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Discussion on: How do you stay focused on one project at a time?

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Antonin J. (they/them)

I'll comment first since it's my post. I've learned a few tricks to keep me going and on my latest project (a photo manager app), I'm almost at a point where I'd like to launch it yet still I struggle to keep going.

As far as my tricks:

  1. prioritize dev experience - if it's a pain in the ass to work on, you won't work on it. The more I invest into tooling, the more I end up writing code
  2. one project at a time - even if it means I'm not working on anything for weeks at a time, I try to stick to one big objective
  3. incremental improvements in the down period, big improvements in the up period - whenever I'm having a bit of hard time focusing on the project yet I still want to work on it, I try to tackle small annoying tasks or refactors. When I'm 100% there mentally and coding-wise, I try to leave the small annoying things alone and tackle big features
  4. self-compassion - I try to be kind to myself about not getting stuff done. After all, this is supposed to be a hobby project! And even if it is a side hustle, getting onto yourself won't help.