Starting and Abandoning Projects

I like starting projects. It's fun to take a random idea and make it real, even if it's a barely working prototype. I enjoy this initial phase.

I also enjoy finishing, publishing, and delivering things. It's much harder but also much more satisfying. Stitching together a prototype is easy (now even easier with GenAI). It's another story to take it to the finish line and have something others can read, play, or use.

After the initial enthusiasm fades, I sometimes lose interest and eventually stop working on the project — often because something else catches my attention. I'm usually okay with this, as building the first version is enough to scratch the itch, and I have no intention of taking the idea further.

Here's the catch. When I start a new project, I tend to focus on it tirelessly, hoping for the moment it's done. I started asking myself, why rush this instead of enjoying the ride? If I like what I'm doing, there's no point in racing forward.

One reason is that I'm afraid I'll lose interest and abandon the project soon, so it's best to pour as much work into it as possible while still motivated. At this stage, I'm excited about what I'm doing and want to see it done. But what if I wake up one day and no longer feel like doing it? I'm dedicated to launching this thing now and fear losing this interest.

The other reason is that I anticipate something new coming up and catching my attention. With so many projects going on that I want to see live, it's easy to feel guilty about not knowing what to focus on now. So, I unconsciously assume that if I can push harder, I'll be able to complete more of them.

After considering this for a while, I don't think it's something to solve. My intuition, for now, is to follow what attracts me. Except for work where I have some external obligation, focusing on what I feel like doing at the given moment often makes sense. It sometimes turns into an exceptional result, even if unplanned. A single shower thought can be transformed into something I'm proud of within a week or two.

Accepting this has been a relief. If working on what I feel like working on is fine, I don't need to rush anywhere. Sure, I have a track record of abandoning projects, but there are also many projects I shipped. If I lose interest in completing a project, perhaps it's not so important. And it means something else fights for my attention that could be.