The beginning of any project is always characterized by blissful productivity.
There are no hard decisions, no tradeoffs, no users, and no customers. Just you and an infinite canvas.
Imagine you're building a cool Lego castle. At first, it's super fun and easy, but then it gets harder and you might lose interest. This article talks about why finishing projects is tough and how to push through.
Standup Comedy Bit You know how it goes, right? You start a project, and it's like you're on a sugar high. "This is gonna be amazing!" Then, a few weeks later, you're like, "Why did I think this was a good idea? I should have just watched Netflix."
Related Book and Media Recommendations Check out "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield for insights on overcoming creative resistance. Also, watch the TED Talk "Grit: The power of passion and perseverance" by Angela Duckworth.
No one accomplishes anything great without sitting down at their desk every day and fighting for it.
out of things to tweak. Even with a fully
you are the kind of person who ships. One day you'll
Behind the fear of releasing is often the fear of exposing your work, and yourself, to criticism.Â
All the time spent on the project is time you could have spent on something else. That time was not without cost.
Every time you don't release a project, you're telling yourself that you’re the kind of person who doesn't ship.
publishing your work increases your luck and how outsized benefits accrue to the people who are willing to put themselves out there by pressing the publish button.
For every vocal critic, there are 10 times as many people quietly following along and admiring not only your work, but your bravery to put it out publicly.
Sometimes finishing is the end: You release the article, the podcast, the book, and that's it. The artifact is in its final form.
Sometimes finishing is just the beginning: You release the library, the package, the SaaS product, and your work is really just beginning. Users have issues, customers have feedback, and dependencies need upgrading. In some sense, there is no finished software; there is only released software.
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 monitor with the task I'm focusing on to help keep me on track. Sometimes I can accomplish more in that quiet hour and a half than I can in the rest of the day.
Even with a fully completed project, you convince yourself that it's not quite good enough, so it remains unreleased. You move on to a new project, and the cycle repeats.Â
The beginning of any project is always characterized by blissful productivity.
There are no hard decisions, no tradeoffs, no users, and no customers. Just you and an infinite canvas.
Imagine you're building a cool Lego castle. At first, it's super fun and easy, but then it gets harder and you might lose interest. This article talks about why finishing projects is tough and how to push through.
Standup Comedy Bit You know how it goes, right? You start a project, and it's like you're on a sugar high. "This is gonna be amazing!" Then, a few weeks later, you're like, "Why did I think this was a good idea? I should have just watched Netflix."
Related Book and Media Recommendations Check out "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield for insights on overcoming creative resistance. Also, watch the TED Talk "Grit: The power of passion and perseverance" by Angela Duckworth.
No one accomplishes anything great without sitting down at their desk every day and fighting for it.
out of things to tweak. Even with a fully
you are the kind of person who ships. One day you'll
Behind the fear of releasing is often the fear of exposing your work, and yourself, to criticism.Â
All the time spent on the project is time you could have spent on something else. That time was not without cost.
Every time you don't release a project, you're telling yourself that you’re the kind of person who doesn't ship.
publishing your work increases your luck and how outsized benefits accrue to the people who are willing to put themselves out there by pressing the publish button.
For every vocal critic, there are 10 times as many people quietly following along and admiring not only your work, but your bravery to put it out publicly.
Sometimes finishing is the end: You release the article, the podcast, the book, and that's it. The artifact is in its final form.
Sometimes finishing is just the beginning: You release the library, the package, the SaaS product, and your work is really just beginning. Users have issues, customers have feedback, and dependencies need upgrading. In some sense, there is no finished software; there is only released software.
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 monitor with the task I'm focusing on to help keep me on track. Sometimes I can accomplish more in that quiet hour and a half than I can in the rest of the day.
Even with a fully completed project, you convince yourself that it's not quite good enough, so it remains unreleased. You move on to a new project, and the cycle repeats.Â
