3 ms·

A way I have found to get round this is to set small, achievable milestones, it sounds like you are getting caught up in the "enormity of it all" - when we star

A way I have found to get round this is to set small, achievable milestones, it sounds like you are getting caught up in the "enormity of it all" - when we started our company the aim was "to enter competition X", then "get £5,000 in grant funding", then "3d print a prototype", then "build a test rig to test prototype", then "raise some investment", then "get a professionally designed product", the "set up 1 trial with potential customer", then "launch to public" etc. By breaking it down into small steps and focussing on the next achievable goal (we actually went even more granular than this but you get the idea) you don't get swamped, and if it all ends and you fail to hit a mile stone then hey, at least we hit 5 out of 6 or 10 out of 11 milestones (depending on when/if you fail). We're still going 2 years later using the same process and it works really well

heidar 13y ago
Solid advice. Split the problem into many smaller problems and start working. One thing to keep in mind though, TODO lists can give an illusion of progress and accomplishment[1]. That is assuming you split up the problem and create a TODO list out of it which seems like a reasonable thing to do. I remember a discussion on HN about procrastination quite some time ago and there was a comment which made me think a lot. The commenter basically said that he procrastinates by writing code, because that is what he loves to do. If you are procrastinating writing code by doing something else, perhaps you simply do not enjoy writing code and need to explore the world for whatever it is that you love doing? I am still not sure myself, I enjoy writing code but there are other jobs which I think I would enjoy more. [1] http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/10/todont.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/10/todont.html
zhemao 13y ago
This. Every time I've started a project and then abandoned it shortly afterwards, it was because the goal was too complex and I didn't break it up into small-enough pieces. Every time I've succeeded at a large project, it was because I was able to set small, testable intermediate targets. That small shot of dopamine you get when some small thing works does wonders for your motivation to keep at it.
lampe3 13y ago
thats smart ! thank you. so basically you started to plan things better before you started them
- simonbarker87 13y ago
  Essentially yes, but rather than plan the entire thing - just plan the next 1 or 2 steps and make sure they work toward the main objective
  - lampe3 13y ago
    okay i think i got it. focus the goal. break it into milestones and break the milestones into small steps but only plan the next 1 2 steps thank you !

heidar 13y ago

Solid advice. Split the problem into many smaller problems and start working. One thing to keep in mind though, TODO lists can give an illusion of progress and accomplishment[1]. That is assuming you split up the problem and create a TODO list out of it which seems like a reasonable thing to do. I remember a discussion on HN about procrastination quite some time ago and there was a comment which made me think a lot. The commenter basically said that he procrastinates by writing code, because that is what he loves to do. If you are procrastinating writing code by doing something else, perhaps you simply do not enjoy writing code and need to explore the world for whatever it is that you love doing? I am still not sure myself, I enjoy writing code but there are other jobs which I think I would enjoy more. [1] http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/10/todont.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/10/todont.html

zhemao 13y ago

This. Every time I've started a project and then abandoned it shortly afterwards, it was because the goal was too complex and I didn't break it up into small-enough pieces. Every time I've succeeded at a large project, it was because I was able to set small, testable intermediate targets. That small shot of dopamine you get when some small thing works does wonders for your motivation to keep at it.

lampe3 13y ago

thats smart ! thank you. so basically you started to plan things better before you started them

simonbarker87 13y ago
Essentially yes, but rather than plan the entire thing - just plan the next 1 or 2 steps and make sure they work toward the main objective
- lampe3 13y ago
  okay i think i got it. focus the goal. break it into milestones and break the milestones into small steps but only plan the next 1 2 steps thank you !