Comment by sixpackpg
6 months ago
The final stretch is not the same as the first 90%. You don't know what you don't know at the start, you don't have formed ideas or boundaries to butt up against and so progress is easy. As you create, you have gained more knowledge and now have to consider you surroundings, the problem space becomes less open. The closer you get to completion the less space to work in, you likely have greater taste, ideas which are good enough for the first 90% are no longer good enough. So better taste and far less acceptable solutions due to increased dependencies. You also can see parts which were previously acceptable as now not so.
To top it off you have the emotional and ego side at play near the finish line. Is this good enough? This could be done better, etc.
I think that mixture of better taste, more dependent parts and ego make the last part the hardest. I also feel that the finish line being close isn't a strong of a motivator as ego is a demotivator. Whereas, at the start ego has no effect as you don't know anything, you can't be mad because you're new, it's all one big playground.
This is exactly it! The triple whammy of the work getting harder, expectations getting higher, and coping with potential failure once you call it "done".
Exactly, the end is a definitive point, different metrics and variables need to be considered for this end point versus the earlier additive points. When you're creating you evaluate how close to completion you are and that's a useful gauge of productivity and keeps the project ticking along, ego isn't a part of the equation here.
When the end is in sight how close to completion you are isn't useful as ego plays a bigger part and so needs to be factored in. Percentage completion becomes a non-useful metric as it doesn't help you get to you objective of completion, if anything it's harmful as I tend to beat self up for lack of progress. As to what that metric is useful at the end point I don't know. But closeness to completion doesn't help me finish.
I use ego as a substitute but some human factor needs to be accounted for.