Hi, I'm Aaron and I'm a non-finisher
For as long as I've remembered, I've always had a personal project in the works, usually in the form of a productivity web app. A Saas conjured up and planned with every ounce of my being. With so much excitement and motivation; spending every free moment thinking about it. The irony is that none of these so-called productivity apps has ever seen the light of day.
I have a stable career; I'm a self-taught designer and developer. I've been a professional web developer for nine years and currently run a team at an agency that builds sites for fast-growing fintech companies. I share this with you, not to brag, but to express my current confusion. I am not incompetent, I am not lazy, and I get my work done, but I've had well over 30 non-starter projects in the last decade. Why doesn't my action and mindset from my day job translate to my own endeavours? I'm not sure but what I've learned about myself up to this point is:
- I am a chronic perfectionist.
- I'm scared to show my personal work because it is just that; it's personal.
- I rely on motivation to see me through; when this fades, I lose interest
- My projects are overly ambitious
- I've practised scope creep so much that it should be my middle name
I've reached a point where this habit of not finishing is affecting my mental wellbeing. Abandoning projects is self-perpetuating. The more projects you've scrapped, the more you're unlikely to complete the next. Well, I say no more. Today is the day I promise to break this miserable cycle of not finishing, and I'm laying it all out on here to stay accountable—my plan; to complete one project per month for the next 12 months.
The rules are as follows:
- The project can be an app, website or video game
- I will post the project plan at the start of every month (scope cannot change!)
- I cannot abandon a project once I've started
- Each project must be live by the end of each month
I will be writing about this experience on here over the next year, tracking my progress and reflecting on how it affects my life. The end goal? To finally build my first saas business, fully bootstrapped and completely solo.
I'm no authority on productivity, and I'm not much of a writer, but If what I've said here resonates with you, I hope it helps in some way. Be it inspiration if I succeed or a cautionary tale if I fall flat on my ass at the first hurdle!
Thanks for reading, and stay safe.
Thanks for sharing. Some deep reflection going on there.. 👍 Lots of people in the same boat, I think.
One thing that might help is to make deployment a “one click” affair right from the start. Deploy whatever you have at the end of each sitting. No excuses, no exceptions. 🤷♂️
Look forward to your progress.
Oh i like this idea! I have been in this same boat many many many times / years and have always found myself never launching even after a large proclamation like this. I like the idea of just pushing live whatever you have at the end of the day just so it's there and there's no excuses. I'm using this on my next neverending project 😀
Thanks Shaunau,
I really like this approach, deploying at the end of each session really ups the accountability factor!
First, I want to say I've been in your boat a number of times - I have several half-finished projects where I spent months of good work, and never really got to the finish line.
Aiming for one project per month seems overly ambitious to me though. Instead of focusing on the end goal, try building up the habits that will get you there. For example, work on your project the specific X hours of the specific Y days in Z environment.
My current personal routine is working on my side project immediately after waking up and sending kid to school, from 7:30-9:00 on Mon/Wed/Fri on my desk - before checking off email, having breakfast, reading the news, or anything else that might distract me. It's a pity ~5 hours per week that way, but what counts is the baseline sustainability - and I often get to do much more time. This was inspired by the "Atomic Habits" book that I highly recommend.
As you kind of imply yourself - going with motivation/enthusiasm alone is not enough to get you though longer stretches of time. You need habits/discipline to keep you going when (not "if"!) motivation and interest wane.
Thanks for the great advice, tie.
You're right. A project a month is ambitious but I hope to counteract that by setting realistic scopes. My first project for example is going to be my personal site. A project that could probably be done in a couple of weeks. I hope that by keeping the projects small and varied, I can get my "reps in" and strengthen that discipline and resolve to get things done.
I don't doubt what youve said here and it very well may be the case that this too is too much pressure. We will see soon enough :)
Hey Aaron, love the self-reflection and action.
Two things I'd say:
1.) Most of the people in this community (especially the successful ones) have a bunch of unfinished projects.
