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This is perfectly normal (or, at least, common). Okay, I have no idea if it's either of those things, but I know I get a very similar thing. A few good ways to
by nudge 16y ago
This is perfectly normal (or, at least, common). Okay, I have no idea if it's either of those things, but I know I get a very similar thing.
A few good ways to keep motivated are:
1. Know why you are doing this. If you have a clear goal in mind, you can motivate yourself towards that goal when the project itself is not motivating/stimulating/interesting (e.g. you've done the fun bits of the coding, and now have to do the non-fun parts that make it work nicely).
2. Have a clear roadmap, with milestones that are achievable every few months (or some other finite period - I think we all have different 'milestone horizons' within which the milestone is motivating). It's hard to motivate yourself with an endless project. It's easier if you know you are working towards a certain feature, a certain number of clients, a certain musical piece played well.
3. Do something else. The initial rush phase is great, and you can get a lot done in that time, but for the long haul you need to give yourself space from certain things. Make sure you're not doing the same thing all day, or spending all your free time doing it.
- bdickason 16y agoThe clear roadmap is something I've never been good at and perhaps this is a root cause. For example, as a 'product manager' I have tons of big dreams for my product. Generally, it takes 2-3 months to get any solid prototype out there. Add on another 2-3 months of buildout to go from prototype to something people use and... by the time anything I've built in the past has reached 50k+ users, we're at least 6 months out and only touching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the features that I want.
- petervandijck 16y agoThe big dreams for your product are understandable. But a roadmap won't help, it will just make you waste time on planning a future that you can't possibly plan. There's another way. Think of this exciting vision first. Then, instead of making a roadmap and starting years of coding to finally arrive at this vision (which will never happen, likely), start cutting away stuff from your vision. Cut away non-crucial stuff, but keep that 1 or 2 features that are exciting. Search for what makes this really exciting. You don't need picture uploads. You don't need 90% of the features. Now build this core product. The core value. The exciting experience. And resist the urge to add stuff to it, instead cut more stuff out, even stuff you've already built, and keep improving this core thing.
- bdickason 16y agoPeter, I'm doing exactly this right now :) And it's damn fun.