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It would be helpful to give some ideas of the sorts of projects that you're thinking of. It sounds like you have a very specific idea in mind. What sort of thin
by chris_j 5y ago
It would be helpful to give some ideas of the sorts of projects that you're thinking of. It sounds like you have a very specific idea in mind. What sort of things do you have on your TODO list and what are you assuming that folks here have on their TODO lists?
For me, the first thing when starting a project is to figure out who you're building it for and what problem you're solving for them. Try to talk to them and ask lots of questions about the problem domain and about their problem. Allow yourself to be surprised by the answers. This may involve learning to ask open questions and not coming into it with too many preconceptions. Try not to ask questions that assume what you already _think_ you know.
Secondly, try to build something (minimal) as quickly as you can and try to get someone using it. If you are lucky enough to have customers then great, either observe them using it or ask them how well it works for them.
Thirdly, try to iterate as quickly as possible. Whatever you build in the first place probably won't be the right thing anyway so try to learn, as quickly as possible, what is wrong with it, and then change it. Again, allow yourself to be surprised by what you learn and try to be aware of any initial assumptions that you might have, so that they don't lead you in the wrong direction if they turn out to be wrong.
All of the above assumes that you're lucky enough to have customers. If you don't have any then either abandon what you're working on or be content to work on something that scratches your own itch (in which case, you're the customer and you're the one who decides what works and what doesn't).
Finally, I'm still really curious about this TODO list with ideas that you might have. For me, nothing crushes my sense of intrinsic motivation more than feeling forced to pick up items from a TODO list. How does your TODO list work for you? What benefits does your TODO list give you? And are you aware of any negatives that spring from it?
- tr1ll10nb1ll 5y agoAlright, I'll help you understand what I'm trying to imply with the TODO list of ideas. It's fairly close to what you mean by intrinsic motivation to work on something. Except, sometimes, I, get different ideas to build something fun when I'm already busy with something I thought of as cool a while back. For example, right now, I'm working on something full-time on what I thought would be really cool to build in January but along the way, I thought of other things as well, some of those require more time than just a weekend. I tend to write those ideas down instead of passing on them or getting involved in them and abandoning my current projects. Keep doing this for long enough and you'll end up with a long list of ideas over a period of time so that's what I was referring to with the TODO list of ideas, ideas that really intrigue me, stuff I want to build but currently don't have the time for. I'm assuming this happens to other developers as well, at least, some of my friends do this. We even have a shared list of what we want to build together.
- chris_j 5y agoCool thanks for expanding. That TODO list of ideas makes sense now. Am I correct in understanding that finding the time/energy to actually do something with your ideas is the limiting factor for you? Or is it something else?
- tr1ll10nb1ll 5y agoYeah, you're correct with that observation.
- chris_j 5y agoI probably shouldn't be surprised to hear that because my experiences are similar and I understand that this is the case for most people. My advice would be to work on projects that you are intrinsically motivated to work on. Don't work on a project in expectation of any reward if you complete it. Let yourself know that it's ok if you don't achieve all (or any) of what you might have set out to achieve in the first place. Myself, the side projects where I've achieved the most have been ones that give me a dopamine hit (basically games or things that are graphical, in my case, even though I've rarely been paid to work on those sorts of things in my career as a software engineer). If you're interested in reading up on motivation then there are few books that I've found really useful: - Drive by Daniel Pink talks about the different types of motivation (intrinsic vs extrinsic) and talks about the motivating factors of autonomy, mastery and purpose. There's a nice sketchnote video based on a talk by the author that did the rounds a few years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgGhSOAtAyQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgGhSOAtAyQ that sums up the key points. - The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg talks about habits, how they form and how you can understand and hack them. - The Power Of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz talks about managing different aspects of your life in order to have energy to do the things that are important to you. Hopefully the above may be of some use to you. They have been very useful for me, particularly in understanding how counterintuitive human psychology is in some cases and in terms of understanding how some strategies that you may be tempted to use can be counterproductive.