2.) You're not defined by your past. In other words: yes, you've previously been a non-finisher. But that doesn't mean you ARE a non-finisher - you're free to change your story, and what defines you at any moment. I can't remember where this idea is from - maybe Alan Watts!
No, we leave products after we proved they’re not going to make an income.
You’re right though. You aren’t defined by your past.
The best way forward is to set goals you want to achieve. Motivate yourself by your goals rather than by today’s interest. Interest wanes and when things get difficult, you need something to get you out of bed in the morning.
What words of encouragement. Thanks, @harvellocapello. 🙏🏻
Honestly, I didn't expect this post to get any traction. Seeing the engagement it's received has really inspired me. If I knew ahead of time I'd have titled it "I was a non-finisher".
Your quote in point 2 is very inspiring too.
I've just read the "12 week year", they have a similar sentiment, I'm paraphrasing here but it goes something like...
Greatness is not you doing something exceptional. You become great the day you decide to make the changes — to be great. The spectacles of your achievement are only confirmations that you are great. Not greatness itself.
Hi Aaron, that was an interesting read and thanks for your openness.
What made me think is why are you putting so much pressure on yourself with 1 project per month? Why don't you start a bit smaller? This might be easier and yield better results?
Related story from my friend who wanted to lose weight and go to the gym more. And his coach told him: "Look, let's first get you to eat better for the next three months, and only afterwards start adding gym. Otherwise you will put too much weight on your shoulders."
This really resonated with me. It is great to show ambition, but the ambition itself can also really be a burden.
Just my two cents... Good luck and looking forward to updates!
Thanks @realaisles. I'd be interested to know what me starting "a bit smaller" would look like? Fewer projects? Or perhaps a shorter commitment up front?
Brain storm 5-10 ideas. Make them small. Run them past 10 people and see if it resonates with them.
Don’t start coding until you know you’ve got a problem to solve
I have many problems worth solving for myself. I think that's a good starting point to start getting things across the finishing line.
I tend to gravitate towards solving problems that I have myself (I presume this is true for most) but I haven't shared most of them. I'll think about doing that.
I would make sure that you’ve also got some market depth ie. People who also would want to use it and would pay you for it.
But definitely a good place to start.
Exactly. Say starting with one project with a target to complete it in two months?
Definitely get where you are coming from. I constantly have ideas of things I want to work on, but probably wouldn't get far with them.
If it helps, I've been able to work on my current project consistently for a while now because it is something I use every day. I started with a very simple MVP that I built in a month and could provide value to me right away. Every time I worked on a feature, I would personally experience the benefits of that feature. It gave me the motivation to keep working on it to the point where the app is now such an integral part of my life that I can't not work on it.
Thanks ProfessorBeekums,
I use my own Todo app for my day job but it wasn't enough to keep me going. That being said, It definitely helps. Maybe "eating my own dog food" combined with building in public will be enough to break the cycle? 🤷
You inspired me to break the cycle too!
That's great, @xavn, go get it!
Hey Aaron - you know what helps in a scenario like this? A finisher.
Care to partner up on any half-finished projects you'd like to get out the door?
I've worked with co-founders before, really great people and talents and I actually let them down over and over because my unfinishing habits. Once I have a couple of projects under my belt, I'll definitely be up for partnering up again.
Thanks for the offer @maxk42, I appreciate the support.
Thank you for sharing this, Aaron and all the best. I do hope to see your projects live here.
One suggestion I have is to modify the "scope cannot change!" rule - in fact scope can change, and reduce instead of increase, to get things live in time. If you stick to original scope always, when estimates go off, it will push your live date further; the only way I have seen to keep live date fixed is to keep scope flexible; not to tolerate scope creep, but to actually cut out things if needed to ship the product.
All the best!
You make a great point there. Allowing scope to shrink is a nice luxury if you have it. I've been stuck in client work mode for so long that scope could (and should) never shrink, but for what I'm doing here, it could. You're absolutely right.
Haha are you me?
