This one works for me, and I've learned it from a post on HN. Whenever I feel stuck or overthink how to do something, just do it first - even with all the flaws that I'm already aware of, and if it feels almost painful to do it so badly. Then improve it a bit, then a bit, then before I know it a clear picture start to emerge... Feels like magic.
I used to think this. Then I noticed how often "preparation" became its own infinite loop.
At work we built something from a 2-page spec in 4 months. The competing team spent 8 months on architecture docs before writing code. We shipped. They pivoted three times and eventually disbanded.
Planning has diminishing returns. The first 20% of planning catches 80% of the problems. Everything after that is usually anxiety dressed up as rigor.
The article's right about one thing: doing it badly still counts. Most of what I know came from shipping something embarrassing, then fixing it.
Is it always like that? I worked in teams where we had some planning beforehand (months, like in your example). We shipped just fine and the product started to bring money. I guess it depends, as usual.
I kinda agree, but I also gain pleasure from doing all those things that are not supposed to be "the thing". The thinking, the dreaming, the visualizing... I just like that. I do it a lot when working on personal projects (which some of them I never ship). I think it's fine, and I wouldn't go as far as saying that those things are "not doing the thing"; in many ways those things are "the thing", at least for me.
I guess you understand this and are making a joke, but that "attack" would appear to be intentional (and motivating).
I find that I don't have major issues doing a thing once I get started on it. The main problem is choosing from among many things that I could reasonably consider "the thing", and then feeling confident enough in that choice to start.
This sounds not too dissimilar to the release the POC to prod mentality.
There are times where you obviously need to do the thing to understand the thing to see the process of doing the thing. This allows for breaking the process down into better steps. Just writing code to do things you think is doing thing but prove not to do the thing when actually doing the thing is common.
I have bad ADHD and printed the strangestloop.io blog post out and put it on the wall by my work desk in Oct 2023 according to the printout timestamp. I still haven't done the thing in some meaningful areas, and the print has honestly kind of been dispiriting. I'm going to take this post as the prompt to take it down.
"Doing it badly is doing the thing."
This one works for me, and I've learned it from a post on HN. Whenever I feel stuck or overthink how to do something, just do it first - even with all the flaws that I'm already aware of, and if it feels almost painful to do it so badly. Then improve it a bit, then a bit, then before I know it a clear picture start to emerge... Feels like magic.
I used to think this. Then I noticed how often "preparation" became its own infinite loop.
At work we built something from a 2-page spec in 4 months. The competing team spent 8 months on architecture docs before writing code. We shipped. They pivoted three times and eventually disbanded.
Planning has diminishing returns. The first 20% of planning catches 80% of the problems. Everything after that is usually anxiety dressed up as rigor.
The article's right about one thing: doing it badly still counts. Most of what I know came from shipping something embarrassing, then fixing it.
Is it always like that? I worked in teams where we had some planning beforehand (months, like in your example). We shipped just fine and the product started to bring money. I guess it depends, as usual.
I think you may have slightly misunderstood the article.
"Preparation" isn't mentioned explicitly, but by my reading it would come firmly under "is not doing the thing".
On the other hand.. planning, preparation and mise-en-place can help with doing the thing.
I kinda agree, but I also gain pleasure from doing all those things that are not supposed to be "the thing". The thinking, the dreaming, the visualizing... I just like that. I do it a lot when working on personal projects (which some of them I never ship). I think it's fine, and I wouldn't go as far as saying that those things are "not doing the thing"; in many ways those things are "the thing", at least for me.
This is very similar to [1] (as discussed here [2]). It is a good message though, which is why I remember the earlier post at all.
1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45939431
The discussion is going to be so similar, this really ought to be marked as a [dupe].
"Failing while doing the thing is doing the thing."
I needed this today. Currently questioning my career choices, as I hit my first wall where people are involved. Gave me quite the headache.
As a person with ADHD, I feel personally attacked.
I guess you understand this and are making a joke, but that "attack" would appear to be intentional (and motivating).
I find that I don't have major issues doing a thing once I get started on it. The main problem is choosing from among many things that I could reasonably consider "the thing", and then feeling confident enough in that choice to start.
What about doing the thing intently for a week and then realizing later you haven't touched the project in 6 months?
This sounds not too dissimilar to the release the POC to prod mentality.
There are times where you obviously need to do the thing to understand the thing to see the process of doing the thing. This allows for breaking the process down into better steps. Just writing code to do things you think is doing thing but prove not to do the thing when actually doing the thing is common.
sometimes i find that being okay with not doing the thing is exactly the thing i need to do to be okay with getting around to doing the thing
Same. I'm tempted to print this post out and hang it for inspiration. But I guess that would also not be doing the thing.
I have bad ADHD and printed the strangestloop.io blog post out and put it on the wall by my work desk in Oct 2023 according to the printout timestamp. I still haven't done the thing in some meaningful areas, and the print has honestly kind of been dispiriting. I'm going to take this post as the prompt to take it down.
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"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder but nobody wants to lift no heavy ass weights!"
"Ain't nuttin but a peanut"
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