How can you focus and submit projects?

Question

I find too many projects to participate, and in many languages ​​to play (and too many interesting features in these languages), and too many books to read ...

How are you guys focused and not really doing anything, and not leaving a trace of partially complete "experiments?"

Answer 1

Money, as well as a sense of accomplishment, which is accompanied by the actual completion of something. When I first thought about how to work for myself, I began to come up with software ideas that I would develop and then sell. Of course, I really did not know if what I was doing would really be for sale, so it was easy to get distracted and move on to new ideas.

So I decided to go with a contractor / consultant. When you know that there is a buyer for what you do, and that someone is waiting for him, it gives you motivation. If this is an interesting or complex project, there is a rush associated with its decoration. Thus, additional motivation is added, because you want it more and more.

Once I got a fairly steady stream of hired projects, I found that I would rather focus on my projects because I have an incentive to practice good time management. I give myself a certain amount of time every day or week to work on my projects, and it helps me focus when I take this time.

Of course, I still sometimes leave on tangents and start new side projects, but I was able to stick to the ones that interest me the most.

In addition, after you finish some projects, you will get a better idea of ​​what is actually required to go from conception to completion, and this makes it much easier to do it again and again.

Answer 2

There seem to be two types of developers: Tinkerers and Entrepreneurs.

Tinkerers want to know how every little thing works. As soon as they receive something, they are distracted by everything that they do not know. The technical world is cruel to Tinkerer because there is so much to learn, and every new year creates more. Tinkerers are proud of their knowledge.

Entrepreneurs want to know enough to create something truly wonderful. They think in terms of features and end-user experience. You never hear them argue about Python over .NET over Java over C because they just don't care. They are more interested in the result of the language compared to the language itself. Entrepreneurs are proud of their user base.

You seem to be struggling with your Tinkerer trends. I have the same problem and I found only one thing that helps is to find an entrepreneur developer that you fully respect. When you put them together, it is unsurpassed. Tinkerer discards the depth of every technical nuance. They keep Entrepreneur technically honest. In turn, the Entrepreneur creates focus and opportunity for Tinkerer. When you realize that you are browsing the Scala site (assuming that you are not a Scala developer), they will reveal a new problem in your existing project. Not only that, they understand much better what non-Tinkerers want.

Answer 3

Probably the best motivator (for a team or an individual) is setting goals early and often.

One of the best methods that I have observed in project management is the introduction of “thematic weeks”, where the team (or individual) was given goals or results that are aligned with the general taste, for example, “Client functions”, “Reporting and indicators” and etc. This helped the team / person focus on one area of ​​delivery / effort. It also facilitated communication with the client where progress was made.

Also .. Try to make visible progress (or your team). If you can create an automated assembly process (or some other mechanism) and “publish” an incremental implementation for a short period of time, you can often get traction and an earlier one that can lead the results faster (and help in the early course of correction )

Answer 4

I think that a good programmer may well have many unfinished "experiments" that hang well, which is good.

Usually with a good manager you will be held accountable if your work simply does not get done. If you are a student, however, it is more difficult. I realized that it is impossible to find out everything you want.

I limit myself to only learning 1 or 2 new languages ​​per year and only 1 book per month. This seems to be a good balance between the chaos of programming and good work.

Kudos for an excellent attitude towards learning :)

Answer 5

1) I leave a completely MASIVE trail of incomplete, of course, all side projects.
2) When I need motivation to work, I open my wallet ... It usually does this for me.

Answer 6

I find that participating in the "business" side of the equation helps a lot. When you see what benefits you can use from your creative solutions, your actual users of your program can solve their problems - this is an extremely important motivation for providing these solutions. :-)

Answer 7

I am creating an application that I plan to sell, and I see it as a way to make extra money or reduce the time I spend on other people.

My wife loves this idea, and her encouragement allowed me to concentrate longer than usual, because now she is “working” and not “playing”.