I was reading through your first bullet points.. perfectionist? Check. Project feels personal? Check. Overly ambitious? Double check.
I think for people like us, we excel more when we have more or less zero emotional involvement in our projects.
I know at my work (also a dev) I was able to do really well because I could take a step back, remain analytical and focus on the numbers, so to speak. That's a hell of a lot harder to do for a personal project that you have an emotional investment in.
I'm looking forward to following your journey dude! Best of luck
Exactly @Weaves87. We excel on the projects that we don't care so much about and stall on the ones we do. There's a lesson there.
I know the feeling.
Every day of developing something results in dozens or hundreds of new items in todo list.
But at some point, you have to decide when enough is enough.
First of all, been there, done that.
However, the "one project per month" is one of those bull**** mantras you can fall into.
Take it from me: if you think it'll take a week, it'll probably take a month. If you think it'll take a month, it'll probably take three. So you'll set yourself up for failure again, because 1 month will pass, and you'll think the project is not ready.
You'll end up building another mouse trap for yourself. Pretty much every one I know of -- once they see some decent success with one project, they will stick with it.
The problem with 1 project per month is : how will you know there's a market for it?
Give yourself time to create, and to market: so perhaps 1 month of coding, 1 month of marketing (thus, cut the number of projects in half).
Good luck!
Yeah, I hear ya. I'm limiting the project scope to a week or two only for this very reason. I've probably not done a very good job of being clear here but these projects aren't intended to go to market. Only to serve as "reps" for getting things done. If a couple of ideas turn into marketable products then brilliant. If not then I'll have at least balanced my game out, levelling out my ability to finish with my ability to start.
So yeah, right now, I'm not concerned with how I'm going to market this stuff. Only that I get it done. Your points are still very valid for anyone who is ready to building for market :) It's taken me a very long time to be honest with myself and admit that I am not there yet.
Oh I see 😁That makes more sense now. Good luck!
I'm curious if you can make it through 12 projects -- that's quite a bit task!
And for sure an amazing learning experience 😁
Oh the scale of this thing isn't lost on me. It'll be a challenge. But one I'm determined to smash. I've told you all about it now. Not showing up would make me look outright silly! 😂 we can't have that
Hehe, you told everyone so you can't back down😁Once again, good luck!😁
Good luck!
Are you me? 😛
I'm in a similar place.
Part of what I've learned about myself is that my motivation and energy are not infinite, and are affected differently by different projects.
Am I tired on the weekend after working all week and being a dad to my son? Yes.
Am I somehow a worse person if I'd rather relax than figure out a side project in my limited remaining time? I don't think so.
Additionally, I've noticed that when I write code that makes my clients happy or solves a problem they have, it's extremely motivating for me. Working on pie in the sky ideas that I hope one day will turn into a great SaaS or product or whatever is nowhere near as motivating.
Other people may be motivated differently, but for me being able to go to someone and say "hey I solved your problem" feels great. The rush of imagining some future product or SaaS quickly runs out as I find myself alone at my desk, with a half-baked codebase and no customers.
Haha, maybe I am? :D
Tackling the tiredness is a hard one! And it's tricky to try and juggle this with a full-time job and a family to support. I don't for a second think that you or anyone else is lesser for prioritising family. I'm with you on that one.
I know a lot about building products and product-market fit etc. I just find that I have to be organically invested in a product rather than finding a niche in the market and providing a solution. This is where my logic and passion do not align.
It sounds like your mind is however well suited for how you should tackle building products. That is, in identifying and validating a problem, gaining interest and customers before building the product itself. If you're motivated by knowing people will be using what you make you should lean into that 100%.
Good luck to you; whether you choose to double down on your family, do the client work or eventually build that Saas app, hope it goes well!
I appreciate your response! :) Yeah, I think you're spot on with how I should approach things. I bet I'll be better off if I start people-first instead of code-first in the future.
