I fixed my habit of starting projects but not finishing them

I know how it feels like, when you have started 20+ project and finished very rare. Or you know you didn't finished them but pretending yourself that you finished :)

I think, I have fixed the issue for myself.
I wont tell you "Be constant man! you are a sigma"

You can't be consistent, neither you are a sigma.

Few months ago I started a project named RowSQL, which can be used to manage Multiple (Sqlite, MYSql, PostgreSQL) databases. Before i finished a project in 1.5 years 😂

But I finished RowSQL at a good point. I think may this help you too to finish the project of ur. May the world just need your project

Things I did while building the project:

1. No Plan No Aura

You must not start instantly writing code.Instead you should make proper plan of the program you are going to build.

You can use your pen paper or whatever you prefer. I use to build my plan.

I think this is the most powerful reason why we quite too quickly.

You don't need a fancy flow chart, you just need to answer

What are you building
What do you require to build the thing.
How will it work? (Main user flow)

For RowSQL i created a good plan about how the application will work, What i should use, for frontend, backend, API and cache etc. I got answer for why i have used Go and react.
Before planning i was about to use svelte for the frontend, but while planning i found some issue that i might get for building the frontend if i used svelte. That's the power of planning before executing.

After making plan you don't guess what you will do, you get a brighter side of life.

Also, you don't plan the whole project at once, before you make a feature you make a plan and then start implementing that.

2. Dopamine Hit

Your brain needs small rewards to keep going. Don't wait until the project is finished to feel good about it.
If it's possible then share it with your friend and let them test

While i started building i was doing live stream on youtube with 9 subscribers 😂
The reason wasn't to gain subscribers, but to stay consistent. I noticed when was live-streaming my brain was being focused automatically.

My unemployed friend's comments were giving me dopamine hit (i think)
If you can't do this, you can share your work on social media, even 1 like from your friend can motivate you to continue working on your project

or if you get a Github star, your motivation gets 999+
use your friends/social media to achieve this 😂.

3. Do Another Thing 🫪

Skip this if you are a complete beginner

You can't stay focused on one thing for months.
You should take on 2 things at a time, When one feels stuck or boring, work on the other. You'll come back to the first one fresher than before.

People often say to focus only on one thing. That doesn't work for me :)

But make sure you:

Don't overload yourself (2 max, not 5 😒)
Always keep progress visible in both

4. Good Health

I think i don't need to explain this, because without good health you get distracted first.

Make sure you sleep well, eat well, exercise well.

I have a spine issue, and I still try to be healthy (it's hard ), but it might not for you.
So take care what you have, and protect it before it's gone.

5. Push to GitHub Everyday

You don't need to write 500 lines a day. Even a small change, push it.

Hitting git push makes your brain feel like something progressed. Like clocking out after a real day of work.

It keeps the project alive in your mind. If you go 3 days without pushing, the project starts feeling distant. Then a week. Then you forget what you were even building.

6. Make it work, then make it beautiful

I made this mistake many times.
I wanted every part of the project to be perfect:

The theme
The font
The colors
The border radius
The folder structure
The architecture

Everything.

The funny thing is that users don't care about most of these things if the project doesn't solve their problem.

You don't need to make it world-class on day one.

Just ask yourself: Does this project solve the problem it was built for?

If the answer is yes, you're already winning.

First, make it work.
Then make it beautiful.

Many projects die because people spend months polishing something that doesn't even work yet.

A simple working product is worth far more than a perfect unfinished one.
And believe me, it will become more beautiful than you imagined.

Everything is easy when you are busy, but nothing is easy when you are lazy

Swami Vivekananda

Thanks for reading... ❤️ Leave a comment sharing your thoughts.