When I’m experimenting with a new idea or building something small for myself, the thing that kills momentum fastest isn’t bugs or missing features — it’s busywork.
Stuff like:
Recreating the same folder structure again and again
Renaming files just to “feel organized”
Spending 20 minutes on setup before writing a single line of logic
Frameworks like Flask or Django solve this pretty well with CLI scaffolding. You run one command and you’re ready to think about the actual problem.
But the moment I step outside a framework — building a small script, a side tool, or just exploring an idea — that safety net disappears. Suddenly I’m doing setup instead of experimenting.
What helped me was treating folder structure as supporting infrastructure, not part of the creative work itself. I still care about maintainability, but I don’t want structure decisions to block curiosity.
So now, when I’m experimenting, I try to:
Start with a minimal, predictable layout
Write things down once (in docs or notes) instead of rebuilding from scratch
Adjust structure after the idea proves useful
For me, maintainability matters most when something survives beyond the experiment. Until then, reducing friction helps me stay creative instead of burning out on setup.
Curious if others handle this differently when working outside frameworks.
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