Good luck to you as well! I think leveraging your natural interests/motivations/investments is a great approach. Even if something else sounds better on paper - will sounding good on paper be enough to motivate you? Probably not. Areas you're naturally inclined towards already probably have more staying power.
You have definitely struck a cord here. A lot of us, myself included, feel the same. Also some good advice here for how to go about it.
Something that has worked quite well for me though was to pick a project that excites my wife as well. That really helps with the motivation. I don't know if you are married or not, but it really helps if there is someone else who is also excited about the project and really looking forward to using it. I can now understand why some say that you should pre-sell your projects before you have put too much effort into it.
Anyway, good luck with the journey and looking forward to reading your updates!
As I read this I thought "this may as well be a post about me". I think many of us in this community
I know many people building in public have found success with this challenge, but I can say from my own experience, declaring it does not magically erase the feelings of failure and create a 180 degree turn around into a finishing machine. You really ned to focus on your HABITS.
Like you said, motivation wavers and you need solid habits (ie sitting down and coding EVERY DAY at the same time until you launch no matter what) to get you through the low periods and to done. I struggle with this A LOT. I am a creature of habit, and a slave to my BAD habits, namely LACK OF PRODUCTIVE ROUTINE.
On top of the other criteria you have defined for yourself, build out a daily routine that you can stick to each month while you build the project. Your routine will help you get to done more so than any thing else you say your going to do.
I am trying to finish up a current project I thought I'd wrap in 1-2 months (it's now 6 😥) and have a large number of other 'small projects I want to start on (dev ADHD?). If you'd like an accountability partner, we could create Slack group (or even just commit to a daily post here) to use as a daily Stand up for each other. I did this with a group from this community back in July and it was very helpful to keep me motivated and moving forward...but then my bad habits kicked in and I stopped posting 😐. It's all about keeping good habits and routines
Hi @Scotalia,
I couldn't agree with you more in needing habits and structure to get through the thick of it. Motivation is a flimsy beast!
I do have a daily routine that I've (somewhat) managed to follow over the last few weeks. But I find it hard to keep tabs on my calendar, timers, task lists as well as slack messages etc (I have ADHD funnily enough so context switching is horrific and exhausting). It's like I just need m full day on one page with the rest of the noise cut out. This is exactly what my app Mindo is supposed to solve. My issue is that I let the scope get out of control and it turned into a distraction-free version of Notion. Maybe I need to get back to solving this core problem for myself (and others like us)?
That was a massive tangent, sorry :D. Your 2 months taking 6 months is very typical I think. It's the nature of the beast I think. I'm hoping to counteract that by scoping only a week or two's worth of work for the whole month.
I've very much been a lurker on this site. This post was my first attempt at actually getting involved and being vocal. I like the idea of partnering up for accountability and carrying that open dialogue on. I'm thinking a discord server may be a good shout!
Go! You got this!
💪thanks, @HenryDobson77!
Hey Aron,
I feel you, especially about theses points :"I am a chronic perfectionist. I'm scared to show my personal work because it is just that; it's personal."
I think that you are totally right, building in public will certainly helps you to achieve projects, that is very inspiring thank you for sharing. I can't wait to discover your 12 projects !
Incredible, you've laid it out exactly as I feel. The worst part is that it isn't only about personal business projects for me. It's basically happening for everything I do.
What I think that helps is to cut on the preparation time/effort, don't start too fast. There's a really fine balance there. Also do not pursue any ways to get the endorphine of finishing something before you're there. (i.e. don't talk about it to friends too much, don't talk too much about what you're planning to do. If it's for getting feedback sure).
Anyways, goodluck with the new challenge, I think it's a wonderful goal and you can do it!
You're right on the money here!
You've touched on something very important. It feels almost like an addiction in ways. By planning and designing, you have this perfect picture in your head. You tell everyone what the app "will" do whilst it barely does anything at all. Then to try and show progression, you tell everyone next time everything else it'll be able to do after that. Giving yet another dopamine hit when in fact, version 1 never made it out of the door.
Got to make sure I don't slip into that way of working here.
