As is probably common for most HNers, technically feasible ideas pop into my head daily. My mind leisurely constructs state and class diagrams while I'm taking a shower, by the time I dry off, my gameified crowdsourcing quant-bot seems like the most amazing idea ever.
But what about my MMO and a dozen other half formed projects each with their own litter of bastard experimental branches?
I was able to end this cycle with a little technique. Tell no one about your ideas. Not a SINGLE person. Instead, imagine their faces when they actually see it. If you spend four months working on a project in secrecy and then become tempted to move on to something else that you're working on, you'll quickly notice that the burst of endorphins you get as you enumerate the features of your killer app is mostly absent. Suddenly, you realize that you're four months out and now you have to start from scratch before you can talk about how amazing your project is. If you can't help but talk about your projects, then become a hermit (that's what I did).
I found this "little" technique is immensely powerful. I've found that talking to people about everything I'm currently working on (as opposed to what I've completed) deflates my excitement a little bit about what I'm working on. After a few rounds of this, I no longer want to finish what I've started!
Additionally, if I'm able to get that burst of endorphins from people just by telling them what I've started, then I no longer have a strong enough reason to build up a list of things I've finished.
I've found that that deflation comes from trying to live up to the expectations you've shared with others, rather than letting your project grow organically in isolation.
I am a person who suffers from extreme shame for not being a finisher. When I grew up my dad used drill over and over "you need to finish things" and instead I just got worse and worse at starting things.
I'd actually like to find projects now that need finishing so I don't have to be the starter and I can focus on taking projects across the line.
I've found that that deflation comes from trying to live up to the expectations you've shared with others, rather than letting your project grow organically in isolation.
Very true! You know that this feature just needs to be dumped if the project has any hope of progressing, but you are now beholden to the image of your project before the constraints of reality set in. This is why every project with a high profile debut ends up missing part of the highly touted killer features.
Your idea has already achieved validation from you, short of that your work validates itself by existing in a functional state.
Besides, nobody knows what people want. Who would have guessed that the world needed another site to post and comment on photos? Would you validate that idea? Yet Pinterest thrives. Just do it, then tell people.
This is what happens to me a lot, and I've done exactly what you've suggested with my most recent project. A few days ago I read about OMGPOP and Draw Something and realised it was a clone of a game I used to play 5/6 years ago, and started thinking "shit I should be building a better THAT!" and started self-doubting my side-project: it's too ambitious and nobody has ever built anything like it before, have I got enough savings to pay for the processing that's required, will anybody actually even use this thing (whereas people are obviously making $$$ from Draw Something), and then will it even make money, etc.
I decided to stick with it with the idea for two reasons:
(1) I'm tired of thinking on behalf of the market and would actually like to see what the market has to say for a change (this same principle worked pretty well in my love life, too, FWIW); and
(2) I could reuse some of the code for my other projects (true).
This weekend I started working on the first front-end use case after dealing with back-end stuff for the past 2 months off and on while simultaneously working an 8/hour day short-term contract with a 1.5 hour commute, on top of finding a new long-term contract after my previous project was cancelled, and even breaking up a relationship so I could stay focused. After feeling particularly exhausted from working non-stop like this and thinking I probably need to stop for a bit, I suddenly hit a point where I cracked up laughing at how awesome this thing that I was building was going to be, and I realised: I have GOT to follow this through, if only to see the look on people's faces it'll be worth it.
Creating things that make people laugh or look twice has always been something I've enjoyed, and if anything is going to motivate me, it'll be acknowledging this. The nice thing is that that is my raw personality, and I don't need anybody to tell me to stick with it, because I know I'm just expressing something inside of me that will connect with someone.
But what about my MMO and a dozen other half formed projects each with their own litter of bastard experimental branches?
I was able to end this cycle with a little technique. Tell no one about your ideas. Not a SINGLE person. Instead, imagine their faces when they actually see it. If you spend four months working on a project in secrecy and then become tempted to move on to something else that you're working on, you'll quickly notice that the burst of endorphins you get as you enumerate the features of your killer app is mostly absent. Suddenly, you realize that you're four months out and now you have to start from scratch before you can talk about how amazing your project is. If you can't help but talk about your projects, then become a hermit (that's what I did).