Interested on many ideas at the same time
Hi IH,
I noticed that when I start working on a specific idea, I always come up with other exciting ideas which I write down on my ideas book. Sometimes, I feel like dropping the idea I am currently working on to pick another one that I find more exciting. It is a constant battle to stay focus one idea at a time.
How do you deal with such struggle?
You are not alone. I work fulltime and have many ideas pop up. What I do is, I have a Kanban board and the first column will be full of "random ideas". The second column will be "Good Ideas", third one "Seriously Thinking About this" and 4th "OK I am gonna do this" 5th "Currently working on". So when I see the 5th column, I will refocus again on my current idea and will finish it.
Interesting approach. Worth a try!
Coming up with ideas is fun and easy. Actually shipping something is less fun and hard.
Your brain is running away from the hard work.
By sharing them lol.
Haha great answer!
This is common issue, brain wonders around looking for new ideas, and new things to work on. As a side effect , you might not be able to accomplish one thing properly.
I would suggest that playing with different ideas is overall a good thing, provided one doesn't spend all the time on chasing new things, and dropping existing one or leaving them half done.
Going in different directions all the time, takes away the motivation, energy and push needed to accomplish one thing. Brain is also good at 'leading' us to do easy things as they require less effort/energy, where as running away from the difficult tasks/decisions.
Keep 80% focus on ONE thing that you are doing, so that you can do it properly and launch it! The rest of the 20% of your time/focus could be used on playing around with different ideas.
This is my approach as well - 80% is dedicated to my primary project that I want to launch in the short-term and 20% is dedicated to side projects that I plan to launch in the long-term. There are a lot of work that can be done for those projects in the 20% bucket that won't take up much time (e.g., deploying a landing page to get subscribers).
Nice idea! Thanks!
While I've hear many tactics people try to frame a mind set that would get you to follow thru like:
I wonder if the core physiology of embracing "life as a struggle" is a big point.
Thinking about making an idea a working business reality is a struggle.
Yes we should pick something that's fun/easy/is aligned with us to make it more tolerable.
But not acknowledging it is a struggle is a problem.
Cause to make it work you would also have to do many things that don't align and resinate with your core (while minimising them is a good idea when applicable, one should not discount their necessity for achievement), how would you get by them?
I think I've been pushed too much to that idea of do something you like, and then when the fun starts to dwindle you start to look sideways to the other options.
So do think, are you after a good time?
It's fine to be, the mind is so complicated, you can enjoy the project, enjoy the company, enjoy the social aspects and be engaged in the things around...
Or are you after accomplishing a bigger thing?
And if so are you willing to live the struggle needed to fight for it? to really "commit" ("cut off any other possibility", "I'll do it or die" mentality)?
Do you have a clear picture of what the thing is?
Have you defined how does "done" look like?
How many details did you put into that picture of done?
Do you have the right focus/balance of the picture?
What are you willing to let go, delete, give up on to get this done?
When everything seems to go against your plan, every one of your last 5 or more moves seems to have failed, what do you plan to do then?
Did you build in the agility to keep trying to go around / refocus / find the next thing?
Do you see this as a journey or an end goal?
#ShouldRewriteThisSomehow
These are great questions one should answer. I will make sure to do that. Thanks!
Pick the one that you might be more interested in having a long term relationship with. Flings are ok but don’t court them seriously.
Honestly, without execution, ideas are worthless. I would pick an "executable" idea and work from there.
Come up with a framework to evaluate the ideas and score how successful they could be. And if you decide to switch ideas, have good reasoning and make sure you evaluate the opportunity cost of switching.
Great points!
I am the same. Too many ideas, not that much time. I always put all ideas on a paper, mark them, sort them, write down pros and cons and then pick one, which seems the best for me.
Then I stick for it for some time and don't allow me to work on anything else until I have a prototype or some first step where I can validate further. Or I plan another 3 months.
Usually I get used to a single project and keep working on it until I burn out totally of making projects or the project doesn't pass validation phase.
That's what I am currently doing: focus on one project no matter what. However, in the process of working and reading, I keep writing new ideas that randomly pops up in my head
It might help to try and create some guidelines for yourself based on what you hope to achieve with the side project.
Generally, I think starting is the most important part, and I'd like to say "just pick one!" but I know that's hard advice to follow. Maybe if you set a deadline, "pick an idea by Dec 1," you'll be able to narrow things down faster? There's no shame in switching projects after you've started.
I work full time and the goal of my current project is to learn new skills. Those new skills will help me tackle my other ideas in the best way possible. Gotta stay focus on the main goal.
Which one would you want to do even if you didn't get paid for it?
The one I am currently working on because I am learning new skills and will not be disappointed there is no return in the end.