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As an ADD person, one of my mantras is: If I actually finished my projects, I'd never get anything done. I have a kind of FOMO when it comes to knowledge. If I

As an ADD person, one of my mantras is: If I actually finished my projects, I'd never get anything done. I have a kind of FOMO when it comes to knowledge. If I run across a topic that could conceivably be useful to me or my family in some way, I HAVE to gain at least an entry-level understanding of it. And since the best way to learn is by doing, I basically start projects all the time. The feeling of going from zero knowledge in a certain area to much more than the average Joe in a short amount of time is exhilarating. But of course the learning curve flattens out and linear gains require exponential work. That's when I know my curiosity is satisfied and I have enough background now that I can always come back later for a deeper dive if I want or need to. This is not to say I never finish ANY projects. But I need to be very selective about those because life is busy, I don't always take pleasure in the journey, and they always end up taking 10x more time than my most conservative estimates.

mnk47 2y ago
To you anyone reading this who can relate and is happy with their career: what do you do? I don't want to be a magpie developer [0] for the rest of my life. I feel that actual, focused specializations are more valuable now, especially in the ChatGPT era. You have a jack of all trades in your pocket, so why hire me? I'm like you but a bit worse because I almost never finish projects unless there's money on the line. I'm finding that medications helps a lot with this, but if I take them late I can't sleep (even IR) so I can't rely on them every day (I struggle wih unrelated chronic pain that affects my sleep schedule, along with being a night owl). I've taken so many career assessments and nearly all of them return fields that are completely unrealistic for me to pursue: game designer, musician, filmmaker, writer, journalist... Might as well tell me to become a youtuber, podcaster or NBA superstar. [0] - https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-magpie-developer/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-magpie-developer/
euroderf 2y ago
It's the 80-20 Rule in action. Except that of course the 20 to get to the finish is that "other 80" and the payoff in pure learning is not there.
r_hanz 2y ago
Are you me?

mnk47 2y ago

To you anyone reading this who can relate and is happy with their career: what do you do? I don't want to be a magpie developer [0] for the rest of my life. I feel that actual, focused specializations are more valuable now, especially in the ChatGPT era. You have a jack of all trades in your pocket, so why hire me? I'm like you but a bit worse because I almost never finish projects unless there's money on the line. I'm finding that medications helps a lot with this, but if I take them late I can't sleep (even IR) so I can't rely on them every day (I struggle wih unrelated chronic pain that affects my sleep schedule, along with being a night owl). I've taken so many career assessments and nearly all of them return fields that are completely unrealistic for me to pursue: game designer, musician, filmmaker, writer, journalist... Might as well tell me to become a youtuber, podcaster or NBA superstar. [0] - https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-magpie-developer/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-magpie-developer/

euroderf 2y ago

It's the 80-20 Rule in action. Except that of course the 20 to get to the finish is that "other 80" and the payoff in pure learning is not there.

r_hanz 2y ago

Are you me?