groove, but kids need to eat, need family time, etc. I’d love to grind from 8am-11pm but rarely have that luxury.

Just to give you maybe another perspective: I think part of what makes the work interesting is that I can’t do it all day as I please. So when I have time to work, I am super motivated. As unsatisfying as that might be.

Whenever I have holidays and weekends or unlimited time and want to work on something I usually don’t follow through.

Re: On finishing projects

#95

Post by 0x008 »

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…

For me this sounds a lot like a distinction between being intrinsically motivated (“because it is fun for me”) and extrinsic motivation (“I want to achieve something in the outside world”)

Re: On finishing projects

#96

Post by FrankyHollywood »

turtledragonfly wrote: post #76
FrankyHollywood wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know? :)

Fine I'll bite :Þ Have a poorly-ordered braindump: In my life, I've kindof developed a rule of thumb: if it's the more difficult path, it's probably the better path. That heuristic isn't always correct, but I find it to be pretty good. Problems can arise when I follow it blindly, though.[1] I've just generally found that a lot of good things in life are on the other side of a barrier, and crossing that barrier usuall…

Thx for sharing!

For a long time, I was lazy, and took pride in quoting Bill Gates "I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it."

I thought I was smart, but after years I discovered I became more lazy, and had never developed any deep knowledge on matter.

"if it's the more difficult path, it's probably the better path", I like that :)

Re: On finishing projects

#97

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

randomdata wrote: post #68
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the Toyota JiT stuff, but the company I worked for is a 100+-year-old engineering corporation, and didn't do stuff in no new-fangled, 1950s-kid-playground way. But the term "Agile," is a lot more recent (and US-based). I rapidly learned never to use that word within earshot of my managers. Sort of like saying "California Roll" in a traditional Tokyo sushi joint.

> I rapidly learned never to use that word within earshot of my managers. Stands to reason. Agile, in the Manifesto sense, defines the considerations to consider should managers be eliminated from the picture. Nobody is going to be comfortable knowing that their job is on the chopping block.

It's not really that.

It's because that company is laser-focused on Quality (they have a well-earned reputation as one of the highest-Quality manufacturers in the world).

They believe that Agile promotes bad-quality work, because it promotes a lack of Discipline and checks and balances (which are necessary components of high-Quality production).

I disagree, but many of the Agile proponents exemplify low-quality work, because they deliberately eschew Discipline and checks and balances. They use Agile as "Santa Claus for young developers," as opposed to what I believe is Agile's focus on delivering high-quality, useful, and timely, product to end-users.

We need more examples of the Agile process doing really good work.

Re: On finishing projects

#98

Post by lurn_mor »

shepherdjerred wrote: post #83
lurn_mor wrote: post #80

Not to nitpick, but in this blog post, mostly every first sentence after a heading doesn't add anything, but simply repeats the heading in a longer, more rambling format. Are you bumping your word count to achieve some imagined length goal/page count? Brevity and Ruthless Editing should be incorporated into your final cycles of 'finishing' working on projects.

This is so very unhelpful and completely against the spirit of the post. The author knows their work isn't perfect, but they're sharing it anyway. This is covered in the first paragraph. Regardless, I found this post to be perfect. There are good takeaways, it was easy to read, and it wasn't too long. I'd imagine that the author would happily consider your opinion if you posed it in a more constructive manner.

The author actually asked for feedback on this platform (in the spirit of the post...). Constructive criticism is not part of your process, huh?

Poor writing turns off readers, who won't come back and visit again, and it diminishes your effort and message. Pretty basic.

Re: On finishing projects

#99

Post by TrainedMonkey »

0x008 wrote: post #93
notjoemama wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But also, don't over optimize. For example, if your routine or schedule is mostly working but you feel like you need some less structured time, don't schedule it, just go out and do that. Don't work it in for the purpose of being more "productive" later. I've been feeling like the software industry is over optimizing engineering output just a smidge beyond what is morally acceptable. Not enough to raise red flags abo…

These pointless meetings are usually a result of the fact that people feel things are going better if they are a little bit involved, even if their involvement is not actually contributing to the solution. Also it’s a lot about lack of trust in large orgs.

Feeling important is definitely a thing, at my old place we've had a saying - meetings are a practical alternative to real work.

Re: On finishing projects

#100

Post by bitbasher »

This is something I struggled with personally for a long time. I had a list of projects I wanted to complete ranging from SaaS products to video games.

I tried working on multiple projects but my mind always focused on one at the detriment of the others (before ultimately working on something else).

After some time and deep introspecting, I realized working on multiple projects was some complex form of procrastination (avoiding doing hard or boring things on other projects). I also realized working on other projects may have been some sorta coping mechanism to avoid possible failure (if I never finish projects I can never fail).

After the introspection I hit a turning point with two words, "what if".

Instead of bouncing around, trying and learning new things, what if I focused all of my attention on one stack/product/project/industry/thing?

I haven't solved what "done" means yet, but I have come to terms with the shortness of life and my own capabilities. I know who I am and what I can do. It's a start.

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