Thanks for the encouragement.
I hope you find your way through
Hi Aaron,
I can totally relate to everything you wrote here. Especially the part about it affecting mental wellbeing.
Get an idea, start a project, feel great. Self doubt creeps in, it's not perfect, will it work, fear of failure. Get another idea, maybe it's better, start the project and the cycle continues! But now with the mental baggage of not finishing the last one.
The only advice I have given myself is to start really small. Get into the habit of finishing small projects, get used to the feeling. And even when I tackle bigger projects, I'm going to break them down into small milestones. So each week (or even each day), I get that dopamine hit of finishing something. It seems to working.
I love your public commitment to overcoming this, I'll be rooting for you!
Thanks for the kind words, @codemzy.
Starting really small is definitely the key I think. I'm deciding on the first project right now and I think it needs to be literally "tiny" in scope. I really like the process of breaking down tasks into smaller milestones. Again this is something I find a breeze at work but in my personal projects, not so much.
I can certainly relate to the "overly ambitious" part.
Smart move deciding to tackle the problem head on. All the best with your 12 month challenge.
Thanks, @HansDR 🙏🏻
I suffer from some of the same symptoms.
I have found and build many projects but my perfectionism has made difficult for me to press the “publish” button.
No more. I will go ahead with a project I have been working on the last couple of years.
Yes, go get it! :)
Welcome to the club.
Good problem to reflect on. Maybe the problem is with your projects being too heavy on your personal investment; looks like an ego burnout. If you build it solely for yourself it is a hobby, obviously nothing wrong with that. But to take it from a hobby to a saas you need to engage potential end users and build for them.
Wow, good luck for this!
Everything you said resonates so damn deeply with me, and funnily enough my name is Aaron too. I'm really looking forward to seeing how you get on.
Thanks for the support, Aaron, @amo, I think as long as we perservere and make adjustments each time then we have a good chance to break through. My problem is I haven't made any adjustments until now. Hopefully this turns things around.
Hi Aaron,
The same situation for me, and I realize that when I read about the "shiny object syndrome"
I hope that publishing your updates will be enough to boost you & your projects
Looking forward to hearing your updates :)
Hey,
your experience is pretty much alike mine. I suffered a lot from a next shiny syndrome, started about a million projects, finished many, but never were able to create a steady business (even although made some money from them). I tried this practice (small projects monthly) too. But honestly, I don't think it'd help and I don't know how it'd help even in theory.
You may end up with just having 12 small projects but I don't believe it's what you really want. Because you already said what you really want: "The end goal? To finally build my first saas business, fully bootstrapped and completely solo." So, why to waste time building some small projects that never take off?
Instead, I'd suggest to focus on finding and implementing a real business idea, just doing it right: start from customer development, find a niche, think how to differentiate, find your first customers, then start building.
I also suggest start building in public, it helps a lot, trust me.
Good luck!
SeaCat, thanks for taking the time. I see where you're coming from. My projects have always been scoped for around a year of work. I really want to bring that scope down (hense the month deadlines). I need to get to finishing. A viable idea that never sees the light of day is useful to noone (except maybe myself).
If I build something and it has potential then I'll carry on developing outside of this experiment. An MVP a month sounds very exciting, I just don't want to commit to that each and every month for a year.
Thanks for the advice. I am committing building everything in public. Be It business viable or not.
Good luck with your project!
Looking forward to see your progress.
Best of luck!
This comment was deleted a year ago.
Thanks, @shanehoban,
Your comment has me gravitating towards building productivity apps. Not content management systems masquerading as productivity apps but real "helps you get stuff done" kinda apps. I think I've been burned by this cycle so much that my passion is in solving this problem for myself (and eventually for others).
I've found that the potential for expansion is very exciting but ultimately hinders me.
It takes moments to expand a product in your mind and hours to design it but building it takes days. I find that forever increasing the gap between where a product is at and where I want to be contributes massively to me burning out.
This comment was deleted a year ago.